“That tangled reasoning might have led to the collision, but then for the freighter to leave the scene after ?
Looking at the track of the freighter, something stinks. Looks like it doubled back to hit the cruiser then there’s another series of circles later which are unexplained before continuing on to port.”
We don’t know where that track came from, or where during that track the ships collided, or if the plots are even accurate.
There is nothing in the plot in and of itself that looks suspicious. Ships often zig-zag or make u-turns for time purposes. The port may not be ready for them, a harbor pilot may not be available, etc.
There’s some speculation the first U turn was to return and offer assistance. The second series of circles may be for the pilot to board. Both plausible. Still the freighter not notifying of the collision for so long is extremely odd.
The sailing forums offer some very good perspective. Lots of the contributors are ex-Navy and plenty are familiar with rules of the road in the area of the incident.
I’m ex-Navy too but the flight deck offers little insight. I also have many years experience sailing off the coast of CA around the shipping lanes. It’s busy around LA Harbor but I have to believe it pales in comparison to traffic heading into Tokyo.
If the bridge of the Fitz sounded anything like this it explains a lot.
https://pilotonline.com/news/military/audio-confusion-reigned-before-destroyer-s-collision/article_c7472be8-efcb-5763-93bb-aab66d820175.html