I would have hoped that after the attack on the USS Cole that awareness and security against any kind of ramming attacks would be drilled into every US Navy officer ad nauseum.
btw, it was asserted on another thread that the initial public timeline for the cargo ship’s maneuvers is messed up, and that those cargo ship turning maneuvers occurred AFTER the collision. I don’t know for sure if that’s the case, but it might have to be considered. In that case the two ships would have been on converging courses in the same general direction, and perhaps the USS Fitzgerald tried to pass in front of the cargo ship. Still doesn’t begin to explain how such a crazy collision could occur for a US Navy destroyer, but it might change the picture.
Completely different situations between the two. A combatant naval vessel of this type should never be "rammed" by a merchant ship in open waters. This was an error in navigation, not a security breach in a hostile harbor.
Yes, the actual timeline will be critical to understanding the true picture.