the more puzzling question in both collisions: the nav systems and AIS all provide a lot of led time on collision. so what happened? i would imagine the collision alarms are impossible to silence or ignore, to the helm had to know they were on a collision course. did the other ship alter course? if they were struck on the port side it would appear they likely had right of way, but how could a combat ship with five minutes at least of warning fail to avoid?
the only thing i can think of is a murky chain of command and inability of those directly on deck to take action quickly.
very good questions. Nav systems only help you from grounding the ship, not hitting another ship. Does your car GPS tell you anything about the big semi barreling down on you at 70 mph, no it doesn’t. Neither does the Navy’s GPS, it tells you where you are, not where the 50,000 ton tanker is. Naval vessels are not required to have AIS. I do not know if our ships have AIS or not. Surface search radar, tactical data systems computers, compass pelorus, eyeballs and binoculars are the tools to avoid a collision with a ship at sea. The other questions you asked will be very similar to the questions asked of the OOD, JOOD, CICWO by the Navy’s investigating officers.