Posted on 07/28/2008 8:19:12 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
SAN DIEGO – The skipper of the San Diego-based Pearl Harbor has been relieved of command after the amphibious landing-dock ship ran aground last week in the Persian Gulf, Navy officials said Monday.
Cmdr. Xavier Valverde has been reassigned to the staff of the Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain while the July 21 incident is investigated.
The Pearl Harbor apparently hit a shoal while conducting a well-deck drill off the coast of Kuwait, a Navy spokeswoman said. The ship backed off the sand bar without sustaining damage.
Valverde, a 26-year Navy veteran, took command of the Pearl Harbor in November. He was relieved over the weekend by Rear. Adm. Kendall Card, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3.
Capt. Mike Slotsky, deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron 9 in Everett, Wash., will oversee the ship temporarily.
The Pearl Harbor left San Diego on May 4 as part of the Peleliu amphibious assault group, which has been operating in the Persian Gulf for about a month.
One of my brother QMCs is probably eating it too.
Yep. A lot of civilians don’t see this as “fair.” It probably isn’t. But it is the way it is for reasons other than fairness. BTT.
Those desks ain’t gonna sail themselves....
I sail and always know the depth of the water I am in.
Fire Him
this is standard operating procedure. You run your ship aground, you lose command of the ship. A guy I know was on a ship in Bermuda in the 1960’s that ran aground on a reef and they had to wait until a new captain could be flown in to sail away from the island.
He’s got enough time in that he can retire.
It is called accountability. It is something that is a foreign concept to our political bureaucracy.
It could have been a mistake by a QM3 (E-4), but the Captain is still responsible.
I’m not sure how easy it is to run a Navy ship aground but with all the electronic whizmos on board, you would think the crew would know where to avoid the sand bars...
Not just the Captain. The OOD and the conning officer might as well start putting together their civilian resumes.
They “might” get promoted sometime in the future, but this will be in their service jacket, on the OERs and will be red flagged on any selection boards they are ever in front of.
Short version? They’re history.
I ran my ship aground many times with no problems at all...when I was on LSTs.
My last ship was the same class, LSD-50.
The word "accountability" doesn't exist in the Democrat Party.
GNS!
Oops!
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz ran his ship aground early in his career, for which he was court martialed. Luckily for us all, he was able to overcome that.
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