Never happened to me but I saw this one (Barbour County broached on the Silver Strand in 1984). Oops...
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 is that the local current had been knocked out of whack by the Great Tokyo Earthquake that had occurred the week before, causing the ships' navigators to think they were further south than they actually were.
Another theory, which I have read in several sources, is that the navigator on the lead destroyer accidentally turned one lighthouse early and that all of the other ships simply played follow the leader.
“i know a guy that forgot to put the landing gear down on his plane.”
Which explains why he needed full throttle to taxi off the runway.
the amphibious landing-dock ship ran agroundUh, okay.
Could eight guys get suckered that way? Yeah, they could, especially since there might not be a JOOD on ships of that size for another set of eyes and the Captain may not even be on the bridge. Probably not steaming in formation quite that close to shore might have been the most prudent plan. I'm guessing that came up a few times during the SOPA's courts-martial.
"Knox on the rocks" was a pretty good one too. Was a destroyer run aground because of a popular movie? Could be... ;-)
BUMP for later read
why would the CO of a ship
take a chance with his career
by taking a shortcut?
The DESRON commodore was at fault. The flagship was using radio bearings to navigate, which was a new technology at the time. Many senior officers did not trust it. The Pt. Arguello lighthouse operator gave them a radio bearing which correctly placed the ships still north of Santa Barbara Channel. The commodore insisted the lighthouse operator had given them a reciprocal bearing and that the ship’s DR position was correct. He ordered the turn over the doubts of the flagship navigator and the squadron hit the shoreline north of Pt. Arguello.
Try to imagine the feeling...no, don't. It might be sickly funny if 23 guys didn't get killed. That sort of takes it out of the realm of humor. It's a miracle it wasn't more.
Thanks for the info. It sounds like the commodore was cut from the same cloth as Rear Admiral Callaghan who didn’t trust radar off Guadalcanal and blindly sailed his task force straight into the middle of a Japanese battle fleet, almost resulting in a total disaster.
On my second or third cruise, an LST made a landing in Vietnam waters and got stuck on the beach with a full complement of ROK Marines on board. We were in Subic and got orders to steam for VN to assist, but first we had to create a spot on the Boat Deck for a Mike boat. That meant off-loading a 40 and 50' utility boat.
We were about 50 miles from Yankee Station when we received the word that the LST was once again afloat. Back to Subic to continue tender availabilies to the fleet. All in a days work but we did manage to get an "Atta-Boy". That Atta-boy and 10 cents bought a pack of Luckies at the ship's store.
Never happened to me but I saw this one (Barbour County broached on the Silver Strand in 1984). Oops...
Damn, not only did he run aground, he did it in reverse!
Apparently they sank her as target practice in ‘04. No respect for the old gal. lol
Sandbars are moving targets, rough break. The Navy does not believe in streaks of bad luck though.
COMMANDER XAVIER F. VALVERDE Commander Xavier “X” F. Valverde was born and raised in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He enlisted into the U.S. Navy in 1982 and upon completion of Machinist Mate “A” School, he reported to USS LUCE (DDG 38). His next assignment was USS NEW JERSEY (BB 62) in 1983-1985 where he deployed to the Mediterranean Sea in support of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon.CDR Valverde was selected for the Broadened Opportunity for Officers Selection and Training (BOOST) program, and upon completion, attended the University of Washington where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He was commissioned an Ensign in 1990 and immediately reported to Armada Royal de Argentina (ARA) LIBERTAD to serve as an exchange officer. Aboard ARA LIBERTAD, he deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, and the North and South Atlantic Oceans. Upon completion of Surface Warfare Officers School in San Diego, he reported to USS MAHLON S. TISDALE (FFG 27).
He served as Damage Control Assistant, First Lieutenant and Navigator and deployed to the Eastern Pacific Ocean to execute counter-drug operations. CDR Valverde graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in March 1997, earning a Master of Science degree in Systems Management. He attended Department Head School and reported to the Pre-Commissioning Unit of USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52) in October 1997, serving as First Lieutenant until August 1999. CDR Valverde then reported to USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) and served as the First Lieutenant. He deployed to the Indian Ocean in support of Humanitarian Operations in East Timor and to the Arabian Gulf in 2000. CDR Valverde’s next assignment was as the Executive Assistant to Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific in Singapore July 2001 to April 2003.
He reported to USS WARRIOR (MCM 10) in October 2003 as Commanding Officer and deployed to the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. In 2005, CDR Valverde was selected for the Joint Manpower Exchange Program and served as a U.S. Army Operational Planner on the staff of Commander, III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas. III Corps deployed to Iraq in November 2006 as Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) and CDR Valverde assumed the duties as MNC-I C3 Plans Force Generation Lead Planner in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
CDR Valverde’s personal decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (one gold star), Navy Commendation Medal (one gold star), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (one gold star), National Defense Medal (one gold star), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, and Humanitarian Service Medal.
Fortunately, if they were doing well deck drills, the well deck was probably at least partially submerged, so all they had to do was bring her back up to normal. OOD needs to remember that you gotta add a few feet to the draught if you’ve got the well deck submerged.
Yes, and it provides some extra assurance that if we ever have a ship going aground in combat situations, we can be sure that the captain will be inexperienced in it.
Hmmm...I wonder...why does responsibility stop with the captain? Why not right up the chain?
Affirmative action always works so very well...
The BOOST program? It sounds like Project Bootstrap which got Homer Simpson hired at the nuclear plant.
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