Posted on 01/16/2012 5:12:26 PM PST by NCjim
The captain of the Costa Concordia has become the most hated man in Italy.
Francesco Schettino, 52, is at the centre of a Facebook hate campaign after being squarely blamed for the cruise liner running aground.
Thousands have taken to the web to vent their fury at the so-called ‘Captain Coward’, who is now claimed to have ‘skimmed’ past the Tuscan isle of Giglio not just to salute a retired officer but also to impress his head waiter’s family on shore.
Many scorned his decision not to remain with his stricken ship.
The official death toll rose to six yesterday when a man’s body was pulled from the tilting wreckage. The number of those still unaccounted for rose to 29 – 25 passengers and four crew.
Schettino, who faces up to 12 years in jail for manslaughter, will face court today after his company chiefs accused him of an ‘unauthorised and unapproved’ decision to sail so close to the eastern side of Giglio.
The £400million liner, with 4,200 passengers and crew, was sailing just 300 yards from the island’s rocky coast when it should have been at least four miles out to sea. It came to grief on Friday night after sustaining a 160ft gash in the port-side hull.
After swiftly escaping from the listing liner, Schettino – the Concordia’s skipper for six years – was arrested along with first officer Ciro Ambrosio. The captain was spotted wrapped in a blanket on his way to the shore at around 11.30pm – more than four hours before the evacuation of the vessel was completed and breaking the maritime tradition of remaining with his ship.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Don’t the Eyetalians have a building that leans like that?
Isaac Kidd was killed onboard the battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbor; Norman Scott was onboard the light cruiser Atlanta when the San Francisco mistakenly hit her off Guadalcanal; Daniel Callaghan was onboard the San Francisco when she shot up the Atlanta and then went toe-to-toe with a Japanese battleship off Guadalcanal; Henry Mullinnix was on the escort carrier Liscome Bay when she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off Makin Island; and Theodore Chandler was on the heavy cruiser Louisville when she was struck by multiple kamikazes off the Philippines.
The highest ranking American officer to be killed by enemy action was Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., commander of the 10th Army, who was killed by a Japanese artillery barrage on Okinawa. He was posthumously promoted to full general a few years later.
“So the pilot was able to outrun you?”
He was the first one out and he did not stop to help the passengers. He did not need to outrun anyone. The people in the back did not know what happened initially and they panicked somewhat. The pilot was a despicable coward for not rendering assistance.
That map doesn’t look right. How did they make it that far away from where the map says they hit the reef?
LOL. Ever see The Last Action Hero? There's a great scene where the archvillain, the assistant to crime boss Anthony Quinn, makes his move. Quinn is in the pool and says something about doing a 360, The villain corrects him, " ... a 180", you see he had muttered these comments under his breath heretofore.
Quinn says, "Huh?" and the villain explains, " ... a 180, if you did a 360 you would turn all the way around and being going in the same direction." Quinn turns to him and spreads his arms saying, "Whaaaat ???" Villain shoots him.
I thought it was Anthony Quinn's finest screen moment.
The article says the Captain turned the ship around (180 degrees) to go back to the port area, which they had passed, and anchored it next to the port. Apparently it rolled to the right as it sank onto rocks that were under the left side.
Ah, Captain, I think that it’s MORE than “just a scratch” — as in “think: RMS Titanic meets iceberg”.
You have been more help than dr_lew.
Okay, I see that reference but it is not clear where the ship made the course correction and when to deploy an anchor decision was made.
A little listing never hurt anybody, I wonder if the captain panicked or was in touch with home base that told him to ground the ship. If he could still navigate under power with that gash, how much trouble was he really in?
Anyway, I’m think’in gusty call to drop anchor and swing or hold the ship to the island. If the plan was to wrench the ship to starboard then it worked or maybe it was dumb luck as the gash ended up pretty much above sea level, either way the captain will get the credit and blame for it.
But, Italian labor laws being what they are, if he gets fired, he can sue the company, and, like 99% of the employess that are fired and sue, he will win.
Yep, about the propaganda arm of the leftist in this Country, hollyweird, you hit the nail on the head.
Tell me truthfully, did you see Last Action Hero?
I did but it didn’t make an impression.
Aha! But I must thank you for being truthful. It’s a small matter, after all.
The Cole is about one tenth the size of a modern cruise ship.
“Think of it this way, it was already bottomed out on the port side, as the water rushed in, the only direction it could roll was to starboard where there was still clearance.”
Yup. And which is why they likely won’t be able to refloat her. Even if they’re able to displace the water (unlikely) it’s still on the rocks.
Salvage in place.
Given that, do civilian cruise liners have similar w/t bulkhead and trim systems? I saw a portside stabilizer in one of the photos.
you are correct sir...having been in the Navy for 6 years,the crew always puts their trust in the Captain and vise versa. The law of the sea. Try that with 5600 sailors on an A/C carrier. This idiot, when found, would have been hanged from the nearest yard arm while his boat was sinking.
Would be tough. The liner is a hell of a lot taller that the Cole, and longer too.
It would be a interesting documentry to see how they handle it.
The cruise ship is about twice the length in all three dimensions. The Blue Marlin couldn’t handle it, and it’s almost the largest heavy lift ship in existence.
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