He was aboard the night the collision occurred, and while we sat there, he told me about it. Here is what he said:
"...I was standing on the flight deck, right about where we are right now, looking out over the flight deck towards the starboard side. I saw a little red light just above the flight deck, moving, and thought 'what the heck is that?" but before I could finish the thought, there was a huge shudder, ear-splitting screech of metal, then a pillar of flame shot a hundred feet straight up in the air. We watched her burn, there were rivers of molten aluminum as her superstructure melted which ran down her side, hissing into the ocean. We thought every single person on the Belknap had to be dead. We thought nobody could possibly survive that fire, it looked like her entire topside was aflame..."
She was a beautiful vessel, one of the most attractive, IMO...here is what she looked like before:
This is what she looked like the next morning:
Point is, so many people think "These warships are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, full of amazing electronic gear, it is impossible for this kind of thing to happen!"
The problem is, humans are involved. When we are involved, we become both the weakest link, and the strongest link. When we are the strongest link, you get The Battle of Midway.
When we are the weakest link, you get...the USS Frank Evans...the USS Belknap...and the USS Fitzgerald. I would like to be wrong, but I don't think I am.