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I was aboard the JFK in mid-1976...my first night aboard before we got underway, I was sitting near the island with AD3 Delgado, who was my mentor for getting qualified as a Plane Captain.

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.

Thanks for the story. There was also the USS Porter (DDG-78) in 2012...hit in almost the same spot near the bridge as the Fitz:

http://gcaptain.com/navy-destroyer-collides-japanese/

Or the Japanese DDG that collided with a container ship:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223392/Inferno-Battle-extinguish-blaze-Japanese-naval-destroyer-hits-container-ship.html

“Stuff happens” unfortunately, and not all of it is due to intentional terrorism...ala “Hanlon’s Razor”: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”.

I know about the Belknap and the Kennedy. A couple of guys came to my ship from the Belknap, and told their experiences. I followed the news of the investigations for the next few years.

That happened during maneuvering drills, at night, wherein one ship takes tactical command, and orders all the ships of the formation to maneuver from spot to spot, using coded commands from the Tactical Signal Manual. "Somone" on at least one ship misinterpreted one command, and the Kennedy and Belknap locked up side by side, with the JP5 from the JFK spilling down on the superstructure of the Belknap, feeding the flames. Ammo was cooking off and exploding in some of the magazines, and people in the berthing compartments were crawling beneath the smoke trying to find the exits.

Yes, people do make mistakes, and the investigations go on for years. But while the crazy stuff is happening, a whole lot of people are wide awake, doing their jobs, and doing their best to prevent the train wreck.

This investigation will also probably take a while.