“No way the US Navy is not at fault.”
The bridge watch of the Fitz will be Courts Martialed and found guilty.
That is as certain as the day is long.
The ship itself was imminently capable of detecting and avoiding this freighter. That it did not is unconscionable.
Yep. In all the thought I have given this, I cannot find a single reason (unless I venture into the realm of conspiracy theory) to exonerate the Captain and crew.
This is damning, and is undoubtedly going to be a black eye for the Navy...and rightfully so.
For that reason, we are going to have to watch them carefully as they proceed with the Naval Board of Inquiry. They will avoid the whole truth if they think they can get away with it...it has been their pattern in the past.
The Navy just needs some time to process everything. These days everyone expects results in minutes and the Navy has procedures. If it happens again in a few weeks it could be a systemic problem but abberations are different.
The OOD is in deep trouble, along with the Captain. As for the QMOW, helm, and lookouts, I don't see any of the enlisted facing much risk. If a lookout reported the incoming ship and then pointed out again that it was getting close (even without saying constant-bearing-decreasing-range), he's off the hook. If the helm put the rudder where it was ordered, I don't see how any blame attaches to him. If he confused left with right, then he's to blame (but so is the OOD for getting close enough that such an error would matter). If the QMOW logged things correctly, he did his job.