Investigation Reveals Navy At Fault For Massive USS Fitzgerald Collision

dailycaller.com ^ | 7/21/2017 | Jonah Bennett

[rktman]

A preliminary investigation into the collision of the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine cargo ship in June has revealed that the U.S. Navy is at fault.

According to two defense officials who spoke with CNN, the crew aboard the USS Fitzgerald made numerous abysmal mistakes which led to the collision with the ACX Crystal in an area known for commercial shipping.

The investigation is likely to result in recommendations for possible punishment, making the review “dual purpose.”

“They did nothing until the last second,” one official said, speaking of the crew on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. “A slew of things went wrong.”

The second official stated that the crash “will wind up being our fault.”

Initial findings suggest that the Fitzgerald crew not only did not acknowledge the ship was approaching, but sailors also failed to perform their duties in order to stop the impact, which left a large gash in the side of the destroyer measuring about 200 feet.

The collision on June 17, which occurred 56 miles off the coast of Japan, resulted in the deaths of seven U.S. Navy sailors.

The findings up to this point will be sent to 7th Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin for review.

Aucoin has already stated the day after the collision that the damage to the Fitzgerald is major.

“The ship suffered severe damage rapidly flooding three large compartments that included one machine room and two berthing areas for 116 crew, ” Aucoin said. “The commanding officer’s cabin was also directly hit, trapping the CO inside.”

The Fitzgerald has undergone extensive repairs since the incident, but will have to return to a U.S. shipyard for full repairs. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift is looking for a ship to take over the work of the Fitzgerald in the meantime.

[Yosemitest]

Here's another factor that might have been a concern to the collision.

China's next generation nuclear submarine using full electric propulsion technology has been ahead of the United States ( 3:56 )
Published on Jun 2, 2017

And there's also this:

OH NO!! RIGHT AFTER TRUMP ORDERED HIS TOP BRASS TO PUSH CHINA THE CHINESE MADE MATTERS MUCH WORSE ( 4:01 )
Published on Jul 5, 2017

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

No.

[wally-balls]

Having been there in a supervisory capacity I can tell you that CIC can only make recommendations . Whether the conning officer on the bridge accepts CIC’S input or not is out of “Combat’s” hands. Of course the last time I was in CIC was 30 years ago so perhaps protocol has changed.

[wally-balls]

And it goes without saying if the situation didn’t improve I or the watch officer would be banging down the Captain’s door.

[Bull Snipe]

I doubt the protocols have changed any. That system has worked well for many decades. Having said that, as a OOD I have received some very wrong recommendations from CIC. That will be part of the investigation. What did combat see,what did they recommend, and when did they recommend it. It has been my experience, sometimes you can get so much contact info from combat that it is difficult to assimilate. In Sagami Wan there may be 25 or more ships with in surface radar range. If combat is reporting all them to the bridge it gets very confusing. When I conned into Sagami Wan, I would instruct combat to track all contacts but only report contacts with CPAs closer than XXX yards. That deduced the shear volume of reporting from combat and allowed me to concentrate on those ships that may have posed a threat to the ship.