[PapaBear3625]

Yes, language is important. "Rammed" is the perfect word.

Even if a container ship's helmsman decided to ram the destroyer, he should not have been ABLE to.

It's an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. It has a listed top speed of over 30 knots. An alert and competent bridge crew should have been able to evade collision with a lumbering container ship, no matter HOW much the container ship wanted to ram.

[Yosemitest]

"Even if a container ship's helmsman decided to ram the destroyer, he should not have been ABLE to.

It's an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
It has a listed top speed of over 30 knots. "

Must I remind you of the FACTS ?

Source "... The container ship neither had its running lights or transponder on.

That is an action taken willfully. ... "

Have you ever been in a "Command Level" position during a critical situation ?
I have.

Let's take a closer look at some critical information.

What time did the collision actually occur ?
Was it night or day ?
Was the Captain's equipment working just before the collision ?
HOW LONG had that equipment been "out of operation" ?
What is the reset time for the USS Fitzgerald's RADAR equipment to become serviceable again after it goes OFF LINE due to an EPM Attack ?
Was the visibility clear, or was it foggy ?
What was the weather report from that area or from the USS Fitzgerald an hour before the collision and were there any changes to that report during that hour ?
What was the Official Weather Observation right after that collision ?

Was there ANY REASON that the Captain of the USS Fitzgerald might expect any ship, especially a cargo carrying civilian ship to attack it ?
What was his priorities in getting all electrical equipment (radios, radar, etc) back on line after total electrical failure ?

I could go on, but I won't ...

because until you've been in the "hot seat" making those decisions on what to recover next, you have NO COMPREHENSION of
just how critical those decisions are,
and just how critical the order of making those decision is during normal operations, during 'an exercise', or during a declared alert, or even during a time of real WAR ... are ?