10 missing after USS John McCain collides with merchant ship; search underway

ABC NEWS ^ | August 20, 2017 | LUCIEN BRUGGEMAN

[Enchante]

A Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, collided with a commercial vessel east of Singapore early Monday morning local time, the Navy said.

There were 10 sailors missing and five injured, the Navy said.

The collision with the merchant ship Alnic MC occurred east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore at 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time, as the McCain was on its way for a routine port visit in Singapore, the Navy said.

[mad_as_he$$]

Turning around the culture of a 250,000 person organization is impossible in 7 months. It isn’t even a cogent thought to anyone that has tried it an a smaller scale of say 100 people.

[bert]

They inserted a virus into the collision avoidance code

[AndyJackson]

Naval aviation is in bad shape, too. For instance, many F-18 Hornets are not able to fly right now.

You want to blame someone? Blame Bush, Cheney and the neo-cons. This is what happens when you transform the world's greatest sea-power into an Asian land power with the goal of fixing the middle east. It's another consequence of the gross strategic misdirection.

[momincombatboots]

Sounds like a cover story to me. Either ineptitude is ring rampant or something sinister is being covered up. No way this happens. Is the you tube generation really unable to unplug for critical duties?

[redgolum]

With all the new nav systems, do they even post watch like that anymore?

I am asking an honest question. My family was always Army, so I have no idea of how ships are handled.

[hattend]

Have you watched “The Last Ship” on TNT? :-)

[greeneyes]

What the heck is going on? After the last one, you would think that extra precautions and measures would have been taken.

This is not exactly sending a message of competence, shock and awe is it?

[RepRivFarm]

I hear the transgendered officer in charge of conning the ship was looking in the rearview mirror, putting on lipstick at the time.........

bada-tishhhhhh

[kingu]

Judging from the damage shown in that first image, it was a impact while the warship was crossing the path of the tanker, and the warship was going at a fair pace relative to the tanker.

I honestly can think of no reason for this collision which does not begin with fundamental negligence on the part of the chain of command. Even if the actual collision occurred because a crewman turned the wrong direction, that the two ships would be that close together in the first place in open water is a fundamental lapse in seamanship.

[SVTCobra03]

Have you watched “The Last Ship” on TNT? :-)

I watched it last night until it was obvious that two of the female sailors were carpet munchers. Why does every show have to have perverts?

[bert]

drivel

[dfwgator]

Obama’s picks coming home to roost.

[Bull Snipe]

Have been out of our Navy since 1994. I believe they still stand two officers and five enlisted on bridge watch. CIC should have one officer and 4 or 5 enlisted. Some watch slots like QMOW and lee helm may have gone away due to technology. Maybe someone that has sailed one of these DDGs can give you a more up to date answer to your question.

[democratsaremyenemy]

Just wondering, did you read the article and previous post? The ship is NOT named after Senator McCain.

[KC Burke]

That is at the christening of the boat in today’s collision.

The earlier McCain was decommissioned some years earlier as it was launched in the early 1950s.

[AndyJackson]

drivel

I wish it were, but sadly it's not. We directed enormous resources, more than we had, to our engagements in the middle east rather than routine force modernization and maintenance. And it is there that training is focused too, while the Navy worries about whether its SSBNS can last long enough until we get new ones and worries about being PC.

[Bull Snipe]

The collision avoidance system on a destroyer is the Officer of the Deck. It is not some computer controlled piece of equipment operating the ship.

[democratsaremyenemy]

Well the previous collision was the USS Fitzgerald this one is the USS John McCain. What do you think?

[bert]

From Wiki....

John Sidney McCain Sr. (August 9, 1884 – September 6, 1945), nicknamed "Slew", was a U.S. Navy admiral. He held several command assignments during the Pacific campaign of World War II. He is the patriarch of the McCain military family. McCain was a pioneer of aircraft carrier operations.[1] Serving in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, in 1942 he commanded all land-based air operations in support of the Guadalcanal campaign, and in 1944-45 he aggressively led the Fast Carrier Task Force. His operations off the Philippines and Okinawa and air strikes against Formosa and the Japanese home islands caused tremendous destruction of Japanese naval and air forces in the closing period of the war.[2] He died four days after the formal Japanese surrender ceremony.

[Bull Snipe]

Unfortunately, I believe they will find most of the missing sailors bodies in the wreckage surrounding and behind that hole.