With a hole in her port side, more than likely the other ship was/is at fault, it this was a crossing accident. The ship on the starboard side has the right away when ossing.
With a hole in her port side, more than likely the other ship was/is at fault, it this was a crossing accident. The ship on the starboard side has the right away when ossing.
Still seems astonishing that the USN ship would not take evasive action in time, if necessary. We should not be dependent upon the quality and competence of every civilian ship’s crew to avoid collisions with USN ships, but it’s looking like we have to worry about the quality and competence on at least a few USN ships, too.
possible. But the damage could have been done during a radical maneuver to try to avoid collision. Would seem to me that the tanker would have been heading toward Singapore or headed to the North East away from Singapore. McCain was headed toward Singapore. If that was the case and the tanker was also headed for Singapore then they would have been on roughly parallel courses and possible an overtaking situation at the time of collision. If the tanker was headed away from Singapore, then they may have been on reciprocal courses and it could have been a meeting situation.
-- based on the size and elevation of the damage shown on the McCain...
TANKER: Bulbous bow; lightly loaded; T-Bone; low speed. (Tanker's vertical bow barely dented McCain...)
You don’t cross a $1B class warship across the bow of a merchant hoping he will obey the rules of the road, any more than you protect yourself from an oncoming truck by standing in a crossing zone counting on traffic laws to force him to stop. Even if you are in the right you are in the wrong.
Like cars on a freeway, you cut somebody off at your own peril. It really does not matter who has the right of way if you get hit. Not all the things you can do are things you should do. Stupid is as stupid does.
This is a national disgrace and the nation deserves an explanation.
