How do these collisions happen? I don’t get it.
Decommissioned the first John S McCain, tied up to the quay wall between piers 3 & 4 at the 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego. The future senator attended...I carried our national ensign, ships’ color guard. My one claim to fame.
Second ship, we’re underway, I’m staring at an SPS-10 radar in Combat, report up to the bridge, “skunk alpha” bearing, range, and we continued to update the bridge on this radar contact, steady bearing decreasing range. Maybe it was the mid-watch, dark-thirty. This went on for a long time, SBDR.
We did not turn. We “remained in our op-area” and the OOD followed the old man’s standing orders to remain in our op area...meanwhile, skunk alpha, SBDR. Until....finally....they woake the captain up and we turned the ship. Walked out on the O1 level weatherdeck, big almost empty tanker, couple hundred yards off the port side, your could see and hear the screw or screws turning, as close as we’d get during underway replenishment.
The other accident, I wondered if that happened...they were trying to stay in their op-area...the OOD simply following the captain’s orders...some OOD too afraid to go against orders...collision. This one sounds like they were in a busy area...going into port? Imagine the salmon rush on the freeway and you have an idea of how and why it could happen.
God’s peace to the missing sailors.