Veterans
Related: About this forumI'm sick to think of how 7 sailors may have died
and incredulous how a destroyer can be hit by a commercial ship reportedly 3 times it's size in the dead of night?
luvMIdog
(2,533 posts)Siwsan
(27,353 posts)I'm wondering when, and if, the details will be released.
riversedge
(73,410 posts)Kittycow
(2,396 posts)JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)It is a dangerous place. In 1963 the USS Thresher was lost at sea with all hands. One of them was a man who had been my shipmate and best friend for eight years.
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
The River
(2,615 posts)Been there, did that. The collision alarm is the loudest thing I every heard. The ships became entangled and 2 airplanes were ripped off our flightdeck. There were bombs, gas and oil everywhere. Luckily no fire broke out. I held my breath for about 3 minutes just waiting for an explosion that thankfully never happened. There are 2 oral histories at the links below.
1968 collision between the USS Hancock CVA-19 and the USS Camden AOE-2 during an underway replenishment off the coast of Vietnam.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)But by maritime law the more maneuverable ship is a fault here. That means the Navy ship, unless it was conducting operations that prevented it from moving.
I know of an incident where a research vessel ran into an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The idiot Captain put the ship on autopilot and played cards. Fortunately it only struck a glancing blow and no oil was spilled or lives lost. But he did get fired over it. I suspect something similar happened here, no one paying attention to the radar.
CanonRay
(14,930 posts)but how do you not see a giant cargo ship on radar? Somebody was asleep at the switch. On a combat vessel, isn't someone supposed to be watching 24/7?
n2doc
(47,953 posts)So somebody screwed up badly. The ultimate blame will fall on the Captain ,who will lose his command.