Fair winds and following seas, shipmates

I'm sure most of you have seen the news or heard of the collision at sea that happened Friday between the USS FITZGERALD and a Japanese merchant ship. For those of you not following closely, the 7 missing Sailors' bodies have been found in their berthing compartment(s), pretty much right where the impact occurred.

US Navy destroyer Fitzgerald missing sailors found dead - CNN.com

The last time the Navy lost more than one Sailor in a single shipboard incident was the USS COLE bombing in 2000. The FITZGERALD sailors, by all account, did a fabulous job of saving their ship after the collision, and got their ship back safely to homeport. It is a credit to them and their training that no one else was lost.

For those of you unfamiliar with Naval tradition, the role of commanding officer in the Navy is imbued with responsibility and authority that no other service carries. Dating back from the days of sail, the CO is quite literally held responsible for every single thing that befalls his Sailors, up to and including their deaths in combat. This event is a Captain's worst nightmare, the loss of his ship and some of his Sailors, while under his command. He will also lose his command - be fired, essentially - not for his Sailors dying, because that is always possible at sea, but for his ship being in harm's way needlessly and colliding with another ship. It does not matter that he was most likely asleep in his rack at the time, or that he is now in the hospital due to his injuries from the collision. His responsibility is ultimate.

God bless the Sailors at sea, and keep them safe. Farewell, Shipmates. We have the watch.

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!

Quote from funinthesun

All true, but somehow seeing the course taken by the container ship, I find it hard to believe this was an accident. I hope the real truth comes out and we take appropriate actions in their honor

There's no way any container ship in the world is going to outrun and/or out-maneuver a United States destroyer. Those things are capable of over 30 knots, and they can emergency stop within two ship lengths, not to mention their ridiculous turning radius. It's like saying an over-the-road trucker managed to t-bone a Corvette in an open parking lot. Not gonna happen unless the 'Vette driver is asleep at the switch. Just sayin'.

Quote from funinthesun

All true, but somehow seeing the course taken by the container ship, I find it hard to believe this was an accident. I hope the real truth comes out and we take appropriate actions in their honor

And by the way, where did you find the course reconstruction?

Quote from Cywolv

@KayTwo

There is a lot we know -- and don't know -- about the USS Fitzgerald collision - CNN.com

I saw it mentioned here

Saw that article. Didn't see any commentary about the course of the container ship. Regardless, I'll say it again: it didn't happen without negligence or inattention on the part of one more of the Sailors on that ship. Where was CIC? The CICWO or TAO should have seen it on radar. Where was the bridgeteam's attention? Did they ignore a warning from Combat like what happened in the grounding of the LST off of South America a couple decades ago? What about the lookouts? That's their whole damn job, to look out.

I've been involved in more than my fair share of near misses (less than a mile) at sea, at night, in bad weather, whatever. It has always been partially due to watchstander error or inattention. There but for the grace of God go I.