Destroyer gets run over

How Could The Navy Destroyer Collision Happen?

"But when the sun came up and photos appeared of both ships, they revealed the Crystal had damage on the left or port side of its bow — suggesting it might have been traveling in the same direction as the Fitzgerald. It may have been trailing the smaller destroyer at a perpendicular angle that stayed relatively the same even as the distance between the ships closed: "constant bearing, decreasing range"

If the crew of the Fitzgerald was watching what was ahead of them and got used to the presence of the container ship on their starboard quarter because it didn't appear to be moving in either direction relative to the destroyer — even though it was getting closer all the while — the sailors might not have realized what was happening until they were in extremis.

Another similar possibility: the Fitzgerald wanted to sail east, say, and its course crossed over that of the Crystal, heading north. The destroyer might have been like someone trying to get across a busy street, thinking it could get out of the way of the oncoming cars in time — in this case, a miscalculation."

 

NC, agree on your last two posts. I also wonder:

1) was the CG 62 at EMCON? (No radars on).

2) were members on the bridge screwing around distracted by smartphones?

 

1) No clue. Not that I've heard of. This area is a very crowded, high traffic zone and we are not on a war footing. I see no reason not to have the radar lit up. Even if the radar was off, we're talking about a humongous container ship. It should have lights on. No one saw the damn thing until it hit?

2) No clue, but if they were they'll do time.

 

Curiouser and curiouser.

Japan Investigates Delay In Reporting US Navy Ship Collision

 

I am not and have never been in the Navy, but I had the well-timed good fortune to spend the weekend with my wife's family, including her Navy vet grandfather. So this was a topic of discussion.

There's a book on the bridge of every ship called the Night Order Book, with the captain's instructions of what to be done while he/she is asleep and the ship is underway. Every captain will specify that if a contact comes within a certain range, they are to be awoken and will come to the bridge. The standard line that closes out nearly every set of night orders is something along the lines of "If anything about the situation is confusing, call me." He said he knew a captain who wrote ever night, "I didn't take this job to catch up on my sleep." Every officer on duty knows that if there is any doubt at all regarding the situation, wake up the captain.

This captain will be accused of dereliction for not putting a qualified officer in charge. Training and proficiency of crew is the commanding officer's responsibility. If we hear from the captain, he will say that he understood the burden of command when he took it. A bunch of people fucked up their careers over this.

 

That's a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. I don't recall the names of people or the ship involved, but there was a case in the British Royal Navy, I want to say during the Napoleonic War. The ship is in combat, lots of casualties. A young ensign sees one of the lieutenants get wounded. Without being ordered to, he dragged the wounded man down to sick bay. While he was gone, the captain was killed and all remaining officers were casualties.

After it was all over, the ensign was cashiered because he had left his post under combat conditions and was not available to take command when the officers who outranked him were killed or disabled, basically for desertion of his post in combat, for evaccing his superior officer when others were still there, alive, and in command.

Harsh justice indeed.

 

Interesting info from a former Navy commander about the rules of the sea that might have contributed to this accident.

https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/h...itzgerald-the-u-s-navy-and-collisions-at-sea/

 

Initial investigation blames Navy for USS Fitzgerald collision - CNNPolitics.com

 

Can someone recommend an end-all be-all database that shows who served in the Navy?

 

How far back do you want to know?

I know the WW2 Memorial on the Mall in DC has search kiosks.

I think that same search is available online. That would get you WW2 era veterans. I would guess that might be through a National Park Service (NPS) link within the WW2 Memorial web pages.

One big problem with service records - a lot were wiped out by a big fire at an archives in St. Louis decades ago. I'm not sure what timespans were wiped out, but there are extensive gaps.

People who are honorably discharged get a form called a DD-214. Keyword searching on that might get some limited info on a person. You might have to prove to be a relative to get any major details.

I don't think you'll find much on active duty for security reasons.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
VB

 

The records wiped out were from the 1910s all the way to the ‘60s. I think it’s 52 years total.

 

Thanks MC. I knew it was a huge gap. Some of it has been filled from alternate sources, but it is a very incomplete time period.