They're still going to observe those SOPs in a busy shipping channel? How many people would have been on watch (if that's what you call it) at 1:00am? Within what radius can ships of this size change course? Who would have been calling the shots at that hour of the morning? I've been on warship tours before: does the captain (who was an O-5 in this case...?) sleep immediately off the bridge?Originally Posted by Trooper224
"Sapiens dicit: 'Ignoscere divinum est, sed noli pretium plenum pro pizza sero allata solvere.'" - Michelangelo
An Arliegh Burke class can turn with a pretty sharp radius, relatively speaking. A freighter? Starts on Monday finishes on Thursday. Standard deck watch consists of four crewmen. At that time of morning a junior officer was probably the OOD on the bridge. Yes, that COs cabin is typically near the bridge.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
My thoughts are with the seven missing sailors, I hope they are found quickly and alive.
Holy balls. On the entire ship, there are four people making sure the boat goes in the right direction?
"Sapiens dicit: 'Ignoscere divinum est, sed noli pretium plenum pro pizza sero allata solvere.'" - Michelangelo
In this day & age one would think computers and Sat Nav would be handling all functions with Human backup. Collision avoidance Radar too. So where was that?
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Hope the seven missing sailors are found safely.
“Conspiracy theories are just spoiler alerts these days.”
There are four crewmen on physical deck watch except in foul weather. THIS INCLUDES THE BRIDGE WATCH which is fully manned at all times. There should have been surface radar activated that would have warned off both ships, regardless of visibility. This is obviously a human failrue. Something wasn't turned on that should have been, someone wasn't alert like they should have been. There's no grand conspiracy or incompetence going on here.
I suspect, given the overall quality of freighter crews, that the destroyer had right of way and no one was on watch on the freighters bridge. I wouldn't be AR all surprised to hear they were relying on auto nav and something went wrong. This would explain the ships erratic course.
The bridge crew on the destroyer probably didn't realize their right of way wasn't being recognized until it was too late.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
Damn shame, that's a costly collision in multiple ways.
Semper Gumby, Always Flexible
Keep in mind, the USS Fitzgerald is an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer, which were designed from the ground up with minimal right angles on the exterior surfaces just to reduce radar signature. I'm not up to speed on all this stuff anymore, but the freighter may or may not have even picked up the Fitzgerald. Also, the Fitzgerald has Aegis and SPY-1D radar systems, so I'm not sure how or why they weren't alerted to the presence of the freighter.
Even if that stuff was turned off, and they were running dark, the deck watches, whose job it is to physically scan the horizon, should have seen something. I'm interested to see how this shakes out, if we ever hear another word about it.
Thoughts and prayers for the missing and injured sailors.
There are very strict rules about running without your electronic signature. As in, it's virtually unheard of to do at peace time in high traffic areas. The Fitzgerald will come up as a US Navy warship to every commercial vessel in existence. Everyone for miles knew it was there.
When you examine the erratic course and turns made by the merchant vessel, intentional cannot be ruled out.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
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