The Navy has issued its reports about the collisions of two destroyers, the USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald with merchant ships that killed 17 sailors, and they’re devastating. The collisions, as reported here by the U.S. Naval Institute News, were caused by failures in basic seamanship and the crews’ inability to operate their ships properly. “Both of these accidents were preventable and the respective investigations found multiple failures by watch-standers that contributed to the incidents,” said Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations.
The USNI News story is complete with charts, illustrations and timelines about both collisions. In the collision between the Fitzgerald and the merchant ship ACS Crystal off the coast of Japan on June 17, the Navy found that the crew did not understand the basic Rules of the Road for maritime traffic and did not fully understand how to use their radar. (The picture above shows the damage to the Fitzgerald.)
In the collision of the McCain in the Strait of Malacca near Singapore on Aug. 21, the report says the watch team was inexperienced and that there was confusion about the steering and throttle controls that led to a loss of control of the destroyer two minutes before it collided with a merchant ship.
“Both crews did not attempt to contact the merchant ship bearing down on them, sound a warming horn, sound a collision warning or sound general quarters before the impact,” the story reports.
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