The Commander of the 7th Fleet has been dismissed

[malaise]

following the latest accident

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/22/politics/uss-mccain-7th-fleet-commander-dismissal/index.html

[MineralMan]

1. Not too surprising, really.

The Navy isn't very forgiving when ships are unnecessarily damaged. Career ending stuff.

[Adrahil]

2. Yeah.... one such accident is a wake-up call....

Two is a command issue in one form or another.

[Amishman]

6. I believe it was more than two

I recall something recently about a warship running a ground as well

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. The link shows on video and a graphic how many collisions there have been. n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Is he also facing a court martial?

[DrDan]

8. investigations are just beginning - a little early for that question

[ecstatic]

4. I wonder if there's sabotage that we're being kept in the dark about

The crashes are really unusual. I can't help but wonder if the collisions are due to (cyber?) attacks that the U.S. doesn't want the world to know about?

[Greybnk48]

5. Could these incidents be the result of hacking

or jamming the ship's navigation systems or warning systems? I haven't heard of anything like this in my long life and i think that this many similar incidents in a row is suspicious.

As always, we need a scapegoat, and maybe rightly so, who knows.

[Kaleva]

14. Cant hack the eyeballs of the bridge watch and the lookouts.

[cwydro]

15. Good point.

Spot on.

Ships have used lookouts since WAY before computers.

The Titanic wasn't hacked either.

[haele]

22. IF it was due to hacking GPS, might not be the Navy ships. Cargo ships are often on autopilot.

And these collisions happened early morning when most of the commercial ship's crew was asleep.

I've noticed that the damage on the Navy ships seem to indicate the Burke class was attempting to evade.

Mess with commercial navigation that relies on GPS signals to help pilot course changes while in congested traffic, and you end up with a big vessel that is not maneuvering the way it is supposed to be, creating a significant unexpected hazard.

Even as maneuverable as the Burkes are, if you're stuck in a narrow sea lane (such as in the Straights of Malacca), there's not a lot of room for evasion when something that's riding much higher than you are is coming your way at near full speed.

You can always fight your navigation and steering computers and run ashoal, I guess...but if your steering is compromised (I read the McCain's steering system had dropped offline just hours prior) you might not have that option.

I'd be interested to see what the inquests come up with.

If it was a hack on the Navy vessel, that would be an act of War. If it was a hack on the commercial vessel, it would be a terrorist act; like an IED or car bomb.

Haele

[Turbineguy]

7. A lot of Navy people

seem to take perverse pleasure in working 18 plus hour days.

[malaise]

9. Good point

Overwork is bad

[cwydro]

16. I doubt the enlisted lookouts fall into that category.

The officers would be following a schedule, as would the enlisted.

Therefore, when their relief comes on duty, they leave the duty station.

[denbot]

18. It happens, I was an OS manning the CIC of a guided missile destroyer.

Shit can stack up.

[cwydro]

19. Well, you'd know more than I in that case.

I just don't think that's what went down in this case.

[denbot]

20. I don't know what's going on with these collisions.

I did hear a report on a steering failure, but there is always a manned watch on aft steering, plus an aft look out who could be in aft steering in a flash to assist.

[cwydro]

21. It's pretty alarming.

I'm glad I don't have a young sailor as a son or daughter.

I think I'd have lost trust in the Navy at this point.

[lpbk2713]

11. It happened on his watch.

Retirement bound.

[uponit7771]

12. Damn, has there been another?

[countryjake]

23. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS John S. McCain

10 sailors missing and five injured after the destroyer collided with a Liberian oil tanker early on Monday morning local time, east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.


Update:10 Missing After USS John McCain Collides With Merchant Ship; Search Underway ~ posted by Purveyor ~ Sun Aug 20, 2017
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1849266

[Bad Thoughts]

13. Who replaces him, Jared or Ivanka? eom.

[cwydro]

17. A no-brainer.

He's the commander, and this happened on his watch.

Too many of these accidents bespeaks something very wrong somewhere.