Destroyer accidentally fires on Polish port

[unhappycamper]

Destroyer accidentally fires on Polish port
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 19:42:47 EDT

A U.S. destroyer accidentally fired three machine gun rounds at a Polish city while it lay at anchor Wednesday, but caused no injuries and no damage, a Pentagon official said.

The crew of the destroyer Ramage was doing “routine maintenance” to the ship in the port of Gdynia when a sailor inadvertently fired the burst from one of the warship’s M240 machine guns, the official said.

According to an English-language Polish news site, the shooting took place at 10:40 a.m. local time Wednesday and the rounds from the ship hit a warehouse. The English-language news site Russia Today carried the headline, “U.S. destroyer shells Polish shore.”

American sailors cooperated with the Polish police investigation into the shooting, and then Ramage sailed from Gdynia later the same day, according to its original schedule. The ship did not hasten its departure because of the shooting, said the Pentagon official, who was not authorized to discuss the story and asked not to be identified.

The Norfolk, Va.-based Ramage was visiting Gdynia after wrapping up its participation in the international naval exercise, Joint Warrior, in which U.S. warships trained with ships from the navies of Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Norway and Turkey.


Article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/navy_ramage_shooting_102809w/

[More_liberal_than_mo]

1. The Polish News

version of the story "U.S. destroyer shells Polish shore" isn't quite accurate. You don't "shell" anything with a M240 machine gun. Straffe maybe but not shell.

[izquierdista]

2. Maybe the start of American jokes?

How many Americans does it take to weigh anchor? One to hold the anchor chain and the rest of the boat to shoot into the water.