Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (Full Version)

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Apollo11 -> Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/2/2017 2:44:13 PM)

Hi all,

https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2017/11/01/navy-crews-at-fault-in-fatal-collisions-investigations-find/

quote:


Navy crews at fault in fatal collisions, investigations find

By: David B. Larter

Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions


WASHINGTON — Two accidents that claimed the lives of 17 sailors and wounded dozens more resulted from complete breakdowns in standard Navy procedures and poor decision-making by officers and sailors on the bridge of the two warships, according to a Navy report obtained by Defense News.

The Navy plans to release on Wednesday its first official report on the specific causes of the two unrelated collisions this summer when both the destroyers Fitzgerald and John S. McCain struck commercial vessels in crowded sea lanes in the Pacific.

The report reveals that both collisions came after critical failures of officers and sailors on the bridge and raises troubling questions about the basic proficiency of the Japan-based 7th Fleet and the surface Navy as a whole.

In both incidents, sailors on the bridge failed to sound a ship-wide alarm notifying the crew of danger, which is a standard Navy procedure.

Ships at sea must sound five short blasts of the ship’s whistle to alert the crew and the other ship of a coming collision. That did not occur in either collision. Neither the crew members below deck nor the other ships involved had any warning from the Navy that their ships were headed for disaster, the reports found.

Also, neither bridge’s watch standers sought to make bridge-to-bridge radio communication with the approaching ship, which is also a standard Navy procedure.

Yet the specific failures that led to the collisions on each ship were unique.


The June 17 collision between the Fitzgerald and the motor vessel ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan was the result of a complete failure of safeguards put in place to prevent at-sea accidents, as well as clear violations of standing orders to inform the commanding officer when approaching ships pose a safety risk.

The McCain’s Aug. 21 collision with the oil and chemical tanker Alnic MC near the Strait of Malacca appeared to be the result of a series of mistakes by the ship’s bridge watch-standers and heavy risks assumed by the commanding officer in a busy shipping lane.

The reports issued to the public, while incomplete, put to rest a parade of wild theories that arose in the wake of the shocking accidents, which assigned responsibility for the incidents to everything from terrorism to Chinese or Russian cyber attacks.


The reports also shed new light on the full extent of the damage sustained by the destroyers, with no fewer than 14 spaces, lockers and escape trunks on McCain flooding completely, and 17 on Fitzgerald.

In the case of Fitzgerald, the officer of the deck failed to notify the ship’s captain that the destroyer was closing with the Crystal despite standing orders requiring it. On McCain, the captain was present on the bridge the whole time.

Both ships lost track of their situations completely, said Capt. Rick Hoffman, a retired cruiser captain who reviewed the documents for Defense News.

“The thing that stood out to me was in both situations they had minimal situational awareness,” said Hoffman. “In the case of Fitzgerald, nearly criminal negligence on the part of the bridge watch team. And in neither case did the ship sound five short blasts or raise the general alarm to let anyone know they were in danger.”

The Navy did not release the full investigations but only a summary of the findings, citing ongoing legal proceedings. The collisions led to the relief of both commanding officers and several other crew members, as well as the destroyer squadron commander, the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group commander and the 7th Fleet Commander.

It was the first time a numbered fleet commander has been relieved since World War II.

The Navy tasked Fleet Forces Commander Adm. Phil Davidson with conducting a wide-reaching review of operations in 7th Fleet and the surface Navy more broadly. A 33-member panel conducted the review and the results are set to be rolled out later this week.

Davidson is set to recommend an admiral be appointed to oversee the implementation of his recommendations, according to a copy of the endorsement letter obtained by Defense News.


Fitzgerald

The probes into Fitzgerald and McCain discovered two very different sets of conditions with a common outcome.

As the Fitzgerald sailed into the busy waters near Japan it cut through a channel with specific rules for navigation known as a a traffic separation scheme. The ship did not have the navigation patterns on its charts and repeatedly drove across the bow of ships exiting the channel.

The Fitzgerald’s commanding officer was in his cabin prior to the collision, which took place at 1:30 a.m. The report documents numerous mistakes made by the officer of the deck, who is the main officer in charge of safe navigation while on watch.

At one point, the Fitz crossed the bow of an oncoming merchant ship at a range of less than 650 yards — fewer than four ship-lengths — but the officer of the deck never informed the captain, a violation of standing orders that requires the skipper to be summoned to help oversee hazardous conditions.

The CO, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, did not know the ship was headed for a collision until the bow of the ACX Crystal punched into his stateroom. He was ultimately rescued by crew-members as he clung to the outside of the ship. He had been in command for less than a month.

Also, at no point prior to the collision did the officer of the deck attempt to make contact with the Crystal on bridge-to-bridge radio, nor did the OOD try to maneuver to avoid Crystal until only a minute before the collision.

Meanwhile, down in the Fitzgerald’s combat information center, which displays inputs from the ship’s weapons systems and radars, the watch standers there failed to “tune and adjust their radars to maintain an accurate picture of other ships in the area,” the report found. That means CIC failed to track the multiple ships exiting the channel.

The Fitzgerald’s watch-standers also failed to use the Automated Identification System, a publicly accessible computer program that provides real-time updates on the location and speed of merchant ships in the area.

Fitzgerald’s lookouts failed as well, with the investigation indicating the sailor or sailors assigned to look out for hazards were literally looking the other way the whole time.

“Watch-standers performing lookout duties did so only on Fitzgerald’s port side, not on the starboard side where the three ships were present with the risk of collision,” the report reads.

The report also found that crew fatigue was likely a factor because the ship had a full day of inspections and qualifications prior to the accident.

With no warning, sailors below deck at the time of the collision had between 30 and 60 seconds to evacuate the rapidly flooding berthing. Some were jarred awake by seawater flooding their bunks.

Seven sailors died on Fitzgerald, all of them in and around the flooded berthing compartments.


McCain

The complete breakdown in Navy norms on Fitzgerald stands in sharp relief to the accident on McCain, where the commanding officer presided over the whole incident.

It was just before dawn when the McCain headed into the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest waterways in the world. The ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez, had been on the bridge overseeing navigation in the heavily trafficked area near Singapore for more than four hours when the accident occurred at 5:23 a.m.

The failures on McCain began hours before accident.

Sanchez had decided to give his crew some extra rest and delayed orders putting his crew on what is known as sea and anchor detail, which requires more sailors and puts the ship at a higher state of readiness. That includes a bulked up navigation team, a full suite of lookouts and a master ship driver on the bridge.

Sanchez ordered the crew to set sea and anchor detail at 6 a.m. instead of an hour prior, when the ship entered the shipping lane heading into the Strait of Malacca. The ship’s operations officer, executive office and navigator had all recommended the ship set sea and anchor at 5 a.m. for safety reasons.

The critical failure came when the current was pushing the ship left and Sanchez noticed the helmsman — usually a junior sailor charged controlling the ship’s steering and speed when ordered by the officer of the deck or conning officer — was having trouble keeping the ship on course.

The master helmsman who would perform these tasks during a sea and anchor detail was still in the chow line at the time.

At 5:20 a.m., Sanchez ordered a second watch-stander to help run the controls to steer the ship, letting the helmsman keep control of the rudder while giving the second watch-stander control of the speed and position of the ship’s two propellers — a position known as the lee helm.

Putting two sailors at the separate positions required changing the ship’s steering configuration and shifting control of engine propeller speed to another part of control console.

But changing the control mechanisms immediately led to confusion because they mistakenly shifted all of the controls — both rudder and engine speed — to the second console.

As a result, the helmsman could no longer control the steering. He initially believed he had lost steering due to a mechanical failure, when in fact, he was just confused about the configuration of the equipment.

Four minutes before the collision, confusion began to run wild on the bridge while watch-standers attempted to fix a nonexistent loss of steering.

Complicating the situation further, changing in steering configurations forced the rudder to revert to a center line position, releasing the previous position that was set to the right between one and four degrees to fight the current that was pushing the ship left.

With the rudder unintentionally set to center line, the current continued to push the ship left of track.

During the confusion, when the bridge thought they had lost control of steering, the commanding officer ordered the engine to slow the ship’s speed from 20 knots to five. But the sailor at the console controlling the speed of the two propellers only slowed the port shaft to five knots, while the starboard shaft was still turning at 20 knots, abruptly pushing the ship sharply to the left and into the track of the Alnic MC for more than a minute.

An officer on the bridge ordered the steering controls to be shifted to a space near the rear of the ship that can also control steering, known as aft steering. But that was not yet manned due to Sanchez’s decision to man sea and anchor at 6 instead of 5 a.m.

The McCain’s steering configuration was changed five times in the roughly three minutes before the collision, according to the Navy report.

By the time the aft steering was manned and the sailor on the bridge fixed the speed issue that was forcing McCain left of track, it was too late.




Will_L -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 12:45:03 AM)

Unbelievable...
Thanks for sharing this.




spence -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 1:22:50 AM)

Seems like the "trade school(s)" has forgotten to teach the basics.




Flicker -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 1:29:16 AM)

Navy regulations are written in blood. Old saying that sadly gets reinforced sometimes.




spence -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 1:45:42 AM)

The INTERNATIONAL RULES OF THE ROAD are not a navy regulation. They are, however; written in blood.




MakeeLearn -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 1:40:59 PM)

Ive been hearing bad stuff about the USN for years. Not good!




witpqs -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 2:36:29 PM)

I read Robert Love's two-volume History of the US Navy, which covers up through 1991. I was struck by the ups and downs throughout it's history. Nothing is permanent. There is no substitute for good leadership every day.




Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 2:39:03 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I read Robert Love's two-volume History of the US Navy, which covers up through 1991. I was struck by the ups and downs throughout it's history. Nothing is permanent. There is no substitute for good leadership every day.


Good naval leadership as well as a civilian leadership that doesn't drive ships and sailors past the point of exhaustion due to sending funding to land forces engaged in multi-decade land wars. Having 100 skimmers does not mean 100 skimmers are available for deployment. It means about 40 are.




MakeeLearn -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 2:41:42 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I read Robert Love's two-volume History of the US Navy, which covers up through 1991. I was struck by the ups and downs throughout it's history. Nothing is permanent. There is no substitute for good leadership every day.


Good naval leadership as well as a civilian leadership that doesn't drive ships and sailors past the point of exhaustion due to sending funding to land forces engaged in multi-decade land wars. Having 100 skimmers does not mean 100 skimmers are available for deployment. It means about 40 are.



Navy personnel were being used to build schools and other things in Iraq.




Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 2:57:03 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn



Navy personnel were being used to build schools and other things in Iraq.


If they were Seabees that's fine.




MakeeLearn -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 3:14:45 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn



Navy personnel were being used to build schools and other things in Iraq.


If they were Seabees that's fine.


No.




Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 5:29:50 PM)

No they weren't Seabees?




MakeeLearn -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 5:33:39 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

No they weren't Sea bees?


No, they were not Sea bees.




Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 5:54:27 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

No they weren't Sea bees?


No, they were not Sea bees.


What command?




MakeeLearn -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 6:04:46 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

No they weren't Sea bees?


No, they were not Sea bees.



What command?



At that time I worked a job that put me around people from all walks of life. Some from active duty military. The personnel were volunteering and being "volunteered" from all commands/MOS of the Navy. This for the social rebuilding program, that created those poorly built empty structures in Iraq.

Money maker for government contractors with military labor??





Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 6:31:50 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

At that time I worked a job that put me around people from all walks of life. Some from active duty military. The personnel were volunteering and being "volunteered" from all commands/MOS of the Navy. This for the social rebuilding program, that created those poorly built empty structures in Iraq.

Money maker for government contractors with military labor??




Huh. News to me.




witpqs -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 6:47:47 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I read Robert Love's two-volume History of the US Navy, which covers up through 1991. I was struck by the ups and downs throughout it's history. Nothing is permanent. There is no substitute for good leadership every day.


Good naval leadership as well as a civilian leadership that doesn't drive ships and sailors past the point of exhaustion due to sending funding to land forces engaged in multi-decade land wars. Having 100 skimmers does not mean 100 skimmers are available for deployment. It means about 40 are.

I totally get that.




Lowpe -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (11/3/2017 6:53:16 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

No they weren't Sea bees?


No, they were not Sea bees.



What command?



At that time I worked a job that put me around people from all walks of life. Some from active duty military. The personnel were volunteering and being "volunteered" from all commands/MOS of the Navy. This for the social rebuilding program, that created those poorly built empty structures in Iraq.

Money maker for government contractors with military labor??




NGO scams, tip of the iceberg. Saw it in spades in Haiti. Incredible stuff.





Apollo11 -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/17/2018 9:16:21 AM)

Hi all,

USN files criminal charges... as predicted and expected...


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/01/16/navy-files-criminal-charges-in-connection-with-deadly-ship-collisions-including-negligent-homicide/?utm_term=.c09c2b6aab18

quote:


Navy files criminal charges in connection with deadly ship collisions, including negligent homicide

by Washington Post


Five Navy officers involved in deadly ship collisions that killed a combined 17 sailors last year will face a variety of criminal charges, including negligent homicide, the service announced Tuesday night.

The individuals include Cmdr. Bryce Benson and Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, the former captains of the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain, respectively. The Fitzgerald collided off the southern coast of Japan with a larger vessel on June 17, killing seven sailors, while the McCain struck another ship Aug. 21 near Singapore, killing 10.

Three other officers aboard the Fitzgerald also will face charges, said Navy Capt. Gregory Hicks, a service spokesman. The service did not identify them by name Thursday, but they include two lieutenants and one lieutenant junior grade. They and Benson also face charges of dereliction of duty and hazarding a vessel.

Sanchez faces the same three charges in connection with the McCain accident, Hicks said in a statement. In addition, the Navy is examining one charge of dereliction of duty against a chief petty officer, a senior enlisted leader on the ship.

Separately, the service also is moving forward with administrative discipline for four other members of both the Fitzgerald and McCain, Hicks said.

The potential courts-martial are the latest fallout to the collisions, which shocked the Navy, prompted congressional hearings and has left the service short two $1.8 billion destroyers. Navy Adm. John M. Richardson, the chief of naval operations, has promised that the service will get back to basics and emphasize the fundamentals of good seamanship.

The service announced in November that it had found through internal investigations that both catastrophes were preventable and occurred due to multiple failures by service members who were standing watch the nights of the accidents.

Richardson disclosed at a Pentagon news conference Nov. 2 that he had assigned Adm. James “Frank” Caldwell Jr. to serve as a consolidated disposition authority for legal cases related to the collisions. The term defines a senior officer who oversees cases that can be both criminal and administrative in nature.

The service already had removed numerous people from their jobs as a result of the collisions, including Sanchez and his second-in-command on the McCain, Cmdr. Jessie L. Sanchez. On the Fitzgerald, the Navy removed Benson, Cmdr. Sean Babbitt, the ship’s No. 2 officer, and Command Master Chief Brice A. Baldwin, its senior enlisted sailor.

In August, the Navy removed Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, who oversaw its 7th Fleet. Aucoin’s replacement, Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, then removed Rear Adm. Charles Williams and Capt. Jeffrey Bennett, who oversaw aspects of the ships’ deployments.

In September, Richardson notified Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, that he will not be nominated to lead U.S. Pacific Command, effectively pushing him into retirement.

The Navy’s senior officer overseeing surface warfare, Vice Adm. Thomas Rowden, also is expected to step down this week ahead of a recommendation that he be removed, Defense News reported Tuesday.



Leo "Apollo11"




spence -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/18/2018 2:30:02 AM)

Having been an OOD in crowded waters all I can say is that there is no excuse for what happened to either ship but the Fitzgerald really epitomizes FUBAR. The enlisted bridge watch on the Fitzgerald can be excused because they had an officer who was supposed to know better than they but from the description of the case it seems they took no initiative whatsoever - the blood of their shipmates will/should stain their uniforms for the rest of their careers. The OOD needs to be breaking big rocks into little ones for the rest of his days.




crsutton -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/18/2018 5:44:37 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: spence

Having been an OOD in crowded waters all I can say is that there is no excuse for what happened to either ship but the Fitzgerald really epitomizes FUBAR. The enlisted bridge watch on the Fitzgerald can be excused because they had an officer who was supposed to know better than they but from the description of the case it seems they took no initiative whatsoever - the blood of their shipmates will/should stain their uniforms for the rest of their careers. The OOD needs to be breaking big rocks into little ones for the rest of his days.


It is a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. And when there is a want of experience to go with it the combination is deadly. The merchant ships that I worked on would have two or three personnel on the bridge in this situation. The helmsman and the watch officer (who usually got the job done), and in a heavily traveled channel near a port or land then the captain would also be on the bridge. Usually the watch officer had the con but some captains if they felt the watch officer was not experienced enough would take over. There is only one lookout on watch during night hours and he is either stationed on the bow or the wing of the bridge. That is it. And that is all it take to navigate a ship in a ship channel. It is really not that hard as long as you are in control and alert.

Navy ships are more complex and deal with different circumstances depending on the level of military threat so there needs to be more personnel on the bridge but sometimes it is just overkill which seemed to be the case with these ships.

As far as criminal charges, in my opinion there is only one person on any ship who is criminally accountable and that is the captain-unless there is a deliberate attempt to cause harm by a lesser crew member. It is the captain's responsibility to see that any other person under his command is qualified and performing the tasks assigned to them. Merchant ship or naval it does not matter.




simovitch -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/18/2018 9:28:45 PM)

quote:

USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain

Does anyone find it strange that both of these ships had similar patrol missions near the same disputed region in the South China Sea? How can this be mere coincidence?




BBfanboy -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/18/2018 10:24:01 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: simovitch

quote:

USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain

Does anyone find it strange that both of these ships had similar patrol missions near the same disputed region in the South China Sea? How can this be mere coincidence?

I was wondering about the part of the report that said Fitzgerald was criss-crossing different traffic lanes at nearly right angles. Looks like an ASW exercise as lookouts were not focused on surface ships.




spence -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/18/2018 10:59:56 PM)

quote:

Looks like an ASW exercise as lookouts were not focused on surface ships.


??? What other part, pray tell, could a lookout play in an ASW or any other exercise???




BBfanboy -> RE: Semi OT: Accident reports released in USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain collisions (1/19/2018 5:38:29 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: spence

quote:

Looks like an ASW exercise as lookouts were not focused on surface ships.


??? What other part, pray tell, could a lookout play in an ASW or any other exercise???

Subs still use their periscopes, right? Focusing binocs on a small section of water at a time is a good way to lose track of the big picture around you.
Or the lookouts were checking out the latest kitten videos on their phones ... [8|]




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