[Tanada]

Here we go again!

SOUTH CHINA SEA (WAVY) – The Navy is saying that the USS John S. McCain was involved with a collision with a merchant vessel on Monday morning.

According to the Navy, the collision was reported at 6:24 a.m., Japan Standard Time, east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca. The collision happened as the ship was heading to a routine port visit in Singapore.

Initial reports are out that the McCain suffered damage port side.

Search and rescue efforts are underway.

Stay on WAVY.com for developments in this story.

http://wavy.com/2017/08/20/uss-john-mccain-collision/

[EdwinSm]

According to the BBC report 10 sailors are missing and 5 injured. Also

This is thought to be the fourth time in a year that a US navy vessel has been involved in an accident.

Just two months ago, seven US sailors were killed when the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship in Japanese waters near the port city of Yokosuka.
....
In May, a guided missile cruiser collided with a South Korean fishing vessel, while in August last year a submarine collided with an offshore support vessel.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40995829

In the linked post you can see pictures of the hole in the boat (ship).

[Newfie]

I've been following this and the Fitzgerald story elsewhere.

There is also the Porter incident, where they ran into a tanker.

All three are Arleigh Burke class destroyers.

Something is seriously broken in the US Navy.

[Newfie]

Gas,

If you want to see how really bad it is read up on the Zumwalt class destroyers. Origional estimate was 1.34 billion per. Now they are at 7.5 billion per and can't do much of anything.n their newfangled gun cost $750,000 to $1,000,000 PER ROUND.

It looks like they cancelled the project to build more of these Arleigh Burke class destroyers, that they can't figure out how to drive.

[vtsnowedin]

Cost problems acknowledged and aside the Navy has a real problem here that we on the outside can't understand at present. Why there is not an officer (or a capable seaman with an officer supervising) at the wheel at all times that can steer the ship as needed to avoid collisions with any thing that might cause damage to the ship or loss of life is the unanswered question.
I await the answer but don't expect to read a satisfactory answer.

[Newfie]

The Fitzgerald had 7 on the bridge and another 5 or so in CIC.

If you listen to the leaked bridge tapes of the Porter collision it's clear the CO was a nimrod and didn't have a clue. Someone starts to argue with him, then pauses and say "Ay, ay, Sir."

[Tanada]

Once upon a time people got promoted to command vessels by being excellent sailors who knew what they were doing. Unfortunately in the post Cold War era many politicians have seen the US Military as a social program with social goals instead of a military system that required military competence above all else. Promoting to command of a vessel is all too often a political decision, so the chain of command will reflect the commander in chief's desires for the structure of the military instead of competence.

[EdwinSm]

This contains an interesting suggestion/rumour - the USS John McCain might have been hacked!

The cause of the collision is not yet known, but Navy Admiral John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, has ordered fleet commanders to stop what they are doing for a day or two over the next week to "assess and review with their commands the fundamental practice to safe and effective operations".
....
He also said on Twitter that he would not rule out the possibility of some kind of outside interference or cyber-attack being behind the collision.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41013686

[Cog]

The US Navy doesn't rule out anything. Even alien invasion. You don't hack a gyro-compass, a plastic bearing chart, and a look-out. This is pure incompetence by the bridge watch coupled with bad training. But I'm sure they got their mandatory gender and sexual orientation training.

[Newfie]

Seventh Fleet commander sacked.

[Cog]

Good and he should have been. Now perhaps the command structure will get the message.

[vtsnowedin]

Here we have a multi-million-dollar state-of-art battle ship driving in around circles . . . out in the South China Sea. Sailors and staff thousands of miles from home and family. Way offshore from China, the ENEMY.

Meanwhile said ENEMY is gainfully employed selling crap to sailors lost/lonely family/wife. And making trillions. Sailor stares at horizon . . . around . . . and around . . . around

Who wouldn't feel distracted, distorted, disengaged and just plain disgusted. The sailors sign up for patriotic duty and end up going in circles. BANG

Get your terminology correct. The USS John McCain -DDG-56 is a destroyer not a battle ship.
A battle ship like the USS Missouri (BB-63) had a crew of 2700 and displaced 57,450 tons of water while the McCain has a crew of 281 and displaces just 8885 tons.
Crew moral is no excuse for what happened here or with the Fitzgerald.

[Newfie]

The Arleigh Burke destroyers cost about $1.2 BILLION each.

The proposed replacement, now cancelled I hope. Cost $7.5 BILLION each.

[EdwinSm]

The photos of the damage, seems to me to indicate that the USS John McCain was hit broadside on. This further implies that she was running across the bows of the tanker, Alnic MC. As the damage was towards the aft (rear of the boat) it seems she almost made it!

I will of course wait (and wait, and wait ) for official reporting of what happened, but it does seem dangerous to try cutting across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world .

[AgentR11]

Good and he should have been. Now perhaps the command structure will get the message.

lol. I agree with Cog. Maybe should have happened sooner.