Collision

[Keith at Tregenna]

Bodies found on doomed destroyer: Divers find missing Navy sailors who were TRAPPED in flooded wreck of USS Fitzgerald after cargo ship collision - as investigators probe 'negligence'

Young sailor identified as one of the seven missing at sea | Daily Mail Online

[Ivan Cloherty]

Bodies found on doomed destroyer: Divers find missing Navy sailors who were TRAPPED in flooded wreck of USS Fitzgerald after cargo ship collision - as investigators probe 'negligence'

Young sailor identified as one of the seven missing at sea | Daily Mail Online

Probably in a compartment where the bulbous bow of the merchant vessel penetrated the hull beneath the destroyer's waterline. These bulbous bows cause an awful lot of damage in sideswipe collisions

[Keith at Tregenna]

Surprised there is no further reporting on this accident. Has a blanket been thrown on the reporting of such. JS

Investigators Seek Answers into Containership Collision with USS Fitzgerald.

Investigators Seek Answers into Containership Collision with USS Fitzgerald – gCaptain

[j.sabourn]

There are a number of reasons that could contribute to the collision e.g. Rule 19 if I remember correctly states when 2 vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of
collision, the vessel which has the other on his starboard side shall keep out of the way for of the other. Whereas another rule states that the vessel with right of way should mantain his course and speed, but if for any reason he thinks collision is likely he should also take such action as will best aid to avert collision. Not in those actual words but the same meaning. The cargo ship could have got cold feet and tried avoiding action unnecessarily . Was common practice to watch the compass bearing for changes, he may have been watching radar and therefore may be another. Radar assisted disaster. The options and reasons are not set in concrete thats why I said would be an interesting case scenario. Howeve if both vessels had elected to obey the rule of he road implicitlly will probably find was avoidable as all collisions are. Cheers JWS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
The US ship was T boned no doubt in my mind who is going to be in trouble.
Don't know if you remember during the war when the I think Queen Mary cut the cruiser Curacao in half I think she lost all the crew, the naval ship didn't realise how fast the Mary was traveling and cut across her bow, fatal.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

Today with the obvious lack of manpower on merchant ships theres every chance of there only being one man on the bridge, however that is a busy part of the world so would of thought the old man would also be within call. The warship on the other hand if what I saw of the manning of RN small vessels would imagine there would of been at least 6 at a rough guess. Therefore any close quarter situation would or should have been well monitored. As said on ships with bridge repeater gyro compasses it was usual to watch the bearing of the crossing vessel,if didn't alter then was on a collision course, this is basic seamanship. Can't see anyone on the bridge of any ship not knowing this. However with some of the basic attitudes to seamanship I have seen where the OOW never leaves the radar screen who knows. Would like to be a fly on the wall in both camps as they try to make their stories believable. JWS.

[j.sabourn]

#9... when I was doing a 3 day trial for the RN on a conversion to a RN vessel for coastal patrol in the Falklands, the head honcho down the E.R. Even though we carried an engineer officer was the Chief Stoker, he bunkered the vessel as well. We called into one of the Bristol Channel ports and he came up to me and asked for permission to start. I said you go ahead fella and do your thing, never been asked before just told.Going back into Cardiff by which time the ship was flying the white ensign, the RN bridge lot 5 of them were running the show, and wasn't until the pilot was coming on board that the gold braid appeared. What I saw with the navy in most cases the POs ran the show. The gold braid was for decoration. However must say when it came to the diving branch everyone pulled their weight. JWS.

[Lewis McColl]

I think you will find that most Merchant navy Navigators do not have a lot of time for the men of the Fighting navies, certainly not their knowledge of the application of the rules of the road. By MN Navigators I am not talking 3rd world. Anyone remember HMS Southampton and the M/V Torbay, those on the bridge of the Southampton were court Marshalled for negligence. Then there was HMS Nottingham. Thing is if the old man was not on board what was the ship doing steaming around, Rings of, while the cats away !!!!! or boys and there toys, £39 million that cost the tax payer.
12:01AM BST 12 Sep 2003

Three Navy officers left in charge of the warship Nottingham while their captain was being entertained on shore navigated it on to a well-charted rock because they did not know where they were, a court martial was told yesterday.
The first they knew of the danger was when the officer of the watch looked up and, seeing Wolf Rock looming out of the darkness, shouted: "What the hell is that?"
Twenty seconds later, as the officers hastily consulted their charts, the 3,500-ton Type 42 destroyer with 250 crew on board struck the rock, ripping several huge holes below the waterline. Its crew battled for hours to prevent the ship from sinking and the bill for its salvage and repairs will total £39 million.
The accident was one of the most embarrassing in the history of the Royal Navy. Wolf Rock, an outcrop in the Tasman Sea off Lord Howe Island, Australia, was a hazard well known to sailors in the western Pacific and the apparently inexplicable collision led to humiliating publicity.
Cdr Richard Farrington, Nottingham's captain, remarked at the time: "The sun comes up in the morning, you run your ship aground, you get court-martialled," adding: "This is not a good day for me."

[j.sabourn]

I anchored a few times in the same position as the Nottingham as was the best place to take shelter in that neck of the woods. Was a good anchorage. He must have found a bad spot which must have been hard to find. To have your ship brought back to the uk piggy back must have been very humiliating. I felt sorry for the bloke and still do.He was one of the very unlucky ones. The navy is good at what it does, the difference is that they are very highly specialised in their own particular field. The merchant seaman is a jack of all trades master of none. What we consider important used to be was the care and carriage and handling of cargoes. The navy is not into that stuff. And yet they are issued with a certificate of service for a merchant vessel in a lot of cases. That is my biggest anti against such cert. being issued. However saying that the issue of certificates today is not what it used to be. JWS.

[Lewis McColl]

I anchored a few times in the same position as the Nottingham as was the best place to take shelter in that neck of the woods. Was a good anchorage. He must have found a bad spot which must have been hard to find. To have your ship brought back to the uk piggy back must have been very humiliating. I felt sorry for the bloke and still do.He was one of the very unlucky ones. JWS

Feel more sorry for the tax payer £39 million so the old man could go ashore on the piss, only joking!!!!!