USS FITGERALD Collision: June 17, 2017
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Does the auto guidance system have an anti collision or avoidance setting?
gryphonv
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A ship the size of the Chrystal should of been picked up by the Fitzgeralds radars long before they came close. Sometimes for several hours before they come into sight of one another.
The Chrystal radars wouldn't of been as robust but still should of picked up the Fitzgerald in enough time to make any required course adjustments.
Rule 13 of 'Rules of the Road' seems to apply in this situation as the Chrystal was approaching the Fitzgerald from behind(from what I've been reading). Which would mean the Chrystal should of gave the Fitzgerald a wide berth.
RULE 13: OVERTAKING
(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Rules [of Part B, Sections I and II / 4 through 18], any vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken.
(b) A vessel shall be deemed to be overtaking when coming up with a another vessel from a direction more than 22.5 degrees abaft her beam, that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel she is overtaking, that at night she would be able to see only the sternlight of that vessel but neither of her sidelights.
(c) When a vessel is in any doubt as to whether she is overtaking another, she shall assume that this is the case and act accordingly.
(d) Any subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall not make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these Rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear.
The Chrystal radars wouldn't of been as robust but still should of picked up the Fitzgerald in enough time to make any required course adjustments.
Rule 13 of 'Rules of the Road' seems to apply in this situation as the Chrystal was approaching the Fitzgerald from behind(from what I've been reading). Which would mean the Chrystal should of gave the Fitzgerald a wide berth.
RULE 13: OVERTAKING
(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Rules [of Part B, Sections I and II / 4 through 18], any vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken.
(b) A vessel shall be deemed to be overtaking when coming up with a another vessel from a direction more than 22.5 degrees abaft her beam, that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel she is overtaking, that at night she would be able to see only the sternlight of that vessel but neither of her sidelights.
(c) When a vessel is in any doubt as to whether she is overtaking another, she shall assume that this is the case and act accordingly.
(d) Any subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall not make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these Rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear.
GR66
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Curious. If the Fitzgerald was taking on water and was in friendly waters, would it not send out a distress call? It looks like several other ships passed close to the point of the collision and could have stood by to render assistance. The accounts I have read seem to indicate that at least at the start there was some risk to the ship due to the damage below the waterline.
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GR66 said:
What I have been reading is that the ship struck the area where the communication nodes and radios were housed destroying them including a ships power blackout. At that point the ship was fighting for its life and trying to regain control, it was about an hour before they managed to get something off with a portable sat phone. I agree a distress should of been sent sooner but at that point they may of thought that they were initially ok and regaining control.
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The radio room was flooded. The impact area also included the superstructure where communication arrays were located.Initially there was no power.Finally an hour in the bridge was able to get the sat phone up. In any event the japanese Coast Guard and MSDF responded as well as the USN. The ship made it into port on its own power escorted by 2 tugs.
GR66
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Interesting. I would have thought they would have had portable radios available for the RHIBs for example, but I'm sure they knew much better I what they were doing and what was required. It just seemed curious that the tracker showed several ships passing fairly close to the collision site and not responding.
Do newer warship designs have more distributed/redundant power systems to prevent a strike in one area of the ship leaving it completely without power (and I assume combat ineffective), or was this likely just a particularly unlucky location that was struck?
Do newer warship designs have more distributed/redundant power systems to prevent a strike in one area of the ship leaving it completely without power (and I assume combat ineffective), or was this likely just a particularly unlucky location that was struck?
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GR66 said:
The force of the collision may of knocked out which generator that had online, usually there is a standby generator that should come online and restore power within a min or so. The force of the collision may have caused issues bringing it up. From what I have read the collision flooded the radio room and destroyed the comms arrays, a lucky shot perhaps.
The ships going by without stopping who knows.
J
jollyjacktar
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tomahawk6 said:
I read on The Chive today that one of the sailors, Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Rhem, went into the flooding compartments and got 20 sailors out, he then went back in for the rest of them. At this point, the ship was taking on too much water and the hatch had to be sealed, which sealed their fate but allowed the ship to float. Apparently FC1 Rhem, always put his "kids" and shipmates first and foremost before himself and was always looking out for them. His courage and sacrifice brings tears to my eyes. I hope the families of the fallen can take some comfort that he tried his best and I am sure fought for them to his last breath.
gryphonv
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jollyjacktar said:I read on The Chive today that one of the sailors, Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Rhem, went into the flooding compartments and got 20 sailors out, he then went back in for the rest of them. At this point, the ship was taking on too much water and the hatch had to be sealed, which sealed their fate but allowed the ship to float. Apparently FC1 Rhem, always put his "kids" and shipmates first and foremost before himself and was always looking out for them. His courage and sacrifice brings tears to my eyes. I hope the families of the fallen can take some comfort that he tried his best and I am sure fought for them to his last breath.
BZ to the FC1.
A nightmare scenario for anyone who has sailed on a ship and slept in a rack.
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tomahawk6 said:Details of the investigation are being closely held. However, a photo of the skippers cabin from the door way shows the utter destruction of the cabin.Commander Benson is lucky to be alive.
Yes he was actually squeezed outside the ship. The crew had to bust down and fold back his cabin door to extract him. He was brought to the bridge to take control but was too badly injured, tough bastard.
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I don't see any picture attached in your post, T6
J
jollyjacktar
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And the owner of the image doesn't allow hot links to the image.
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The Crystals version is that they flashed lights at the Fitzgerald to warn them.The destroyer didnt heed the warning. The main investigations are mum on this point.
http://news.trust.org/item/20170626101937-6xsul
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. warship struck by a container vessel in Japanese waters failed to respond to warning signals or take evasive action before a collision that killed seven of its crew, according to a report of the incident by the Philippine cargo ship's captain.
Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way into how the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the much larger ACX Crystal container ship collided in clear weather south of Tokyo Bay in the early hours of June 17.
In the first detailed account from one of those directly involved, the cargo ship's captain said the ACX Crystal had signalled with flashing lights after the Fitzgerald "suddenly" steamed on to a course to cross its path.
http://news.trust.org/item/20170626101937-6xsul
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. warship struck by a container vessel in Japanese waters failed to respond to warning signals or take evasive action before a collision that killed seven of its crew, according to a report of the incident by the Philippine cargo ship's captain.
Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way into how the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the much larger ACX Crystal container ship collided in clear weather south of Tokyo Bay in the early hours of June 17.
In the first detailed account from one of those directly involved, the cargo ship's captain said the ACX Crystal had signalled with flashing lights after the Fitzgerald "suddenly" steamed on to a course to cross its path.
gryphonv
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This don't pass the smell test to me. The Chrystal took almost an hour to report the collision, Hell it was almost 35 minutes before they turned around to return to the scene.
1:30 am Chrystal make a sharp right turn (this was believed to be when the collision occurred) 1:33 am Chrystal reduced speed suddenly
Then proceeds on.
2:05 am Chrystal turns back almost 180º
2:20 am Chrystal reports collision.
Those time frames don't add up to a competent crew on the Chrystal
Another article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-navy-asia-exclusive-idUSKBN19H13C
1:30 am Chrystal make a sharp right turn (this was believed to be when the collision occurred) 1:33 am Chrystal reduced speed suddenly
Then proceeds on.
2:05 am Chrystal turns back almost 180º
2:20 am Chrystal reports collision.
Those time frames don't add up to a competent crew on the Chrystal
Another article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-navy-asia-exclusive-idUSKBN19H13C
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