The US Navy can't stop hitting things

[Jaddison]

Wow most of the people on the bridge had no idea how to transfer control and weren't trained on the system.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-nav ... navy-says/

[Rip]

Unthinkable for seamanship proficiency to have fallen so fast.

The tech that was supposed to make things safer has made the humans complacent.

[Isgrimnur]

Foxtrot Alpha

The GAO reported that its analysis of the difference between U.S-based ships and those in Japan was staggering. For U.S.-based cruisers and destroyers, the Navy plans on having them available for deployment 41 percent of the time, with the remaining 59 percent for maintenance and training. The ships based in Japan planned to spend 67 percent at sea by contrast, with just 33 percent of the time slotted for maintenance. There was all of zero percent of the time allotted for training.
...
With a pace like that, it was only a matter of time before an incident occurred. In fact, according to the Navy report on the two collisions, the USS Fitzgerald had a near collision in May and no effort was made by the destroyer’s command to determine how the incident almost happened. With no investigation, there were also no corrective actions.

[Combustible Lemur]

really interesting podcast that interviewers Ray Mabus, Navy secretary about the navy's staffing issues and the wrecks. also a good primer on cuba

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Daehawk]

Another boo boo but this time its not really their fault.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us ... at-n822101

[em2nought]

Wow most of the people on the bridge had no idea how to transfer control and weren't trained on the system.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-nav ... navy-says/

Seamanship is secondary to the USN, making sure their social engineering is spot on, that's the main reason they exist now.

If controls on ships don't look like this anymore then the engineers are idiots.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

Eight people have been rescued and are in “good condition” after a U.S. Navy transporter plane carrying 11 crew and passengers crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said Wednesday.

The search for the remaining three people is continuing.
...
The C2-A Greyhound aircraft was on a routine flight from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is in the Philippine Sea on exercises with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force.

It crashed at 2:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. The cause of the crash was not immediately known and an investigation would be carried out, it said.

The eight who were rescued were transferred to the Reagan for medical evaluation. They were later described by the Navy to be in “good condition.”

[Paingod]

Jeebus. So now the Navy is crashing into the water?!

I hope they find and recover the other three missing.

[Rip]

Flying big-ass airplanes back and forth between a floating airstrip is inherently very dangerous.

Just as likely to be some type of equipment failure so I wouldn't start pointing fingers yet.

I hope they locate the three missing quickly.

[Isgrimnur]

Search ends

The US Navy stopped the search and rescue mission to find three sailors who went missing after their plane crashed into the Philippine Sea on Wednesday, a statement said.
...
The Navy is withholding the names of the three sailors pending next of kin notifications.
...
The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known, according to an initial statement from the US Navy 7th Fleet. "I have been informed from the US military that engine trouble may have caused (the crash)," Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Wednesday.

[Isgrimnur]

Navy

After notifying their families that extensive search and rescue efforts had ended, the Navy identified Lt. Steven Combs, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) Airman Matthew Chialastri and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Bryan Grosso as the three Sailors lost in a C-2A Greyhound crash on Wednesday.
...
Combs, a native of Florida, was assigned to the “Providers” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 30 and embarked aboard Ronald Reagan as part of Carrier Air Wing Five. His previous duty assignments include the “Greyhawks” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 120, the Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Point, in Portsmouth, N.H., and Training Wing 4, in Corpus Christi, Texas. His awards include the National Defense Ribbon and the Navy Battle “E” Ribbon.

Chialastri, a native of Louisiana, was assigned to Ronald Reagan. His previous duty stations include USS America (LHA 6), Patrol Squadron Thirty (VP-30), the “Pro’s Nest,” in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Point, in Portsmouth, N.H. His awards include the National Defense Ribbon.

Grosso, a native of Florida was assigned to Ronald Reagan. His previous duty stations include the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Pensacola, Fla., and the Naval Recruit Training Center in Great Lakes, Ill. His awards include the National Defense Ribbon.

[AWS260]

Charges:

After careful deliberation, today Admiral Frank Caldwell announced that Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) charges are being preferred against individual service members in relation to the collisions.

USS Fitzgerald: Courts-martial proceedings/Article 32 hearings are being convened to review evidence supporting possible criminal charges against Fitzgerald members. The members' ranks include one Commander (the Commanding Officer), two Lieutenants, and one Lieutenant Junior Grade. The charges include dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel, and negligent homicide.

USS John S. McCain: Additionally, for John S. McCain, one court- martial proceeding/Article 32 hearing is being convened to review evidence supporting possible criminal charges against one Commander (the Commanding Officer). The charges include dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel, and negligent homicide. Also, one charge of dereliction of duty was preferred and is pending referral to a forum for a Chief Petty Officer.

[Isgrimnur]

USNI

The Secretary of the Navy has decided the former head of U.S. surface forces will retire as a two-star rear admiral not a three-star vice admiral, according to two sources familiar with the decision.

Vice Adm. Tom Rowden was recommended to be retired as a rear admiral by Richard V. Spencer last week, and the final determination for Rowden’s rank is now before Secretary of Defense James Mattis, one source told USNI News.

Rowden’s retirement determination is considered a punitive measure for his role in the conditions in the surface force that contributed to the fatal collisions of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) that resulted in the deaths of 17 sailors last year.
...
Adm. James F. Caldwell, the officer in charge of disciplinary actions related to the collisions, recommended that Rowden be retired early from his position as the as commander of U.S. Surface Forces (SURFOR) and U.S. Surface Force Pacific (SURFPAC) in January.

Caldwell reported his findings to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and other Navy leaders that included unspecified disciplinary actions for Rowden that resulted in the early turnover, several sources confirmed to USNI News at the time.

In addition to Rowden, former U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Scott Swift and former U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin retired early as part of the fallout from the collisions.

[em2nought]

USNI

The Secretary of the Navy has decided the former head of U.S. surface forces will retire as a two-star rear admiral not a three-star vice admiral, according to two sources familiar with the decision.

At least it's quite a step up for the USN from blaming the supposed gay enlisted guy in turret two for everything. It was also starting to look like the blame game was the reason the USN left more women into the ranks. So, good on the USN for a change. SecNav should take some of the responsibility too, he's at the top.

Now who at the top of the chain made the decision to retire aircraft with no suitable replacements other than less than mediocre in most chores F-35s? Do they even have anything to replace the S-3? I think not!

[Isgrimnur]

It's contagious:

The Royal Norwegian Navy was dealt a devastating blow in the early morning hours of November 10 when one of its five capital Nansen-class frigates collided with a fully loaded oil tanker more than 10 times its size while returning NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise.

The frigate Helge Ingstad lost steering and drifted at five knots onto the rocky shore near Norwegian port of Sture, north of Bergen, saving the ship from sinking in the Fjord, according to media reports. The crew of 137 was forced to abandon ship. Ingstad is now resting on its side on three points while crews move to secure it.
...
The situation is made all the more painful as evidence mounts that Ingstad was repeatedly warned to alter course before the collision and failed to take corrective action to avoid the collision.

Local media reported that the Maltese-flagged tanker Sola TS identified Ingstad and tried to avoid the disaster. The reports also revealed details that show that Ingstad did not have a firm grasp of the surface picture it was sailing into.

The disaster developed quickly, with Ingstad transiting the channel inbound at 17 knots and Sola TS traveling outbound at 7 knots.

Sola TS raised the Ingstad multiple times and was discussing the emerging danger with shore-based Central Station, according to the Norwegian paper Verdens Gang. The responses from Ingstad appear confused, at one point saying that if they altered the course it would take them too close to the shoals, which prompted Sola TS to respond that they had to do something or a collision would be unavoidable.

Contributing to the confusion, the Ingstad appears to have been transiting with its Automatic Identification System switched off. That seems to have delayed recognition by central control and the other ships in the area that Ingstad was inbound and heading into danger, the account in VG seems to indicate.

The AIS being off recalls the collision of the U.S. destroyer Fitzgerald in 2017. Fitzgerald inadvertently crossed an outbound shipping channel with its AIS turned off, which the U.S. Navy found was a contributing factor in the collision.

[Daehawk]

I know its not necessarily true but I just want to yell "Why dont these idiots look out their porthole!!??"

[Isgrimnur]

War is Boring

The Navy has enacted nearly all the changes recommended in two 2017 reports it ordered after two fatal collisions at sea involving U.S. warships, the vice chief of naval operations recently told Congress.

Of the 117 changes the reports recommended — later trimmed to 103 — 91 were put in place, according to a Feb. 25 memorandum to Congress by Adm. William Moran. Those changes were meant to address years of underfunded operations, an increased pace of operations and an erosion of safety standards, according to the reports.

[LawBeefaroni]

Now with Russians!

The United States and Russian navies are at odds over an apparent near collision in the Pacific Friday with each side blaming the other.

The US and Russian warships came somewhere between 50 feet and 165 feet of each other, according to the two opposing reports, with both sides alleging their ships were forced to perform emergency maneuvers to avoid a collision, which can be seen in video and a picture of the event obtained by CNN.

7th Fleet again, I think.

[Isgrimnur]

They do have a rather large AOR.

[LawBeefaroni]

When I first heard, I assumed it was the McCain again and Putin was doing a favor for Trump by trying to hide it permanently.