Navy Ship Runs Aground

[erpowers]

I know this is an old story, but I was just wondering if anyone is going to be punished for the ship running aground. It seems to me that someone had to make a mistake for this to happen. So will someone have to be removed from duty, demoted, or reprimanded?

[Captain Hilts]

1. It usually costs a captain his job. The navy is ever more quick to dismiss CO's these days...

because there are so few ships to command and a lot of folks wanting those posts.

[Thothmes]

11. The Captain of that ship was not relieved

He was able to prove that the Navy navigation chart was in error. Also Chester Nimitz grounded a ship off of Cavity Navy Yard in the Philippines. He also avoided relief for cause because of inaccuracies in the charts he was navigating by.

[Captain Hilts]

15. And "Whiskey" Jim McRae hit rocks off Maine with a brand new IOWA...

but he was tight with FDR. It also hit some land around San Francisco.

But, today, it will almost certainly cost you your command. I am subscribed to NAVY TIMES, and CO's are being dismissed for using the wrong fork at a formal dinner. It's amazing.

[Thothmes]

20. It did back in those day also

But the Navy has always recogized that some accidents are beyond the power of the ships Captains to prevent. Most however are errors in judgment either by the captain or his officers.

[Captain Hilts]

17. The "Missouri Trench" is now a navigtion point in Norfolk. nt

[old mark]

14. They used to be carreer ending events...

makes the Navy look bad, ya know...

mark

[slackmaster]

2. Usually the Commanding Officer is relieved of command

And never gets promoted, and never commands a US Navy vessel again.

[cbayer]

3. FWIW, they were able to remove it this morning, so at least it won't just be

salvage. However, I suspect that the chief officers and those in charge of navigation have a lot of questions to answers.

:hi:

[ferrous wheel]

4. Obeying every message from those damn GPS units often leads to trouble.

:rofl:

[ThomWV]

7. Actually it almost never leads to trouble

I have been using GPS units, and their predecessor LORAN-C on my boats in open water for a lot of years and I have to tell you, GPS will very rarely lead you into trouble if you have any idea at all how to use it and US Navy Captains and the crews they command have a very good idea how to use it.

[ferrous wheel]

13. Argh. I was making a joke - based on the many reports of -drivers- following

gps -road- directions, turn by turn and ending up in less than desirable locations. Obviously inapplicable to maritime and aviation situations. glurk.

[ThomWV]

5. One wonders with today's charting and GPS how in hell that happened

A grounding can be a very bad thing for the vessel too by the way. You can break a ship's back by trying to suspend one unevenly.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Was it determined to be human error?

And not some mechanical problem?

Error with the charts? Etc.?

[catnhatnh]

8. Of course people will be punished...

Because:
A.Damage has occurred.
B.The people involved were military, not politicians.
C.We are talking an ACTUAL ship, not the metaphorical "Ship of State".

Anyone care to name any Congressional boat handlers who could use a dose of this kind of discipline???

[Blue_Tires]

22. you forgot D: It was in public sight

[Thothmes]

9. Based on what I have seen over my career in the Navy

the Captain and Executive Officers will be relieved for Cause. The Officer of the Deck and the possibly the Junior officer of the Deck may be relieved for cause. The Navigation officer may be relieved. In addition to relief for cause, Court martials or non judicial punishment are a possiblity. The careers of all of these officers are effectivly over.

[dgibby]

10. There will be an investigation.

Good change the CO will be relieved of command, spend the rest of his career as a desk jockey; however, if his last name is McCain, all bets are off!

On edit: I saw two CO's relieved for cause. Not a pretty sight!

[NutmegYankee]

12. Commanding officer of Port Royal relieved of duties

Capt. John Carroll, commanding officer of the guided missile cruiser Port Royal, has been temporarily relieved of duties, the Navy said today.
Advertisement

Rear Adm. Dixon Smith, commander of Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, ordered the move pending results of an investigation to determine how the $1 billion warship became grounded off the airport's Reef Runway last week.

Capt. John Lauer III, currently assigned to the staff of Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, has been temporarily assigned as the Port Royal's commanding officer.

The Navy freed the Port Royal early this morning after the guided missile cruiser spent three days aground.


Link: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090209/BREAKING/90209020

[Captain Hilts]

16. Famous story of a minor collision at sea of two subs in Long Island Sound...

The two subs basically exchanged paint. No significant damage.

Well, there was a Board of Inquiry.
And another Board of Inquiry.
And at the third the captain of one of the subs - who was a member of THE Morgan family - stood up and said he wasn't going to attend any more inquiries about the incident. If it was that big a deal "I'll buy you a new sub!" And stomped out.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. these were sea trials, so the ONLY way the Captain could

save his career, as well as the rest of the Nav Staff... and that is a long shot, would be a failure of systems during trials... why trials are done

Otherwise the Captain, his Navigator, and his assistant navigator can start looking for a job, at a minimum

[Thothmes]

21. Dont forget the Executive Officer,

the Officer of the Deck and possibly the Junior Officer of the Deck.

[lpbk2713]

19. If rethuglicans ran that ship ...

... it would have all been the helmsman's fault.

:rofl:

[Blue_Tires]

23. so does anyone know HOW this happened?

i thought there were a bunch of computer safety nets to prevent this sort of thing

[B Calm]

24. No big deal.. Just wait for high tide and the problem is fixed!