Navy Ship Collision: UPDATE: Was It Deliberate?

Started by Solar, June 17, 2017, 09:50:04 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Solar

SEVEN U.S. Navy sailors STILL missing from destroyer collision
Looks like the entire hull is bent. God, let them be safe.





http://www.c7f.navy.mil/Media/News/Display/Article/1217773/uss-fitzgerald-returns-to-yokosuka/

PHILIPPINE SEA -- USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), aided by tug boats, returned to Yokosuka at 6:15 p.m. this evening, approximately 16 hours after it was involved in a collision with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal while operating about 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, Japan. Seven of Fitzgerald's crew are still unaccounted for.

Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, along with many family members, were on the pier when the ship arrived.

"This has been a difficult day," Aucoin said. "I am humbled by the bravery and tenacity of the Fitzgerald crew. Now that the ship is in Yokosuka, I ask that you help the families by maintaining their privacy as we continue the search for our shipmates."

"I want to highlight the extraordinary courage of the Fitzgerald Sailors who contained the flooding, stabilized the ship, and sailed her back to Yokosuka despite the exceptionally trying circumstances," said Rear Adm. Charles Williams, Commander, Task Force 70.

Shortly after the collision the U.S. made a request for support from the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), which were the first on scene and continues to be lead for search and rescue efforts. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) ships JS Ohnami, JS Hamagiri, and JS Enshu were sent to join the JCG ships Izanami and Kano. USS Dewey (DDG 105) served as an escort for Fitzgerald and has also returned to Yokosuka. A U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft is working in concert with two JMSDF Helicopters and a JMSDF P-3 Orion aircraft to search the area. Names of the missing Sailors are being withheld until the families have been notified.

The collision affected Fitzgerald's forward starboard side above and below the water line, causing significant damage and associated flooding to two berthing spaces, a machinery space, and the radio room, which damage control teams quickly began dewatering. Though the ship is back in Yokosuka it remains uncertain as to how long it will take to gain access to the spaces in order to methodically continue the search for the missing.

Once the ship arrived in Yokosuka, divers began inspecting the damage and developing a plan for repairs and inspection of the spaces.

Three patients required medical evacuation from the ship. One was Cmdr. Bryce Benson, Fitzgerald's commanding officer, who was transferred to U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka by a JMSDF helicopter. All three Sailors are awake and will remain under observation at the hospital until further notice. Other injured are being assessed.

The USS Fitzgerald Emergency Family Assistance Center will remain open for chaplain and counselor care indefinitely, 24/7, on the Command Readiness Center's 4th floor (across from the commissary) - in the same classroom where the Area Orientation Brief (AOB) is hosted.

Interested family should call DSN at: 315-243-1728, 1729, 1730, 1731, 1732, 1733, 1734, 1735 or Commercial at: +81-46-816-1728, 1729, 1730, 1731, 1732, 1733, 1734, 1735

Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Billy's bayonet

Filipino's pilot a ship like they drive a jeepney through Manila
Evil operates best when under a disguise

WHEN A CRIME GOES UNPUNISHED THE WORLD IS UNBALANCED

WHEN A WRONG IS UNAVENGED THE HEAVENS LOOK DOWN ON US IN SHAME

IMPEACH BIDEN

Bronx

Although this happened in the middle of the night covered in darkness and the Sailors could be lost at sea maybe, just maybe some might be on board stuck in a cubby-hole. This is way above my pay grade and i'm sure they already have looked at this possibility.

This is one of them freak accidents that should have been avoided with both ships having 21 century technology.

My heart and prayers go out to all that have been affected by this accident.
People sleep peacefully at night because there are a few tough men prepared to do violence on their behalf.

A foolish man complains about his torn pockets.

A wise man uses it to scratch his balls.

Solar

Quote from: Billy's bayonet on June 17, 2017, 11:10:22 AM
Filipino's pilot a ship like they drive a jeepney through Manila
It's beginning to appear there might be a dereliction of duty charge coming against the US Captain and not because the Navy was at fault, but because no one woke the captain during an approach of another ship.
Sooo many questions to be answered yet, but one thing is certain, unless the other ship changed course abruptly, why was it not tracked and evasive maneuvers taken beforehand?
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Solar

WTF was that Cargo Ship doing? Look at the track the cargo ship took when this all took shape.
Looks deliberate!!!





In November 2015, Benson reported as the Executive Officer of the USS Fitzgerald as part of the Surface Navy's Command Fleet Up program.

On May 13 this year, he relieved Commander Robert Shu as the Commanding Officer of the destroyer.

According to a report from the Navy Times, Executive Officer Commander Sean Babbitt has assumed command after the collision.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4612334/USS-Fitzgerald-involved-collision-merchant-vessel.html
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Solar

#5
Been doing some digging.... :glare:

"It was traveling at a speed of 12.4 knots and was still in motion in the hours after the collision."




Looks good on my screen, let me know if it forces you to scroll.

https://twitter.com/esneet4113/status/875948867099004929/photo/1

http://heavy.com/news/2017/06/acx-crystal-uss-fitzgerald-tracking-owner-flag-schedule-container-ship-photo/
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

walkstall

Quote from: Solar on June 17, 2017, 04:42:52 PM

Looks good on my screen, let me know if it forces you to scroll.

Looks good on this end.
A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.- James Freeman Clarke

Always remember "Feelings Aren't Facts."

Solar

Quote from: walkstall on June 17, 2017, 04:51:32 PM
Looks good on this end.
Good, I wanted to leave it large for better detail.
I've been following this story religiously since it unfolded and (I'm guessing here) that the Fitzgerald was monitoring the cargo ships behavior, possibly because it wasn't responding to hails from other ships or the Fitz itself, so they pulled alongside when it the ship abruptly struck the Fitz then went on it's way.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Solar

Video appears to show the cargo ship avoided the Fitz, then made an abrupt U-Turn, hit the ship, corrected course then left the scene in a hurry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJPt3pZ9zlU
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Solar

Gets even weirder. Collision took place at approximately 0230 UTC, note the speed the vessel was going from 2300 UTC to approx. 0230 UTC before the collision, was going under 1 knot, then speed increases 2.0 knots at approx. time they collided with the Fitz. then picks up speed to 13.2 knots at 0300 UTC where it continues on its way to its final destination.

Am I seeing this correctly, it's as if they waited to attack?

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:722169/mmsi:548789000/imo:9360611/vessel:ACX_CRYSTAL
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Cryptic Bert

This stinks and I'm not talking about the fish. Just  look at the captains route.

Solar

Quote from: The Boo Man... on June 17, 2017, 07:28:40 PM
This stinks and I'm not talking about the fish. Just  look at the captains route.
Yes, there is sooo much wrong here.
This guy seems to have analyzed the data better than I, so I'll post what he thinks happened.

Those who know my blog will not be disapointed; of course I want to show you the minute-by-minute account of the ACX Crystal's journey and try and tease out what we can from it. Above you have the AIS data from what I believe covers the entire horrific event, and the ACX Crystal leaving the scene of the collision. Yes. LEAVING the scene, only to return an hour later. I'll get back to that.  I believe this shows that 1) nobody was on the bridge of the Crystal and 2) "Iron Mike" was in controls for a full 15min *after* the collision; see item 1.  There have been no reports that any distress call went out until after the ACX Crystal came back at 17:30Z, an hour after the collision.

Some people hate analogies, but here's one anyway.  If you were in the driver seat of a self-driving car, hit another car, and your self-driving car kept driving along the road... how long would it take you to hit the off button?  Well, it took the crew of the Crystal, who I'm positive were not on the bridge, 15 minutes to find the autopilot off button.  Either they were very disoriented by the impact, or they weren't on the bridge to begin with, and had to get up to the bridge in order to shut down the autopilot.

16:27Z
All is well, the ship is on a 70° course, sailing at a fast 18.5kn.

16:30Z
Course has changed +18°, speed dropped slightly, 1.2kn. The collision has likely already happened

16:33Z
Course is now +65° off original, and speed is down to 11.2kn.  Something is clearly wrong, the collision has likely happened, and the 30,000ton container ship has been spun 65° off course by the impact or thrust of the USS Fitzgerald's engines.

16:36Z
It gets weirder. Speed is back up to 14.6kn, and the ship is coming back on course, now "only" +48° off her original course.  Did the ACX Crystal spear the USS Fitzgerald, and just shake it off? That's right, after smashing into another ship, the 30,000 ton container ship is swinging around and increasing speed.  If anyone was at the helm, this would not be happening.

16:38Z
ACX Crystal has now swung around in 2 minutes to a course of 41°, -22° off the original course, and is seemingly trying to correct its course toward her original destination.  Almost like nobody is at the helm, and the ship is being controlled by Iron Mike (the autopilot)

16:40Z
Course corrected, back on a heading of 70°, speed is up to 15.3kn, and the ship is steaming away from the accident. It's been ten minutes since the collision, and nobody has disengaged the autopilot yet.  How do I know? Because they haven't reduced speed or turned around.

16:43Z, 16:46Z
Course corrections, but still no slowing down, now up to 15.4kn. How far are the crew quarters from the bridge on that ship?

17:52Z onward
There is a 14 minute gap that I can't explain, did they turn off AIS?
From this time forward, regular updates keep coming in at 2-3min intervals.  Speed and course changes seem to suggest they were looking for survivors or trying to otherwise assist.

In conclusion I have absolutely no idea what happened out there; I'm trying to think through the story with the available evidence and string it together.  By my understanding of the events I believe there was nobody on the bridge of he ACX Crystal at the time of the collision, and for ~15 minutes afterwards showed no signs of being manned with anyone on the bridge as the course auto-corrected, and increased speed, moving way from the impact site, trying to come back up to the original speed. The damage on the bow, below the water line, slowed the ship down from it's original 18kn due to drag.  Knowing when the Japanese Coast Guard was called is a detail that has not been revealed yet, and we all know there's a recording of it out there somewhere.

I'll update as I find out more, or more evidence is revealed.

More details at his blog.
http://www.vesselofinterest.com/2017/06/mapping-acx-crystals-collision-with-uss.html
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

taxed

#PureBlood #TrumpWon

Solar

Quote from: taxed on June 17, 2017, 08:03:12 PM
Very interesting..............
They sure are being tight lipped about this.
His analysis on it is that they first passed the Fitz, but from what  I'm seeing, it looks like they missed it and came back. God, let's hope I'm wrong.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

walkstall

Bodies of 7 Missing U.S. Sailors Found in Destroyer Damaged in Collision

snip~
The bodies of seven U.S. sailors missing after a Navy destroyer collided with a container ship off Japan were found in flooded berthing compartments, the U.S. 7th Fleet and a defense official said Saturday.


more @
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bodies-7-missing-u-s-sailors-found-damaged-destroyer-after-n773721?cid=par-xfinity_20170618
A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.- James Freeman Clarke

Always remember "Feelings Aren't Facts."