Excellent video and news report at the link. It looks like a lot of damage just below and to the side of the bridge.

First off I hope that all crew are safe. 

The report states that it collided with a Philippine merchant ship. (it wasn't shown in the video) this can mean many things, and depending of what type of merchant ship the size and tonnage can differ greatly. I assume on the info provided that it wasn't a mega container ship or a post panamax vessel. Those vessels are the size of an aircraft carrier and probably would have cut the US Naval vessel in half. 

She can't operate under her own power (dead in the water?) and is taking on water. Not good new at all. 

It's great that the Japanese Coast Guard is there and rendering assistance.

The video shows she's pumping fast and the report is that she is in no danger of sinking yet, but I agree with Hal, someone is going to be up to their neck in shit about this.

I hope all of her crew is safe and no one is hurt, but it looks like one hell of a hit on the upper side.

I researched the Philippine ships she collided with and it seems that it's the ACX Crystal, a container ship. Roughly 700 feet long, with a 90 foot beam and a DW of 39,565 tons. 

The Fitzgerald is 505 feet long with a 66 foot beam, no DW was given.

At least she wasn't a monster. 39,000 tons is not that big and she must have been riding high in the water from the looks of how high up she hit the Fitzgerald. Then again the Destroyer is built low and sleek. Still one wonders, even in the middle of the night, how they managed to hit? Only 56 nautical miles off the coast (if that's near where they struck) would suggest busy waters, but still?

That is a very busy shipping area, Randy...

She's a monster compared to a Destroyer Randy.  The DWT on a modern Destroyer is between 12,000 and 14,000 Tons.  An old Fletcher Class (DWT of around 8,000) would have been sunk within 30 seconds probably with the loss of all hands.

That's true. My baby brother (well, he's 53 now (but still my little brother!)) served on the USS Guam back in the 80's. It was an Assault ship which was the last of the old Iwo Jima Class. He was on it when it was the Flagship for the Grenada invasion and then when it went to Lebanon. It was 19,000 tons but even it probably would have been crushed because of the old steel.

I keep harping on this story a bit because I can remember how scared my late mother was whenever he was at sea. She was glad when he transferred to the Kennedy to work on it's retrofit so he stayed in Norfolk.

My baby brother (well, he's 53 now (but still my little brother!)

Me too guy.  Mine is 64 and I still think of him as (as my mother told me) "your little brother that you have to look out for".  I just was there yesterday for the funeral of his wife, a fine lady who was loved by everyone who knew her.  He is recovering from cancer surgery and chemo, and isn't at his best right now either.  I like to think that we (his friends and family) "and about five really strong joints" have gotten him through the pain.  I do know that, back in 2006, when our mother died and I was a total wreck, he was there for me and, now, I can't do any less for him.

Randy, if you should happen to be in this area around July 22nd, let me know.  A lot of us, who would normally consider you to be one of the enemy, would love to see you if you happen to be in the area, when we are getting together.  Contact me on Private Notes.

Once he's your little brother he's that for life, as I constantly remind him. Our mother died of bone cancer a year go last New Years Eve and Tim was the strong one. She made him the executor because he lives in Michigan and I live in California and he did a fantastic job. Besides he is without a doubt one of the most honest men I have ever met and that's not because he's my brother. He just is. Anyway where do you live and if my travel take me in the area I will stop in to say hi and leave politics behind.

I'm just south of I-96, about halfway between GR and Lansing.

It'd be nice to get up there. It was 114 today and it's supposed to be 121 on Tuesday. Both in the shade. Bit warm. Only supposed to be about 102 or 103 this time of year. Maybe I can talk the wife into it to get away from the heat? We shall see.

Thank you, Japanese Coast Guard!  I hope everyone is all right and going to survive!

Someone will get persecuted over this.  There should be no excuse for it in this age.  The sky is crawling with satellites that were put there to keep this from happening.

It's gotta be tough to make a mistake and then have it displayed for all the world to see. 

I agree. Whoever was on watch at the time is gonna have some 'splainin ta do.

That applies to both ships - Somebody was sleeping at the radar if not on actual watch. 

MSNBC has just reported that one sailor was medi-evaced off the ship and seven are "unaccounted for". I'm hoping the "unaccounted for" report turns out to be wrong. My thoughts are with them all.

From the AP:

TOKYO (AP) -- Seven crew members are missing and one injured after a U.S. Navy destroyer collided early Saturday morning with a merchant ship off the coast of Japan, the country's coast guard reported.

Footage from the Japanese TV network NHK showed heavy damage to the mid-right side of the Navy ship and a person in a stretcher being lifted to a helicopter.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said on its Facebook page that the number of injuries is still being determined.

The Japan Coast Guard said it received an emergency call from a Philippine-registered container ship ACX Crystal around 2:20 a.m. (1720 GMT Friday) that it had collided with the USS Fitzgerald southwest of Yokusuka, Japan.

Coast guard official Takeshi Aikawa said seven crew members are unaccounted for, and one had a head injury. Further details of his or her condition were not known.

Relatives of crew members were awaiting news of their loved ones.

"Of course we're nervous and scared and just praying," Rita Schrimsher said by telephone from Athens, Alabama.

Her grandson Jackson Schrimsher is a 23-year-old sailor aboard the USS Fitzgerald. She said she last communicated with him via Facebook messenger on Wednesday.

The Navy's 7th Fleet said the ship experienced flooding in some areas and is heading back to Yokosuka. The fleet said the Fitzgerald has limited propulsion, and the ship suffered damage on the starboard side below the water line.

Aikawa said the US ship is partially flooded because of damage. So far no damage or injuries have been reported on the container ship, he said. NHK reported that the merchant ship had scratches on the left side of its bow.

The Philippine ship is 29,060 tons and is 222.6 meters (730 feet) long, the coast guard said.

The Navy said that the collision occurred 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, a city south of Tokyo that is home to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet. A U.S. defense official said there is flooding in three compartments of the Fitzgerald.

The fleet said the USS Dewey, medical assistance and two Navy tugs were being dispatched as quickly as possible and that Naval aircraft were being readied to help. The Japan Coast Guard dispatched five patrol ships and an aircraft carrying medics to the site for search and rescue operations.

The Navy's Pacific Fleet said the extent of injuries and damage to the Fitzgerald are being determined, and the incident is under investigation.

---

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Cathy Bussewitz and Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this story.

My little Brother was a sailor on the USS Guam during Grenada and off Lebanon and I can only imagine what the families of all of the sailors of the Fitzgerald are going through until they receive word of their loved ones. My thoughts are with them and I am hoping that there is just some sort of terrible miss-count.

Indeed, let's hope that the unaccounted for are safe.

I admit that I am not the knower of all things nautical, but here is the damage to the bow on the ACX Crystal:

...and here is the damage to the side of the USS Fitzgerald:

There are a few media outlets reporting that 'the American ship smashed into the cargo ship'.  Wouldn't these photos suggest that it was the other way around? 

 It looks like the Fitzgerald cut across the bow of the Crystal...

That is just my opinion but that is what it suggests. 

That's what it looks like to me also. I honestly don't know if a military ship has the automatic right of way as opposed to the smaller vessel yielding to the larger one as it is supposedly more maneuverable. Either way it does look like the Fitzgerald did not yield to the Crystal, considering where the damage is to it.

Also the AP says the Fitzgerald has three flooded compartments. I hate to think of it, but they would seem to be the most likely location of the unaccounted for sailors. I sure hope not.

hosted.ap

From the update:

It wasn't clear yet what caused the nighttime collision between the destroyer and the container ship four times its size. Most of the more than 200 sailors would have been asleep in their berthings, some of which were reportedly flooded.

That last line is what makes me fear the worse for the missing sailors. If a compartment starts to take on a lot of water the water-tight doors close automatically to save the ship and if you are in that compartment there really isn't much hope for you. My little brother told me it's one of the biggest dangers and fears of being a sailor. Still, until they say something definite there is still hope.

OK, this is the fourth time that I've tried to make this comment.  The first two times went down after I hit the wrong button, the fourth was due to a power outage (we have a thunderstorm overhead right now.  I think that what I'm writing might be informative but, who can tell if I can't make it post.

Randy,

Right now, I'm not going to re do a long and involved post until I know that weather conditions make it reasonably certain that I can post it.  I think it will be informative and important, so I will try again tomorrow.  For now, I only have the time to say that, whether it is a military vessel or not has no bearing on whether it has the Right of Way.  What gives Right of Way is the relative positions of the ships at the time of collision and how they approached one another.  I'll try to post more tomorrow.  Sorry about not being able to do so right now, but the lightning has the last word.  I think you'll find it interesting.

I look forward to it. Watch out for the storm!

"There are a few media outlets reporting that 'the American ship smashed into the cargo ship'.  Wouldn't these photos suggest that it was the other way around?"

Yes, unless the destroyer was travelling sideways at high speed.

The person who was med-evaced off the ship was the CO! CDR Bryce Benson.

I wonder if he was the officer of the watch?

The fact that this was caused by a civilian ship that was able to get that close to a US Military vessel, especially in light of the USS Cole incident, is very troubling.

bbc

Marine traffic records suggest the ACX Crystal made a sudden U-turn roughly 25 minutes before the collision with the USS Fitzgerald. It is not clear why it changed course.

Marine traffic records suggest it was travelling at 14.6 knots (27km/h) at the time of the collision.

It looks like the Crystal made a sudden and inexplicable U-Turn 25 minutes before the crash. If this is true then the Fitzgerald may not have been able to get out of the way in time. Still, 25 minutes is a long time, so it would seem that they should have been able to do something.

There will be a lot of speculation on this, and the US Navy will be doing a very intensive investigation. At some point we'll find out what caused this crash.

Hopefully they will find the missing sailors, soon.

Sadly, since the crash was into two of the berthing compartments in the middle of the night which flooded, I have a feeling they will find the missing sailors and that it won't be pleasant. Still, at least it would be better then having them lost at sea. A small condolence for the families, but something anyway.

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

As feared the bodies of all of the seven missing sailors were found in the flooded berthing compartments. It's a small consolation that at least their families and loved ones will be able to conduct decent funerals for these heroes and they were not lost at sea. My thoughts are with their families and friends at this difficult time and may they all rest in peace.

nbcnews

RIP

That is a sad end to this. Bad enough to lose their life in battle, to have it happen in an accident on a warship makes the deaths a little more incomprehensible. 

I'm so sorry to hear this!  May God bless their families and friends!

I am curious about something. I know that the U.S. Navy will conduct it's own investigation, but this happened between a U.S. flagged military ship and a Filipino flagged ship that has been contracted by the Japanese in Japanese waters. So what sea court has jurisdiction in deciding guilt? The Japanese? Obviously there will be a tribunal of some type to establish guilt for the deaths of the sailors and possible criminal charges. Seven sailors are dead and their families are going to want to point the finger at someone. Then there are the insurance costs. The damage to the Destroyer is extensive and will be costly.

If this had happened in international waters I know there is some type of international court that handles these cases, but it was not in international waters.

It is going to depend on where the accident happened, intl water or Japanese territorial waters. Generally this would fall under ''Admiralty Law'' not to be confused with the ''Law of the High Seas''...

It's a very very specialized part of the law and has international ramifications. 

I assume there is a treaty or treaties of some type to which we are signatories. This actually could be a learning experience.

When the investigations are complete and blame is assigned a settlement will be arranged, IMO. 

There are no treaties between the US and the Philippines covering anything like this, Randy.

What is perplexing is from what I've read about the ship is that it is one of the most advanced ships in the world with all of it's state of the art radar/sensors etc. How in the world it didn't pick up on the Crystal is strange.

It's just plain bizarre. If it was the Filipino ships fault then I don't know what can be done as far as justice or compensation, even though it's contracted to work for Japan. If it was the Fitzgerald and the Commander was asleep and and some Lt Jg was on watch and screwed up his or her career is over and he or she may be facing serious time in the brig. I just hope the families get the compensation they deserve.

I guess the one thing we can be thankful for is that the container ship was what we call a local or coastal runner. She was not one of the Trans Pacific  or panamax container ships. They are the or bigger than an aircraft carrier. The newest of these Panamax EEE series are 1312 ft long a beam of 194 ft, 165,000 DWT and can carry up to 19,000 containers. 

These ships were just being launched when I retired. Now there is another generation that are even a bit larger. 

Anyhow, it is a sad time for the Navy and the families of those lost.