Navy Punishes Leadership of USS Fitzgerald Following Deadly Collision Off Japan
The Navy on Thursday announced punishments for the leadership of the USS Fitzgerald, a destroyer that crashed into a merchant ship in Japanese waters in June leaving seven sailors dead.
The ship's commanding officer, executive officer and senior enlisted officer were all relieved of their responsibilities aboard the ship, Navy officials said.
The admiral of the 7th Fleet felt that “serious mistakes were made by the crew" of the Fitzgerald during the June collision with a Philippine container ship that led to the death of seven sailors, according to Admiral William Moran, the vice chief of naval operations.
He said "the bridge team" — the sailors responsible for keeping watch on the ship's bridge to ensure it remains safe — had "lost situational awareness," which left them unable to respond quickly enough to avoid the disaster once the oncoming container ship was spotted, according to the Associated Press.
All three of the ship’s leaders will face administrative action at a so-called “Captain’s Mast” meeting on Friday in Japan, officials said. Additionally, up to a dozen other sailors will face non-judicial punishment.
While not an admission of guilt for the June accident, the administrative action is a strong indication that the U.S. Navy was at fault for the collision with the ACX Crystal, a Philippines-registered cargo ship.
Two other naval investigations continue into the crash, where the Navy destaroyer collided with the merchant ship southwest of Yokosuka, Japan, in the early hours of June 17.
The bodies of the sailors were found in flooded compartments, the U.S. 7th Fleet said the following day.
Those seven sailors were posthumously promoted on Wednesday. Twenty-eight other sailors were able to escape.
A Navy review of the incident found that the deaths could not be blamed on misconduct and commended the response of the ship's crew following the collision, according to the AP.
"No damage control efforts, however, would have prevented Berthing 2 from flooding completely within the first two minutes following the collision, or the deadly circumstances in that situation," the review said.
The berthing cabin of the ship flooded within 90 seconds of impact and many sailors behaved heroically to save the ship from sinking. The captain, at one point, was hanging onto the side of the ship and had to be rescued by the crew. His cabin was directly impacted by the collision with the cargo ship.
"They had to fight the ship to keep it above the surface. So it was traumatic," U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Admiral Joseph P. Aucoin said at a press conference at the time, "I can't tell you how proud I am of the crew for what they did to save the ship," he said.
Tags
Who is online
66 visitors
Well, too little too late for some. I'll have to rely on our resident Navy vets to parse out what happened and why. Glad to see they are at least taking action.
What were the solid results of the inquiry? First:
The ship's commanding officer, executive officer and senior enlisted officer were all relieved of their responsibilities aboard the ship, Navy officials said.
The Captain, while not facing Court Martial, will never hold another command again. He may as well resign since, essentially, his career is over (before 1900, he would have been left alone in a room with a loaded pistol and expected to do the honorable thing). The Exec is in almost as much trouble. His specific duty is to maintain discipline and training and he failed to do so. Barring a miracle, he will never hold a command. Since commanding at sea is pretty much the entire reason Naval officers are there, it means that his career too is over. If he doesn't resign, he will end up posted to being a training officer, supply officer or recruiter ashore. The senior enlisted "officer" is the senior Chief Petty Officer on board. Like the Exec, he was responsible for training and discipline. He will never be promoted and, as a result of the Captain's Mast, he could be demoted, possibly to the lowest enlisted rank. He could also be fined all pay and benefits and receive a BCD. He may as well retire since he will never again hold any post of responsibility. With that on his record, even if he does retire, he could have a hell of a time ever finding a civilian job.
This is nothing compared to what could well have happened if the three had been Court Maritaled. For dereliction of duty leading to death, a Court Martial could, and probably would, give them any punishment up to and including the death penalty.
Additionally, up to a dozen other sailors will face non-judicial punishment.
non judicial punishment (or NJP) is the result of a Captain's Mast. These were the people on watch at the time. Quite likely demotion and possibly fines and imprisonment for a short period (I believe that a Captain's Mast is only authorized to give three days confinement on bread and water, although there are ways around that), depending on their degree of culpability. The lookouts will quite likely be reduced to the lowest enlisted rank and given a Bad Conduct Discharge. Like the Chief, they may have a problem making a living in civilian life. The others are likely to be reduced in rand and fined.
None of them will be stupid enough to claim that it was just a bad luck accident. To the Navy, there is no such thing as luck; there is only good seamanship and bad seamanship.
What I find quite amazing Ttga is all of the failures by personal at basicly the same time...It's damn difficult to understand how that many people could screw up in unison. I'm not saying it isn't true, it's like the ''perfect storm'' on a clear night, calm seas and with a very sophisticated vessel like the Fitzgerald.