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Master and Commander
Posts: 1890
Location: Patterson, New York | Subject: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
This fellow puts the Fitzgerald collision in a different light than most of the news stories.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-08/fitzgerald-there-grace-god-go-i
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
I have access to a pair of thermal binoculars. I can sweep a field and pick out hogs and deer at about as far as there is field. I have used them on open stretches of road, and picked up thermal signatures at over a mile, as long as there was no heavy intervening buildings or brush. I can pick out the signature of a farmhouse at that distance. Now, not clearly, but it does show something is there. Why aren't night lookouts equipped with these units? There are far better ones out there on the market than the four year old set I use. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 619
| Subject: RE: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
What a great and complicated rationalization for what was a rather clear cut situation for the Fitzgerald. Having read the transcription of the conversation and yelling on the bridge it certainly seems that all were aware of the approaching ship and impending collision except for the CO who was safely asleep in his cabin below and who no one attempted to waken. Anyone there could have yelled "Hard left rudder, all ahead flank!" and that DDG would have taken off like a scalded cat. They monitored its approach and the fact that there was no one on the bridge with multiple eyeballs, radars, and gawd knows what else, yet the OD nor anyone else opted to do anything or even call the captain.
What a statement about our current professional, all volunteer navy. A deckhand on a NY harbor Tug would have known what to do and would have acted. Even my kids, all four of them, when I taught them all to sail at around 10 would have known what to do, or, "to hell with right of way rules, lets get the H out of here.". Something called "In extremiss" our Aussie friends on this BBS seem to understand, but nobody on Fitzgerald did. There the watchwords seemed to be "If in trouble, if in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout".
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 715
Location: Conway, NH | Subject: RE: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
Why don't YOU wait until the results of the board comes out? You may not know what you think you know. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 619
| Subject: RE: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
Then again......
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3667
Location: Kansas City Missouri | Subject: RE: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1576
Location: Wollongong, NSW | Subject: RE: Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
Every night before I retired I wrote my night orders.
Inside the cover of the night order book was times to call the captain.
One of the times was when a ship was to come within two miles of us - this distance could be amended by the night orders for that particular night. If a ship was to pass within the two miles, somewhere in the range of five to ten miles, I was to be called with the following report:
.... I have a ship bearing red/green (the angle from my bow); range (thousands of yards), we are x degrees on the vessel's port/starboard bow, the bearing is steady/drawing left/drawing right, he will pass x yards to port/starboard or continuing steady bearing. I intend to do ... or captain to the bridge please.
No matter what size ship I was in or the size of the other vessel was, the orders are relevant.
Not often was I called and not often did I have to call my captain for similar night order instructions. The important thing was bearing rate change - no change (congratulations you will hit!) or bearing rate change (you will pass).
Radar made it simple but the Mk I eyeball in the submarine could calculate faster than radar. |
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Fitzgerald From a Sailor's Perspective
