William Wojcik

Wed, Jun 28, 2017 | 3362 73

The aftermath

In the wee small hours of Saturday morning, June 17, 2017, something happened that was not supposed to happen. 

While in the territorial waters of Japan, the US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald was struck on the starboard side by the Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal. Yet both the US Navy vessel and the container ship carried radar-based collision avoidance systems. These very expensive systems are designed to "see" the ship's surroundings, and also calculate a crash possibility.

All ships carry navigation lights, monitor radio broadcast, and no doubt would have the old reliable human lookouts on duty.

But according to the ACX Crystal's captain, the USS Fitzgerald failed to respond to warning signals before the collision took place. Quite revealing if true. 

Now, collisions have happened before. One that comes to mind was when the USS Greeneville, a Los Angles class nuclear submarine, struck a Japanese training fishing trawler, the Ehime Maru, on February 9th, 2001.

The accident occurred after the USS Greeneville suddenly lurched out of the pacific waters near Hawaii—all for the benefit of several select VIP civilians onboard.

I'm not pulling your anchor-chain. It is all documented.

Whether it was the Pentagon's directive or the captain's showmanship that authorized this maneuver is a matter of conjecture. Why the sonar and periscope wasn't used, or simply overlooked by the young sailors manning a billion dollars worth of military hardware, will remain a secret of the Naval Board of Inquiry. 

The Ehime Maru - at the bottom of the ocean

Are we beginning to notice a pattern?

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/well-probably-never-know-real...