Jwheel86 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/01/14/worse-than-you-thought-inside-the-secret-fitzgerald-probe-the-navy-doesnt-want-you-to-read/ Quote The probe exposes how personal distrust led the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock, to avoid communicating with the destroyer’s electronic nerve center — the combat information center, or CIC — while the Fitzgerald tried to cross a shipping superhighway. When Fort walked into the trash-strewn CIC in the wake of the disaster, he was hit with the acrid smell of urine. He saw kettlebells on the floor and bottles filled with pee. Some radar controls didn’t work and he soon discovered crew members who didn’t know how to use them anyway. Fort found a Voyage Management System that generated more “trouble calls” than any other key piece of electronic navigational equipment. Designed to help watchstanders navigate without paper charts, the VMS station in the skipper’s quarters was broken so sailors cannibalized it for parts to help keep the rickety system working. Quote Ship travel is governed by the “rules of the road,” a set of guidelines regarding speed, lookouts and other best practices to avoid collisions, but Fort’s report casts doubt on whether watchstanders on board the Fitz and sister warships in the 7th Fleet had sufficient knowledge of them to safely navigate at sea. About three weeks after the ACX Crystal disaster, Fort’s investigators sprang a rules of the road pop quiz on Fitz’s officers. It didn’t go well. The 22 who took the test averaged a score of 59 percent, Fort wrote. “Only 3 of 22 Officers achieved a score over 80%,” he added, with seven officers scoring below 50 percent. The same exam was administered to the wardroom of another unnamed destroyer as a control group, and those officers scored similarly dismal marks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbobo Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 sounds like a lot of people need to be court-martialed for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 25 minutes ago, Jwheel86 said: and bottles filled with pee. Really brings back memories of the ship for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 10 minutes ago, elbobo said: sounds like a lot of people need to be court-martialed for this The entire chain of command (Ship, Destroyer Squadron, Strike Group, 7th Fleet, Surface Force, Pacific Fleet) already got fired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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