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2022-12-01 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

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Posted by M. Murcek 2022-12-01 00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1 It's been 50 years since I've been on the bridge of a ship, so so of the details of the rules of the road are fuzzy.
IIRC, normally, bothe ships would turn to starboard to avoid a collision. However, in the video, there is a red buoy to the left of the USS Harper's Ferry. Red buoys indicate the edge of a channel, so the USS Momsen could not turn to starboard.
What isn't clear is how they got in that situation. Depending on where the other edge of the channel is, the Harper's Ferry might have been out of position.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2022-12-01 00:20|| 2022-12-01 00:20|| Front Page Top

#2 Who cares? What matters is that both helmswymyn were transbinary. That's the Navy's real objective.

Posted by Spike the Hairy6811 2022-12-01 01:40|| 2022-12-01 01:40|| Front Page Top

#3 Mercogliano thinks it was an issue of communications.

"The ships know each was coming in and out of the port at that time. The question is, did they communicate a passage beforehand? The Momsen is not ported in San Diego, so there is a question about its familiarity with the channel," he said.

Posted by Frank G 2022-12-01 06:47|| 2022-12-01 06:47|| Front Page Top

#4 9 Sailors Suffer Minor Injuries Fighting Fire as USS Abraham Lincoln Cruises Off Coast

Posted by Frank G 2022-12-01 06:56|| 2022-12-01 06:56|| Front Page Top

#5 The U S Navy’s Record On Ship Collisions
September 28, 2022
A collision between the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John S. McCain and an oil tanker east of Singapore occurred on Monday. There have been four accidents in the Pacific so far this year, with two resulting in fatalities. The Navy halted its operations to ensure the safety of its personnel. ... As the Navy’s fleet has shrunk due to a shortage of vessels, it has made an effort to innovate its ships. There may also be other causes of the four collisions this year in the Pacific.

Posted by Slavising Unineting5672 2022-12-01 07:51|| 2022-12-01 07:51|| Front Page Top

#6 So everything McCain ends up on fire?

Posted by swksvolFF 2022-12-01 10:11|| 2022-12-01 10:11|| Front Page Top

#7 Well, the CVN is named for Wardrums Johnnie's father and grandfather. They were admirals. Johnnie, not so much.

Posted by M. Murcek 2022-12-01 10:33|| 2022-12-01 10:33|| Front Page Top

#8 A collision between the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John S. McCain and an oil tanker east of Singapore occurred on Monday. There have been four accidents in the Pacific so far this year, with two resulting in fatalities. The Navy halted its operations to ensure the safety of its personnel. ... As the Navy’s fleet has shrunk due to a shortage of vessels, it has made an effort to innovate its ships. There may also be other causes of the four collisions this year in the Pacific.

...If there was a CVN named John McCain, I'd be worried. Fortunately, there isn't. There's a DDG by that name which was involved in a truly ugly collision a 5 years ago, but hasn't had any incident since. The USN has lost several aircraft this year with one fatality, but that's it. Do you have a source on that report?

Mike

Posted by MikeKozlowski 2022-12-01 10:56|| 2022-12-01 10:56|| Front Page Top

#9 With dubious records, depending on who is doing to the talking. To be fair, big names often have detractors.

Posted by swksvolFF 2022-12-01 11:20|| 2022-12-01 11:20|| Front Page Top

#10 Nope, no CV named McCain. Leastwise, not in the US Navy.
Also, no CV near Singapore on that date:
https://news.usni.org/2022/10/24/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-oct-24-2022

Posted by ed in texas 2022-12-01 13:35|| 2022-12-01 13:35|| Front Page Top

#11 Looks like the two red buoys are R16A, the first one to appear in the video, and then R16 appears toward the end of the video closer to the camera. G17 appears on the other side of the channel, off Momsen's bow, when they finally get separation. Depth perception notwithstanding, I believe there is room enough so the ships should have been able to pass without incident.

That's Shelter Island in the background.

The channel at that point widens a bit because it's bending. After the bend, it narrows. Even so, there should have been room for both of them. I don't know if the Navy assigns anyone to coordinate their ship's movements on the bay. It might be wise if they did.

I report these impressions because I have sailed recreational sail boats on that section of the bay many, many times. In my experience with Navy ships in that channel, when they give you five blasts from their horn, you damn well better get out of their way. (That may not be the literal meaning of five short blasts but it's close enough for me in my sailboat.) So I'm wondering if Momsen blew his horn or if he didn't see Harper's Ferry in time to do so. He was just coming around the bend. Further, my understanding is that if a Navy skipper pilots his ship outside the channel, it's the end of his career.

The rule is "red right on return" meaning you want the red buoys to your starboard side when you return or enter into a bay. So it appears to me that Momsen, the smaller ship entering the bay, was in the correct position. With Harper's Ferry leaving the bay, he should have been on the other side of the channel closer to green 17 so as to pass the smaller ship to port. With the edge of the channel so close to his starboard side, Momsen had no other option but to turn to his port side and leave Harper's Ferry to starboard.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2022-12-01 13:36|| 2022-12-01 13:36|| Front Page Top

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