Breaking: US Navy destroyer takes on water after collision off Japanese coast

originally posted by: musicismagic
Got a friend here in Japan that does insurance for the shipping business. I'll be calling him soon to find out what he knows about the ship. Not to cause panic, but I've only seen one picture of the ship. If done intentionally, my thoughts are, what if its a North Korean at the wheel?

I bet it was the NORKS, they might have taken the container vessel over just to ram some american ship. This can't be tolerated, tomahawk the NoRKS

a reply to: secretagent77

Yes, because a container ship that takes over 900 feet to turn can easily run down a ship that can go from a standing start to flank speed in less than that distance.

Give it up already.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Takes a while to start up the engines and get them running, and they could have jammed them with an EMP or something as well, you have to think of the details man. If you had been in the military like me you might be able to consider the differences.

a reply to: secretagent77

No, it doesn't. They would already have been up and running since they were training, and gas turbine engines are as close to instantly responsive as they can possibly make an engine. And the ship is hardened against EMP. Even if it wasn't, they wouldn't have recovered immediately after being hit and already be under power.

Again, give it up.

I am wondering why the CO is the most severely injured in this event.

originally posted by: secretagent77

Takes a while to start up the engines and get them running, and they could have jammed them with an EMP or something as well, you have to think of the details man. If you had been in the military like me you might be able to consider the differences.

You've been watching too many action movies. Use Occam's Razor. Human error occurred. Simple as that. Or Radar was out for BOTH ships? (kind of doubtful). some have shorter range backup radar systems.

originally posted by: roadgravel
I am wondering why the CO is the most severely injured in this event.

Injured when the NORK's attacked and took control of the ship likely.

Perhaps a better pic to get the damage into perspective,



kind regards,

bally

originally posted by: secretagent77

originally posted by: roadgravel
I am wondering why the CO is the most severely injured in this event.

Injured when the NORK's attacked and took control of the ship likely.

What are you on?

Seriously though.. The weight behind a massive ship like that hitting a battleship with throw people around the ship! it's just like a car crash, but longer, and a hell of a lot louder!

Enough with the 'Nork's" crap. It's totally out of order.

a reply to: Pharyax

He just trolling and short on knowledge.

Container vessel damage, I imagine this encounter could have been a lot worse. No containers dislodged.




regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

Ah! Thanks for posting that image.

Looking at it and the destroyer, I'd say they collided at an angle, like the head of a triangle.

a reply to: eriktheawful

No worries, the gash in the bow of the container vessel may indicate the collision with the destroyer at the deck level point. I also tend to think that the bow sprite?, submerged, may account for any fracturing of the destroyers hull below the water line.

regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

Looking at the destroyer, it's most likely OOC for at least a year. Considering the damage to her phased array antenna for her 3D radar system, the super structure, and yah, possible hull damage.

She'll be in dry dock for a while.

originally posted by: khnum
The ACX chrystal is a whopping great container ship you'd see 30 miles away,something is seriously wrong here.

See that's what I think...in my short time serving as a Marine on the SigBridge on the USS Duluth, we were always scouting for ships...There had to be somebody on the bridge telling the skipper "Bearing constant, range decreasing" not to mention that surface radar would have picked up that extremely large blip.

I really want to know if this is a case of the merchant ship AND the DDG both being on autopilot with no one nearby.

Hope the sailors are found alive. And I'm pretty sure that skipper will not ever have another boat under his command.

a reply to: eriktheawful

Well, I had a close look that latest pic of the Fitzgerald just aft of the point of impact. Tends to look like the vessel has a bend in the starboard side below the bridge. I have seen similar many years ago. If the keel is bent it will be difficult, possible, but expensive to have the ship realigned.

This is just a guess on my behalf regarding the keel. Time will tell. I will be interested what becomes of the destroyer. (Parts?)

bally

a reply to: eriktheawful

How fast can a destroyer like that go, in miles per hour? Compared to the freighter? It kinda looks like the destroyer was trying to cut across the front of the freighter? Could it have stalled out at just the wrong time or something like that?

a reply to: bally001

Mostly I'm thinking of the equipment in the super structure itself (above the main deck).

As you know, can't just go to Walmart and buy a new antenna and all the electronics behind it, heh.

So, it will depend on what is available, and what has to be fabricated. Plus as you mentioned: the structure of the ship itself.

a reply to: clodbuster

As for speed I believe the USS Fitzgerald could make 30 plus knots but most vessels of that class cruise about 20 knots to give them further range.

The container vessels of that size perhaps cruise between 12 or 15 knots dependent on conditions. I don't know this container vessels top speed but the cruise speed would be utilised to give effective sailing time for value. As has been stated in this thread. Vessels of size and mass cannot suddenly change course.

I suggest perhaps you might read the story about the collision between HMAS Melbourne and the USS Frank E Evans. Some interesting points in the story which may relate to this collision. 2 warships in the South China Sea, 1969.

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: clodbuster

30+ knots is the official answer to that question if you look it up in Janes Fighting Ships.

That's about 35 miles per hour.

Doesn't sound fast, but remember: you're talking about something that displaces about close to 10,000 tons, is 66 feet wide and over 500 feet long.

That's pretty darn fast for something that big.

I can tell you personally that she goes faster than 30 knots. The much older destroyers I was on used 1200 PSI boilers (4 of them), and on the 3 ships I served on, we got one up to 38 knots. Twin screws made a rooster tail (a stream of water) shooting up over 20 feet in the air behind the ship.

38 knots is 43 Mph.

What's that feel like?

Awsome. The deck shakes and vibrates. You can feel that awesome power being generated as it shakes your body. Standing outside, you watch as a buoy shoots past you, like you're in a car going down a highway at almost 45 Mph.

I've been on plenty of jets that go much faster of course.

But there's nothing like having a huge ship moving through the ocean with a purpose like that at that speed.