US Navy ship collides with oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

reply to post by AndyMayhew


Agreed - warships and tankers hitting each other are a very rare occurrence. Navy vessels have many officers on the bridge at any one time - they would have picked it up well over 12nm away and their AIS would also have alerted them to traffic in the vicinity as well.

Smells like someone had an ulterior motive here as BOTH captains can be heavily fined and/or jailed for things such as this - and no Skipper I know wants a collusion on their record - even if they were totally vindicated in a court of law.

This is the transcript of a radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95.

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a Collision.
Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States' Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change your course 15 degrees north, that's one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.
Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.[2]

en.wikipedia.org...

simular situation???????

Seems like to that the outcome didn't go quite as planned?
Or as someone else suggested a "dry run".

reply to post by Corruptedstructure


You see intelligent comspiracy, I see human incompetence.

I'm usually right. But maybe you have a higher regard for humans than I do?

Originally posted by AndyMayhew
reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL

 

Whose oil tanker was it? British? American? German?

The others saying it was Panamanian is a bit misleading. Many ships are flagged in Panama for convenience.

It is actually a Japanese owned Tanker en route to Qatar, apparently.

reply to post by AndyMayhew


Very well.
Maybe they forgot the rum and tried for a U-turn..

I like the title of this and the news story, the way it makes it sound like the US ship hit the tanker, when the true story is that the tanker hit the US ship.

An oil tanker collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer
The collision nevertheless left a gaping hole in the starboard side of USS Porter

maybe they should quit playing wii onboard the porter

I find this interesting because the ship I was on had exactly the same thing happen. We were struck by a merchant ship while entering the Mississippi River waterways from the Gulf of Mexico.

In fact, I found a web page describing the ship and, about halfway down, it mentions this.

February 22, 1978 Mississippi River USS L. Y. SPEAR and the Liberian merchant ship ZEPHYROS receive minor damage in a collision in the Mississippi River.

Yep, I was there. We were left with a very large gash on our aft end on the starboard side.

Of course, the Spear was a rather large ship whereas a destroyer is smaller and more maneuverable. Point is that an unexpected gust of wind or a large wave can cause a ship to veer and in a high traffic area under relatively close quarters, ships can collide. It probably happens more often than the public is aware of.

Old internet joke but in this case worth to mention it. There are some similarities..


This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio
conversation of a U.S. naval ship with the Canadian
authorities off the coast of Newfoundland October
1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of
Naval Operations10-10-95.

Canadians:
Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South
to avoid a collision.

Americans:
Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the
North.

Canadians:
Negative. You will have to divert your course 15
degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans:
This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again,
divert YOUR course.

Canadians:
No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans:
THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN. THE
SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES ATLANTIC
FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE
CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT
YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY
AGAIN,THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER
MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF
THIS SHIP.

Canadians:
We are a lighthouse, your call.



Thanks OP for the news..

Well it was a huge oil tanker several hundred yards long and without tugs, all the steering is done at the stern.

(slashdotted link of Otowasan)
www.shipspotting.com...

No talk of putting the Navy Captain on career length KP duty yet.

Originally posted by binkman
Ultimately it wouldn´t surprise me if it was just an arrogant captain who realised that he was completely untouchable because of the flag he is sailing under so he can throw international shipping and maritime laws to hell and do whatever he wants, including demanding other vessels to make maneuvers they are not obliged to do under normal circumstances.

Reminds me of the apocryphal story of the captain of a US Navy ship who demanded a contact move x degrees off course, using his position and nationality as a weapon, until captain realised he was tangling with a lighthouse.

Um that was a canadian lighthouse and an aircraft carrier group.......i forget the carriers name...
Like the man said the damage indicates the destroyer was in the position where it should by rights have given weigh to the tankulator...

reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL


Does make one wonder about the possibility of suicide boats actually being effective. maybe so, from the looks of this.

Originally posted by Chance321
I like the title of this and the news story, the way it makes it sound like the US ship hit the tanker, when the true story is that the tanker hit the US ship.

An oil tanker collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer
The collision nevertheless left a gaping hole in the starboard side of USS Porter

edit on 12-8-2012 by Chance321 because: (no reason given)

I had also presumed the former.

Regardless, it's like an SUV pulling out in front of an in-motion fully-laden semi and demanding it yield right its right of way.

Again, unless they were both in very tight quarters, i still see this as negligence on the part of the US.

It's a freakin' TANKER.

Does anyone else have Gulf of Tonkin come to mind?

Originally posted by Signals
reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL

 

Maybe they warned it, but then realized they couldn't shoot at it, for fear of huge explosion....

Latest reports indicate the US ship did actually fire on it numerous times killing at least one, also the ship had no ties to Iran,

worldnews.nbcnews.com...

Originally posted by stirling

Um that was a canadian lighthouse and an aircraft carrier group.......i forget the carriers name...

And a myth. It goes back decades but someone re-generated it during the 1990s on the Internet and became 'fact'

The person that re-generated the story made a major error by stating that is was the USS Coral Sea in an event that took place in October 1995. Obviously they hadn't a clue about naval matters and the status of the Coral Sea!

USS Coral Sea

www.snopes.com...

Average high temperature in August for the region is about 118 degrees, must really cool down at night. Was all that rust from the bow of the tanker?

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Free pictures inside!! Yep it seems like minor damage, nothing a little buffing wont fix.

Originally posted by stirling

Originally posted by binkman
Ultimately it wouldn´t surprise me if it was just an arrogant captain who realised that he was completely untouchable because of the flag he is sailing under so he can throw international shipping and maritime laws to hell and do whatever he wants, including demanding other vessels to make maneuvers they are not obliged to do under normal circumstances.

Reminds me of the apocryphal story of the captain of a US Navy ship who demanded a contact move x degrees off course, using his position and nationality as a weapon, until captain realised he was tangling with a lighthouse.

Um that was a canadian lighthouse and an aircraft carrier group.......i forget the carriers name...
Like the man said the damage indicates the destroyer was in the position where it should by rights have given weigh to the tankulator...

This is an old Internet joke and patently untrue.

Snopes/Lighthouse vs U.S. Navy