Second incident in a couple of months under highly suspicious circumstances. Both ships were in the South China Sea exerting freedom of navigation earlier. After the Fitzgerald, the vigilance level was bound to be increased dramatically. It just seems inexplicable that CIC, OOD, JOOD, and watch stations could not detect and prevent this.
To me this indicates one of three scenarios:
1. Gross incompetence requiring heads to roll at the Admiral level.
2.Serious maintenance issues that were not properly addressed by the ship’s crew (see #1 above).
3. A weapon from a foreign source rendering navigation equipment inoperable or ineffective.
If the answer is #3 worry for your country and expect the Navy to cover it up and find the ship’s command structure responsible. After reading similar “enemy” weapons stories in the Fitzgerald case, I thought it was just tin foil hat stuff. After this one, I’m not so sure.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/bio.asp?bioID=714
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/Pages/Bio1.aspx#.WZpYQYClyUk
The first link is part of the Obama Navy.
You had me at gross incompetence
Sorry. It's a lot easier than that. It's not maintenance. It's not enemy action. It's supposedly trained and experienced officers (OOD is typically a LT) who can't/won't do their jobs. Not running into other ships doesn't require exceptional skill. A little experience, common sense, thinking ahead, and watching for what's around you, and it's all easily handled.