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Naval Commanders In 2 Deadly Ship Collisions To Be Charged With Negligent Homicide
The U.S. Navy announced Tuesday that the commanding officers of two vessels involved in separate collisions in the Pacific Ocean last year will face court-martial proceedings and possible criminal charges including negligent homicide.
The statement by Navy spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks says the decision to prosecute the commanders, and several lower-ranking officers as well, was made by Adm. Frank Caldwell.
[...] In the case of the USS Fitzgerald, the commander, two lieutenants and one lieutenant junior grade face possible charges of dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide.
The commander of the USS John S. McCain will face possible charges of dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide. A chief petty officer also faces one possible charge of dereliction of duty.
Previously: U.S. Navy Destroyer Collides With Container Vessel
10 Sailors Still Missing After U.S. Destroyer Collision With Oil Tanker
Chief of Naval Operations Report on This Summer's Destroyer Collisions
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 17 2018, @08:30PM (10 children)
I pretty much disagree. Any lookouts will likely face intense grilling, and possible prosecution. But, ultimately, the ship's commander is responsible. Always and forever, amen and pass the ammunition. If the lookouts are poorly trained, the captain and his executive are responsible. Department and division officers are responsible, as are chief petty officers.
That is the nature of responsibility - the commander can never shirk it. He may delegate authority, but he cannot delegate responsibility.
If rust is eating his ship up, the captain IS RESPONSIBLE.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 17 2018, @09:03PM (9 children)
How the hell is the captain responsible for rust on his ship if the Navy refuses to fix it, for a hypothetical situation? What's he supposed to do, invade some foreign port and force them to drydock the boat and fix it?
The captain cannot physically be responsible for everything; he can only work with the tools he's given, just like any other worker in any other job. He's not the top person in the chain of command. This situation was caused by admirals well above the captains' level, and probably ultimately by Congressional mismanagement.
(Score: 3, Informative) by stormwyrm on Wednesday January 17 2018, @09:51PM (2 children)
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 17 2018, @10:19PM (1 child)
Right, that's what I would expect too. This whole idea that the captain is somehow punishable for things totally outside his control really rubs me the wrong way. And these latest charges just reek of scapegoating. The ultimate problem was the top brass, and probably also Congress. Why aren't they being court-martialed for negligent homicide for not providing any training, for insisting that the automatic locater systems be kept off in busy shipping lanes, and for giving these crews too much work to do with the manpower they have?
(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:48AM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 2) by Bobs on Wednesday January 17 2018, @10:41PM (5 children)
I agree witth StormW [soylentnews.org].
The Captain is responsible, is God on that ship while underway.
Clearly, there is a systemic problem, too, as it happened on multiple ships across the fleet in a short period of time.
Congress and their inability to pass a budget are making everything harder.
Yet it is still the Captains' responsibility to take care of the ship and crew and mission, to anticipate and find the problems, correct the problems, and keep the ship safe and on mission. Or to report up what the problem is and what is required to fix it.
Sea Captain's responsibilities [wikipedia.org]
How. pray tell, is a Congressman going to know about and fix the problem of a poorly trained ship handler?
The only way for them to know is because a Captain identified that the crew is under trained, reported up the line that he needs more time/resources to get them trained up to be able to do their mission.
Fleet / Pentagon leaders, once they know there is a problem, are responsible for dealing with the resource requests and dealing with resource and systemic issues.
How is an Admiral back at the Pentagon going to know about and fix systemic problems of poorly trained ship handlers?
If the Captain hasn't identified the problem, they how are the REMFs supposed to know about it and come up with a response?
The Captain is responsible for making sure that his ship and crew are safe and ready, and understanding what it is capable and not capable of, and coming up with a plan to deal with problems before they happen.
It is only the Captains who are going to be able to identify potential problems, and request something be done, before there are failures. That is part of their responsibility. Not to blame somebody else.
It is a tough job, and only a few people in the Navy are trusted with it.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 17 2018, @11:34PM (4 children)
And what's the Captain going to do when he reports to his superiors that his crew isn't up to the task, and they say "too bad, you have a mission, now do it"? Why do you absolve the Captain's superiors of all responsibility and place it solely on the Captain?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:29AM
If things are as dire as you suggest, then maybe those captains should be charting courses somewhere near the Snowden Sea. Let me check the charts again - where is Edward Harbor?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stormwyrm on Thursday January 18 2018, @08:12AM (1 child)
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:32PM
(Score: 2) by Bobs on Thursday January 18 2018, @05:03PM
And what evidence do you have that he reported an issue up the chain, or that he even knew there was an issue?
I don't have the details, but it is the responsibility of the Captain to make sure the ship and crew are ready.
If he did know there was a problem, and he reported it up the chain, that will come out and be a mitigating factor at the trial.
But if he did know there was a problem, why did he not come up with a way to mitigate it until it was fixed?
If he didn't know there was a problem, then why not?
This is a terrible situation, but it is the Captain's responsibility to see that these things do not happen to his ship and crew.