US Navy warship commander mocked for holding rifle with scope mounted backward

September 11, 2024, 05:36 AM

quote:
Originally posted by wishfull thinker:

Initially I thought it was kind of funny, now I think he got the shaft.

Screw and all.

September 11, 2024, 10:38 AM

nhtagmember

The way this is going pretty soon the navy is going to have to start parking ships because no one meets their standards for command.

September 11, 2024, 10:40 AM

corsair

quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
We did "surprise" emergency breakaways for a variety of reasons (drills).

Steering control was one scenario along with others.

When performed correctly, no equipment damage will occur when the "emergency" is properly communicated. Ie., the drill to the OOD is loss of steering.

Situation communicated to other shipt and less the 15 seconds later, horns a blaring and each ship does the emergency detaching and steaming away or, in the case of the ship with lost steering, they do nothing after the detaching until the other ship clears.

Oh a carrier all the above, from telling the OOD his ship has lost steering control (if that’s the drill scenario) occurs in about 90 seconds as i recall.

That's what my thought was that emergency breakaways should be fairly seamless & rehearsed.
In this case did the OOD freakout, scream to the helm 'hard-left(or right) rudder' and proceed to rip-away all the lines without communicating to the oiler? Nevermind they're supposed to be the one's remaining in position since they have the steering loss...

September 11, 2024, 11:08 AM

KMitch200

quote:
After the destroyer lost steering in April, the McCain sent out a casualty report, or CASREP, requesting technical experts to visit the ship. These experts tried to troubleshoot the warship while it was pier-side in Bahrain in June.

The McCain's leadership requested to go to sea to address these issues properly, but the technical personnel were not funded or authorized to set sail with the destroyer. The warship left Bahrain in early July and immediately experienced the same problems.

The techs weren’t funded or authorized?? Couldn’t that have been fixed with a brief call to the boss?

September 11, 2024, 11:10 AM

RogueJSK

You've clearly never worked with federal contracts/contractors.

Nothing happens quickly. And certainly nothing is changed quickly. Especially when it pertains to money.

There's eleventeen layers of approval and red tape that have to be navigated, usually including at least one lengthy pissing match between multiple sub-entities over whose budget is going to foot the bill.

September 11, 2024, 11:52 AM

KMitch200

You’re right, I haven’t.
I’m just shocked that a warship having problems isn’t given a higher priority in the grand scheme of things!

September 11, 2024, 02:50 PM

nhtagmember

Well it is called the McCain

September 11, 2024, 05:27 PM

Ranger41

I have no information as to what happened aboard USS McCain and it has been a long time since I retired from active duty.

My thought is that while there was a CASREP on the steering system the Captain was under reporting the casualty's impact on operational readiness. I know from personal experience that Captains of US Navy vessels are very hesitant to go on record that their commands are not operationally ready.

In this situation it appears USS McCain was not capable of safe navigation. The Captain should have reported this to his chain of command and remained in port until the casualty was resolved. Since he did not, his competence to command was called into question and he was relieved of command.

September 11, 2024, 06:26 PM

corsair

quote:
Originally posted by Ranger41:
I have no information as to what happened aboard USS McCain and it has been a long time since I retired from active duty.

My thought is that while there was a CASREP on the steering system the Captain was under reporting the casualty's impact on operational readiness. I know from personal experience that Captains of US Navy vessels are very hesitant to go on record that their commands are not operationally ready.

Wouldn't their Destroyer Squadron be aware of the multiple CASREPS on the same issue raise a red-flag? Or, are you thinking despite the many CASREP's, the CO continued to report they were operational and ready-to-sail?

September 11, 2024, 08:48 PM

Ranger41

quote:
Originally posted by corsair:
Wouldn't their Destroyer Squadron be aware of the multiple CASREPS on the same issue raise a red-flag? Or, are you thinking despite the many CASREP's, the CO continued to report they were operational and ready-to-sail?

Just a guess on my part, but it appears the steering issue was intermittent. The CASREP report has to state the operational impact of the failure on the system experiencing the casualty. My guess is the ship did not declare the steering system inoperable because of the intermittent nature of the problem. The Captain also has to report the operational readiness of the ship, which incorporates the combined effect of all outstanding CASREPS. If the steering system had been declared inoperable it would have required the Captain to report the ship as being unable to get underway.