It's pointless to pontificate too specifically from this distance. And certainly I am no trained
marine accident investigator. Except in my own mind, of course, where I pretty much know everything about everything.
I doubt we will ever really know. There will be so many fingers pointing in so many directions no one will likely ever get the story straight. And if they do, they sure aren’t going to tell us. And does anyone here see anyone on that bridge piping up and saying,” I’m sorry. I screwed up. I steered us right into the path of that 600 foot long ship. It was all my fault"
The Navy knows it has a problem, though. They took a day off to "study basic seamanship.” That seems a good thing for a US Navy Destroyer
captain to know.
From
USA Today:
The U.S. Navy dismissed Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin as commander of the 7th Fleet on Wednesday… Adm. Scott Swift, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, dismissed Aucoin "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,”...
Here are links to both their career high points:
Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin > Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet > Display
Admiral Scott H. Swift | Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet
Both these guys are pilots. Excuse me. Naval Aviators. Both have thousands of hours of flight time and thousands of carrier landings in F-14’s. Both have years of experience commanding air groups. And flying desks in “staff” positions.
But I don’t see anything in their background that would get them a job as an
oil tanker or container ship
captain.
I think this is a perfect example of ineptness and incompetence spreading from the top down.
Forgive me if I’m being “uncharitable.” But I’m thinking these are careerists and ticket punchers. Not seamen. I think Adm Swift should go one better and dismiss himself, too.
And I just don’t buy the
steering failure story at all. Hacked or not. It may have seemed like a
steering failure. A bridge full of tired young sailors. Someone looks up from their computer
screen and sees a huge ship bearing down on them. Everybody starts yelling. People yelling conflicting orders. The joy stick twister twisting and joy sticking as hard as possible. In the slow motion perception of crisis, it may have seemed like the ship wasn’t responding.
But a destroyer is not a video
game, is it? It doesn’t respond instantly. Those pesky laws of physics get in the way. So when the video gamer slams the stick all the way over, and the ship doesn’t instantly leap out of the way: Steering failure. Obviously. What else could it be?
And hacking the steering and control programs? Pure conspiracy theorist science fiction. Where was this hacker? On the tanker? On the container ship? On the
fishing boat? In an airplane? Maybe he was in a cloaked submarine. Or a space ship. And what was his plan? “Ill seize control of a destroyer and put a dent in it. That will EMBARRASS America to death!”
Are these hackers watching navy ships all over the world? Just waiting for that one opportune moment when a burst from their super secret hacker ray gun can cause one ship to bump into another?
Unless someone can clearly explain EXACTLY how, from where, and by who that could be done and show some evidence of it having been done, I think it ridiculous. I think i have about as much chance of bringing down the space station with my
iPhone.
Oh, I know! The Pleiadians did it!
As someone else here said; Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity