U.S. Navy ship goes aground due to bad charts

[Ram]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Everything bad ALWAYS happens at 2:30 AM ! Why is that?

I think because everyone is snug in there bunks & the boats on autopilit

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Ram

They only work when someone is manning them

Many years ago, a friend of mine (whose boat didn't have radar) was caught in some light fog.
As a ship approached my friend called them on the VHF, and asked if he showed up on the ship's radar.
The ship replied,
"Just a minute, I'll turn it on."

[Ram]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Many years ago, a friend of mine (whose boat didn't have radar) was caught in some light fog.
As a ship approached my friend called them on the VHF, and asked if he showed up on the ship's radar.
The ship replied,
"Just a minute, I'll turn it on."

I’m Sure there are a lot of that going on, but if there was a collision the guy with the radar off would have bore most of the fault- just silly not to have it on in night or fog- its saved my buns more than once

[Kettlewell]

Many years ago, a friend of mine (whose boat didn't have radar) was caught in some light fog.
As a ship approached my friend called them on the VHF, and asked if he showed up on the ship's radar.
The ship replied,
"Just a minute, I'll turn it on."

Do we know each other? That exact thing happened to me in the separation area off of New York harbor with a big cruise ship. He looked like he was doing well over 20 knots in poor visibility.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Ram

I think because everyone is snug in there bunks & the boats on autopilit

Maybe the Navy should buy some Mil-Spec egg timers? I could supply them... maybe... oh... $395 apiece?

[Snore]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

because I had read the note on the paper chart about the reef position being uncertain.

Best argument EVER for paper charts. Electronic charts never seem to have all the notations. Or they are unreadable on a 6-7" screen

Bill

[Hydra]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Frankly, I would have thought that a minesweeper, of all vessels, would have some sort of forward looking sonar that would have alerted them in time.

The AN/SQQ-32 minehunting sonar is towed under the ship at low speed only: AN/SQQ-32 - Variable Depth Minehunting Sonar

This incident again highlights the wisdom in the "rule of thumb": don't pass closer from a charted reef than the width of your thumb on the chart you are using.

Alain

[PlumBob]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Then again...was it ten years ago? That a nuke sub was supposedly making a speed run and hit an "uncharted" Pacific seamount?

January, 2005... Wiki article HERE

[Kettlewell]

In 1992 the QE2 ran aground near Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts in an area that has been well charted and heavily used since before the Pilgrims! They found a new high spot.

[OnTour]

I thought blackoak was in Florida.

[cagney]

Well worth reading!

http://http://blog.geogarage.com/search/label/marinenews

Thomas

[LeaseOnLife]

not good:

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Kettlewell, maybe I missed it but I don't see anything in that URL that says the USN is blaming anything or anyone for the grounding. Especially, not charts.

Title of the article.

[tamicatana]

FWIW, I can definitively state that the charts for the Mississippi Coast islands haven't been updated since at least before Katrina - the charted depths and marks around Cat Island in particular have quite a few inaccuracies

[SURV69]

I don't think there's any doubt that ALL charts made today actually begin as "digital" and only wind up as "paper".

The digital data is generally much more accurate and the locations are much more accurate too.

If the "digital" data on this reef is incorrect, you can bet the "paper" data is also wrong.

This might be the result of a button-pusher accidently using US feet coordinates instead of INTERNATIONAL feet, or using a wrong datum when trying to mesh different sets of data together.

In any case, I'm willing to bet if the digital data is wrong, that the paper data is also wrong.