The Collision between the USS Fitzgerald, DDG 62 and the ACX Crystal, a container ship, that resulted in seven sailor’s deaths and nearly sunk the US Navy ship is a continuing mystery. The great mystery is still the time it happened. There is a one-hour discrepancy. The really big story is how the container ship was able to approach the Fitzgerald give that ships array of detection devices that are designed to detect approaching missiles let alone a 39,000 ton deadweight container ship that was ten stories high above the water line.
I was a sailor and was a forward lookout and helmsman as part of my underway duties. As a forward lookout, I scanned the sea from my perch above the bridge from port to starboard forward, that is the direction we were steaming. On a clear night, such as the one during the collision, visibility was excellent. The ACX Crystal could not be missed as shops are very well illuminated. I once sighted a masthead light 11 miles away, even before radar detected the ship it was attached to. That was a light bulb 11 miles away. AS helmsman, I executed the orders from the Officer of the Deck. On the Fitzgerald, that would have been a “Rudder hard left” or right, to avoid a collision. Didn’t happen on the Fitzgerald.
The attached article gets to that point as an early report said the ACX Crystal was running dark. That still does not answer the question of why the Fitzgerald did not see the ACX Crystal on the radar. The warship had several systems to protect it. That suggests a systems failure on the Fitzgerald. We’ll hear more about that later.
Here is the message from the mother of a Fitzgerlad sailor.
Was the ACX Crystal running dark and silent before collision?
From The American Thinker http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/06/something_is_fishy_about_uss_fitzgerald_story_we_are_getting_from_the_media.html#.WUa-NP4Ztn5.facebook
We received an email from a Navy Mother that raises serious questions. We will redact her name, while the rumors (and that’s how they must be categorized for now) reported by her son aboard the Fitzgerald are checked out. Here is what she wrote to us:
My son is assigned to the USS Fitzgerald. I am unable to share his rate with you.
The information is short and not so sweet. The implications are disturbing.
The ship is registered in the Philippines. We do not know who the owner is. The container ship neither had its running lights or transponder on. That is an action taken willfully. Furthermore, for the container ship to strike with such accuracy is troublesome. Given what some have done with cars in Europe, what a feather in the cap it would be to sink a U.S. Navy warship. Think on that.
My son missed being washed out to sea by the blink of an eye. He was on his way to one of the berthing areas that was rammed.
Yes, language is important. “Rammed” is the perfect word.
Loving and Concerned Navy Mother
The ACX Crystal had reportedly made a radical course change previous to the collision. So if there is any truth to the allegations made above, it really does make the actions of whoever was running the cargo ship look more than a little sinister. Again, this is all falling under rumor, but it should be interesting to see the results of the investigation.
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