Now I'm no Nelson....

Author
Discussion

gooner1

Original Poster:

10,223 posts

179 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
....but can any of you nautical coves, explain how the below happened.
Pretty sure the Cargo ship would have the bare minimum crew possible but
the American ship, one of the most up to date warships afloat?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40310563

sherbertdip

1,107 posts

119 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
Well after looking at the damage and US oft propensity for showing off, my money is on the US ship going for it thinking it can outpace the merchant man that is not that agile, then a quick "right turn" to get past it, then an o-st moment when they realise (too late) that the merchantman is going a tad faster than they thought.


tescorank

1,996 posts

231 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
sherbertdip said:
Well after looking at the damage and US oft propensity for showing off, my money is on the US ship going for it thinking it can outpace the merchant man that is not that agile, then a quick "right turn" to get past it, then an o-st moment when they realise (too late) that the merchantman is going a tad faster than they thought.
Total agreed, that class of destroyers top speed is 30 knots whereas a container ships normally cruise around 20 knots but some can top out at 37 knots (42 mph).

Link to vessels history.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/...

gooner1

Original Poster:

10,223 posts

179 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
Out paced by a 30,000 tonne water based HGV.
Would be funny but for the missing personel.

98elise

26,568 posts

161 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
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HMS Southampton was runover by a tanker, and at least one of our subs has hit a tanker.

I'm going to say either tankers are magnetic...or the officer of the watch fked up.

chris watton

22,477 posts

260 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
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A little off-topic, but it always amazes me just how slow these light warships are! 50k ton battleships of the WW2 era and before could go as fast, some faster.

HarryW

15,150 posts

269 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
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Human error....

TTmonkey

20,911 posts

247 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
The ship that hit it was doing 14knts but had been sailed erratically prior to the incident, doing a u turn on its course before the collision and then after the collision reversi its course again, apparently not stopping after the collision but going back to its original destination.

There's no normal reason for a merchant vessel to be being sailed like this. Wastes fuel and increases costs.

Smells very iffy to me. More to this story to come perhaps? Could it have been a deliberate ramming?

HarryW

15,150 posts

269 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
TTmonkey said:
The ship that hit it was doing 14knts but had been sailed erratically prior to the incident, doing a u turn on its course before the collision and then after the collision reversi its course again, apparently not stopping after the collision but going back to its original destination.

There's no normal reason for a merchant vessel to be being sailed like this. Wastes fuel and increases costs.

Smells very iffy to me. More to this story to come perhaps? Could it have been a deliberate ramming?
Link? Even so there is no way it could out manoeuvre the warship to force a collision. Intriguing.

XCP

16,914 posts

228 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
chris watton said:
A little off-topic, but it always amazes me just how slow these light warships are! 50k ton battleships of the WW2 era and before could go as fast, some faster.
Surprises me. Some Destroyers in 1916 could do 35 knots, I guess the role has changed slightly though!

HarryW

15,150 posts

269 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
XCP said:
chris watton said:
A little off-topic, but it always amazes me just how slow these light warships are! 50k ton battleships of the WW2 era and before could go as fast, some faster.
Surprises me. Some Destroyers in 1916 could do 35 knots, I guess the role has changed slightly though!
Very simply the speed is a key requirement from the user. The whole design and importantly the price flows from that. No point making it faster, shorter ranged, more expensive and compromise other aspects of the key requirements.... It really is complex.

gooner1

Original Poster:

10,223 posts

179 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all

L


Map of ships travels.

FiF

44,070 posts

251 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
Agree with observation that something about the behaviour of the merchant ship seems more than a bit iffy.

Also bad form for making off if people overboard.

TTmonkey

20,911 posts

247 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
HarryW said:
TTmonkey said:
The ship that hit it was doing 14knts but had been sailed erratically prior to the incident, doing a u turn on its course before the collision and then after the collision reversi its course again, apparently not stopping after the collision but going back to its original destination.

There's no normal reason for a merchant vessel to be being sailed like this. Wastes fuel and increases costs.

Smells very iffy to me. More to this story to come perhaps? Could it have been a deliberate ramming?
Link? Even so there is no way it could out manoeuvre the warship to force a collision. Intriguing.
Read the whole article posted above. Seems to me odd that go ship does odd manoeuvres prior to the incident. Cargo ships usually sail straight from point a to point b.

gooner1

Original Poster:

10,223 posts

179 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
TTmonkey said:
Read the whole article posted above. Seems to me odd that go ship does odd manoeuvres prior to the incident. Cargo ships usually sail straight from point a to point b.
Agreed, wouldn't the course have been set on auto pilot, or whatever it is these ships use?

scrwright

2,617 posts

190 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
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Tin foil hat time...... Do they run on auto pilot or is there a bod at the wheel at all times? How soon before Russia or North Korea is blamed?

TheRainMaker

6,334 posts

242 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
No excuse for a warship to be hit.

Even if the cargo ship didn't have right of way, the warship has people and systems to avoid the situation long before it becomes "situation".

stevesingo

4,855 posts

222 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
gooner1 said:

L


Map of ships travels.
Wider view here, showing the collision point and the ship drifting for a while.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:...




All very strange. Pity we can't get a track of the Fitzgerald.

jeffw

845 posts

228 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
HMS Manxman would do just under 40Kn flat chat.

Ships have got lighter because they no longer carry large amounts of armour. While a WW2 era ship might be fast it would take a long time to get to max speed and use a lot of fuel doing it.

98elise

26,568 posts

161 months

Saturday 17th June 2017
quotequote all
TheRainMaker said:
No excuse for a warship to be hit.

Even if the cargo ship didn't have right of way, the warship has people and systems to avoid the situation long before it becomes "situation".
Agreed. A warship is fast and agile compared to a tanker. It's also very easy to tell when you're on a collision course with another vessel.