Now I'm no Nelson....

[DMN]

There is a good post on reddit from a serving US sailor:
https://np.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/6uz5hj/uss_j...

TL:DR - they have serious problems with sleep deprivation.

[TLandCruiser]

If the US navy are anything like their army I don't hold much hope for them

[Mr Pointy]

DMN said:

There is a good post on reddit from a serving US sailor:
https://np.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/6uz5hj/uss_j...

TL:DR - they have serious problems with sleep deprivation.

That work rota arrangement seems crazy; anyone know if it's like that in the RN?

[Boosted LS1]

Biggles delivers the goods said:

I've just come back from a sailing trip in the Med, we went from Malta to Menorca and through some rather busy shipping lanes. All of the larger boats including us had collision avoidance systems. You could touch a boat on the radar at it would display its name, destination, speed and bearing. If another ship was on a collision course an alarm would go off. I believe the system is called ALS or some such. I can't see how you could have a collision if even one of the ships had a similar system.

Navy ships might not be signed up to this.

[Ayahuasca]

Boosted LS1 said:

Biggles delivers the goods said:

I've just come back from a sailing trip in the Med, we went from Malta to Menorca and through some rather busy shipping lanes. All of the larger boats including us had collision avoidance systems. You could touch a boat on the radar at it would display its name, destination, speed and bearing. If another ship was on a collision course an alarm would go off. I believe the system is called ALS or some such. I can't see how you could have a collision if even one of the ships had a similar system.

Navy ships might not be signed up to this.

AIS. But Warships are mystifyingly unwilling to broadcast their position to anyone with an iPhone. Can't think why.

[4x4Tyke]

prand said:

Was that the Maersk Norwich? Was quite famous for turning up in Rotterdam with a dead whale stuck on the bulb at the bow of the ship.

Was sceptical ...

[KTF]

4x4Tyke said:

prand said:

Was that the Maersk Norwich? Was quite famous for turning up in Rotterdam with a dead whale stuck on the bulb at the bow of the ship.

Was sceptical ...

A more 'happier' image:

[Jimmy Recard]

I feel a little sorry for the whale of course, but also find that pretty funny

[NDA]

DMN said:

There is a good post on reddit from a serving US sailor:
https://np.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/6uz5hj/uss_j...

TL:DR - they have serious problems with sleep deprivation.

That's an interesting read.... I would hope that those in charge of weapons are not on that type of rota.

I went without sleep once and her comment about 'seeing things that weren't there' ring very true - it's a peculiar state of mind when you're deprived of sleep.

[Jimmy Recard]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I assume so, but I don't know that much about ships or whales to be assertive on it

[prand]

Jimmy Recard said:

I assume so, but I don't know that much about ships or whales to be assertive on it

From what I've read on the subject, even though captains are not supposed to deliberately run them down, and there are restricted speeds in certain waters, ships can and do collide with living whales who don't or are unable to always take evasive action. This might be because the ship is moving too quickly or the whales are asleep at the time.

[Ayahuasca]

prand said:

Jimmy Recard said:

I assume so, but I don't know that much about ships or whales to be assertive on it

From what I've read on the subject, even though captains are not supposed to deliberately run them down, and there are restricted speeds in certain waters, ships can and do collide with living whales who don't or are unable to always take evasive action. This might be because the ship is moving too quickly or the whales are asleep at the time.

On the Pacific side of Panama, not far from the entrance to the Panama Canal, is the breeding ground for humpback whales. There are a LOT of whales and a LOT of ships in the same space, but they never seem to collide.

[Boosted LS1]

prand said:

Boosted LS1 said:

My dad was a skipper on container ships. One night a ship felt a momentary judder but nobody could find a fault. It kept steering to port but nothing wrong could be found. Eventually somebody looked over the bow and discovered an impaled whale, head on. :-( and yes these ships can get a move on if they need to.

Was that the Maersk Norwich? Was quite famous for turning up in Rotterdam with a dead whale stuck on the bulb at the bow of the ship.

I'm not sure. My Dad was with Blue Star Line but I don't know which vessel had the incident.

[Boosted LS1]

Ayahuasca said:

prand said:

Jimmy Recard said:

I assume so, but I don't know that much about ships or whales to be assertive on it

From what I've read on the subject, even though captains are not supposed to deliberately run them down, and there are restricted speeds in certain waters, ships can and do collide with living whales who don't or are unable to always take evasive action. This might be because the ship is moving too quickly or the whales are asleep at the time.

On the Pacific side of Panama, not far from the entrance to the Panama Canal, is the breeding ground for humpback whales. There are a LOT of whales and a LOT of ships in the same space, but they never seem to collide.

I saw a whale documentary which mentioned this. I think there are concerns about the noise levels from the shipping confusing the whales. It's being monitored but must be deafening.

[98elise]

Mr Pointy said:

DMN said:

There is a good post on reddit from a serving US sailor:
https://np.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/6uz5hj/uss_j...

TL:DR - they have serious problems with sleep deprivation.

That work rota arrangement seems crazy; anyone know if it's like that in the RN?

In my day the worst you would do would be working 6 hours on and 6 hours off continuously. It entirely depends on where you are and what your doing.

[IanH755]

Just to Necro this thread - The official report in the ship life which caused the USS Fitzgerald collision have been leaked to the NavyTimes and HOLY **** it's amazing how unbelievable bad this crew, fleet management and Officer class were!

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/01/1...

Some highlights -

NavyTimes said:

"When (the investigating officer) walked into the trash-strewn CIC in the wake of the disaster, he was hit with the acrid smell of urine. He saw kettlebells on the floor and bottles filled with pee."

Bottles of Pee and gym equipment left in the CIC???? Lt. Natalie Combs, who ran the CIC and the ships Captain & XO should be all over that sort of behaviour like a rash!

NavyTimes said:

"The probe exposes how personal distrust led the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock, to avoid communicating with the destroyer’s electronic nerve center — the combat information center, or CIC — while the Fitzgerald tried to cross a shipping superhighway."

Again it's Lt. Natalie Combs, what kind of "personal distrust" would be allowed to get so bad between two Officers on a fairly small ship that they wouldn't talk to each other? How was this allowed to continue by the ships XO and Captain?

NavyTimes said:

"Some radar controls didn’t work and (the investigating officer) soon discovered crew members who didn’t know how to use them anyway."

What the actual hell, a warship with crew untrained in basic equipment and then left with equipment which didn't even work!

Nothing in this report makes me believe that the US Navy 7th Fleet was fit for purpose at the time of the 3 collisions in 2017 which killed 17 sailors. Thats just bloody shocking!

[Europa1]

That is shocking! One hopes very much a one-off as opposed to a more general malaise in the 7th Fleet or wider US Navy.

[HarryW]

Europa1 said:

That is shocking! One hopes very much a one-off as opposed to a more general malaise in the 7th Fleet or wider US Navy.

Going by the rules of the road control test on another ship in the 7th fleet, I'd say it was endemic...

[gooner1]

Many thanks for the update Ian.

A sad state of affairs for any ship.

[Vaud]

IanH755 said:

What the actual hell, a warship with crew untrained in basic equipment and then left with equipment which didn't even work!

I'm not sure the report quite said that - I think it said that "Some radar controls didn’t work and he soon discovered crew members who didn’t know how to use them anyway." but not clear which of teh controls.

System canibalization is quite common as I understand it on extended tours - kit breaks down, only a finite number of spares.

It is a damning report though.