IN Pacific Ocean raises many questions. How could ships equipped with radars and accident prevention systems hit? Experts believe the cause is human error. The main responsibility is placed on the cargo ship, but the blame will inevitably fall on the commander of the destroyer, who lost seven of his sailors killed, and even on the fleet command. The increased activity of the US Navy in the Pacific Ocean in recent months has led to the first casualties: on Sunday it became known that the bodies of seven sailors were found in the flooded cabins of the American destroyer Fitzgerald. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already expressed condolences to US President Donald Trump on this matter.
Let us remind you that the ship collided with the Philippine merchant ship ACX Crystal in Japanese waters 103 km from Yokosuka on Saturday. In addition to the seven killed, three sailors were wounded, including the ship's commander, Bryce Benson. All victims were hospitalized.
Container ship hit by destroyer
The incident occurred at 2.30 local time (20.30 Moscow time on Friday), when the Philippine container ship rammed its bow (as CNN recalls, ships of this type have a bow bulb - a protruding part of a convex ellipsoidal shape just below the waterline - to reduce resistance to the flow of water) the starboard side of the American destroyer, creating a serious hole, both above and below the waterline. The warship's engine room, as well as the captain's and crew's cabins, were damaged. most of whom she slept at night (which, among other things, caused such serious casualties).
Thanks to the efforts of the crew, the Fitzgerald remained afloat and was able to reach the port of Yokosuka. The commander of the Navy's 7th Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, noted that despite the serious damage, the destroyer can be repaired, but this will take several months, if not a year. The ACX Crystal has only minor damage to its bow and remains completely afloat.
Fitzgerald is a Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in service since 1995. It was one of 15 URO destroyers that were modernized to install longer-range anti-aircraft guided missiles - SM-3. On board, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the Manila Declaration in 2011 to launch negotiations to resolve maritime disputes with the Philippines.
IN Lately Fitzgerald was on combat duty off the coasts of Japan and South Korea (based in Yokosuka). On the Friday before the collision, he went out for “routine operations.” It is worth noting that this is a ship of impressive size: a displacement of more than 8 thousand tons and a length of more than 150 m, and the crew consists of 337 people.
At the same time, ACX Crystal is a much larger vessel. Its displacement is more than 29 thousand tons, and its length is more than 220 m, but its crew is only 21 people. This difference in size explains the incomparability of the damage received by the ships. The container ship, which has been in service for 9 years, flies under the flag of the Philippines, but was built in South Korea, owned by the Japanese company Dainichi-Invest Corporation and chartered by the largest Japanese shipping company NYK Line (part of the Mitsubishi Group). At the time of the collision, the ship was carrying more than 1 thousand containers from Nagoya to Tokyo.
How could this happen?
The US Navy and the Japanese Coast Guard (although the incident took place in Japanese waters, an American warship was involved) have launched an investigation - and intend to first interrogate the crew of the container ship, because it was they who rammed the destroyer. By the way, according to the navigation data, ACX Crystal for some reason deviated from the course before the collision and made two sharp maneuvers.
In any case, such incidents at sea are puzzling. Both sides are most likely to blame. Maritime expert Tom Dyer told Wired that both vessels are equipped with radar-based collision avoidance systems. Under these conditions, there are two possible reasons for what happened: either a system failure, or an error by the commanders (or navigators) of both ships. And the second is much more likely.
So the Japanese authorities suggested that “professional negligence” was to blame. There are also voices in the US that, even if the main responsibility lies with the container ship, the commander of the Fitzgerald is also at fault for failing to prevent the incident. Brian McGrath, a former commander of one of the US destroyers, emphasized: “Anyone who has ever commanded a ship knows that you are inevitably responsible for everything that happens under your supervision. There are no such moments as “I was sleeping” or “I was on land.”
Former Rear Admiral of the US Navy John Kirby noted that those responsible should be punished and pay with positions. “In the absence of combat at sea, Navy warships should not crash into anything - not into the ground, not into each other, and certainly not into a container ship in the middle of the night,” he stressed.
Oddly enough, even President Donald Trump was criticized. He never appointed either a Secretary of the Navy or an American Ambassador to Japan. rescue operation and its coordination between Tokyo and Washington faced problems, says former Barack Obama administration spokesman Brendon Friedman.
Ships are colliding more frequently
As FT notes, in May, at a symposium in Singapore, representatives of the military departments of Asian states expressed concern about the rapid build-up of the submarine fleet in this region (should reach 250 units in the next eight years) and the increase in the number of US warships. This increases the risk of “calculation errors,” which can lead to accidents. The collision between the destroyer Fitzgerald and the container ship ACX Crystal indirectly confirmed these fears.
It is also worth remembering that in April a similar incident occurred in the Black Sea. Then, 40 km northwest of the Bosphorus Strait, a Togo-flagged cargo ship Youzarsif H (Ashot-7) rammed the Russian reconnaissance ship Liman. As a result the ship Black Sea Fleet sank. The team, however, was not injured, thanks to timely evacuation.
A representative of the Black Sea Fleet this month told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the reconnaissance ship was at anchor and promptly detected the approach of Youzarsif H, informing the captain of the cargo ship. However, the cargo ship did not change course even after the second communication session, although it reported that it had received the information. However, the question remains why the Liman commander delayed until the last minute with the decision to weigh anchor and leave, for which in the end there was not enough time. The official results of the investigation into the death of Liman have not yet been reported.
TASS DOSSIER. On August 21, 2017, in the Strait of Malacca, the US Navy destroyer DDG-56 John S. McCain collided with the tanker Alnic MC. The warship suffered damage to its stern, and ten of its sailors are listed as missing.
The editors of TASS-DOSSIER have prepared a chronology of accidents that have occurred since 2000 with US Navy surface ships as a result of navigation errors.
A total of six such incidents were reported (including the collision on August 21). Two of them resulted in human casualties.
July 13, 2000 near the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian archipelago (USA), the landing transport dock LPD-9 Denver collided with the T-AO-202 Yukon refueling vessel during an at-sea refueling exercise. Both vessels were seriously damaged, but there were no casualties. The Denver crew was found to be at fault for the accident.
July 22, 2004 in the Persian Gulf, the aircraft carrier CV-67 John F. Kennedy collided with an unidentified dhow (Arab sailing fishing vessel). As a result, the ship sank immediately, with up to 15 people presumably on board. No one was injured on board the aircraft carrier, but two aircraft were damaged as a result of a sudden maneuver to avoid a collision. Based on the results of the investigation of the incident, the aircraft carrier commander, captain (analogue Russian rank"Captain 1st Rank") John Miller was removed from command and transferred to teaching and then to staff work.
August 12, 2012 In the Strait of Hormuz, the destroyer DDG-78 Porter collided with the tanker Otowasan, flying the flag of Panama, and received a hole in the starboard side. There were no casualties. The ship's commander, Commander (Captain 2nd Rank) Martin Arriola, was subsequently relieved of command.
May 9, 2017 In international waters off the coast of the Republic of Korea, the missile cruiser CG-57 Lake Champlain collided with a small South Korean fishing vessel 502 Nam Yang. There were no casualties. The collision occurred in poor visibility conditions. According to representatives of the Navy, the ship's crew gave the required sound signals, but the fishermen did not manage to change course in time.
June 17, 2017 off the southern coast of Japan, the American destroyer DDG-62 Fitzgerald collided with the container ship ACX Crystal, sailing under the flag of the Philippines. The incident occurred at night in good weather. The cargo carrier crashed into the starboard side of the ship, and the destroyer suffered serious damage, including a hole below the waterline. Seven American sailors were killed when they were drowned in the engine room. Three were injured, including the ship's commander, Commander Bruce Benson.
According to the results of the investigation, published by the US authorities on August 17, 2017, the destroyer's sailors on watch were found guilty of the incident, who, in violation of the International Collision Avoidance Regulations (COLREGS-72), did not give the right of way to a merchant ship moving on the right. After the accident, the ship was sent for lengthy repairs.
The unpredictability of the behavior of ships of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet is becoming a threat to international shipping. The USS John McCain guided missile destroyer collided with a tanker east of Singapore this morning. According to the press service of the fleet, the destroyer was damaged in the stern, ten sailors were missing, and five crew members were injured. "John McCain" retained its speed, but lost its combat effectiveness. US President Donald Trump called the incident "very bad."
The Alni MC was damaged in the forepeak area, seven meters above the waterline, but no crew members were injured. An investigation into the incident has been launched. Authorities in Singapore and Myanmar are conducting search and rescue operations.
Earlier (June 17), off the coast of the Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka, a collision occurred between the US Navy destroyer Fitzgerald and the Philippine container ship ACX Crystal (222 meters long and displacing 29 thousand tons). The captain of ACX Crystal said the destroyer did not respond to his warning signals. The incident killed seven American sailors. The Fitzgerald was holed below the waterline and was partially sunk. The results of the investigation showed that the collision with the Philippine ship occurred due to errors by the crew of the American ship. Three senior US Navy officers have been fired due to loss of confidence.
American destroyer Fitzgerald after a collision with a merchant ship. June 17, 2017
Obviously, this does not make it any easier for civilian sailors. And the official representative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, today expressed the Chinese side’s concern regarding the threat to the safety of navigation in the South China Sea.
Navigation using the "exclusivity" method
Dozens of ships and vessels meet simultaneously in the Asian straits different countries. This is not chaotic, but completely regulated traffic (like on a highway). And the merchant ship Alnic MC (under the flag of Liberia) with 12 thousand tons of fuel oil in tanks was scheduled to be sent to the port of Singapore. An hour and a half after sunrise, it is difficult not to notice it in the sea even with the naked eye - 183 meters long and 32 meters wide (displacement - over 30 thousand tons). Moreover, a brighter mark was present on the radar screens of the American destroyer John McCain. Has it really become so crowded in the sea - and at the same time the eyes and radar failed?
The American missile destroyer "John McCain" of the Arleigh Burk class (about 150 meters long, displacement 6630 tons) was launched in 1992, has a developed missile weapons complex, an Aegis control system, which includes fairly effective radars for detecting air and surface targets . The ship's crew is 337 people, and it is simply incredible that no one on watch was alerted by the dangerous approach to the tanker.
Of course big ship It is more difficult to maneuver, but there is plenty of space at sea. It is known that the circulation zone of the two ships is dangerous, but navigation rules take this into account. You just have to follow them. Still, the statistics of American rams are from the field of psychology with an admixture of the ideology of “exceptionalism.” Regular collisions between US Navy warships and civilian ships seem natural due to the disregard for international rules and “second-class” countries and people.
US Navy destroyer USS John McCain after a collision with a merchant ship. August 21, 2017
Let us recall: last summer in the Mediterranean Sea, the American destroyer Gravely deliberately approached the Russian TFR Yaroslav the Mudry at a distance of 60 meters on the port side and crossed the patrol ship's course along the bow at a dangerous distance of 180 meters. That time, thanks to McCain’s prayers, everything worked out, but today the US Navy received a good kick.
Prayer instead of rules
Probably, the watchmen of the destroyer "John McCain" saw everything, but believed that the Filipino sailors were obliged to let the "hegemons" through in all cases. Here I remember an anecdote about an American aircraft carrier that demanded that a Spanish lighthouse give way. However, the quantity similar situations in reality, it is already turning into serious consequences of collisions - in the last two incidents alone, 17 sailors were killed. And the bold raids of the same “John McCain” in the South China Sea near the disputed Spratly archipelago and Mischief Reef are causing serious discontent in the PRC - possibly fraught with large losses for the US Navy.
Perhaps the magic of the name plays a role. It is known that the destroyer "John McCain" is named after the grandfather and father of Republican Senator John McCain. All three McCains preferred to view the world through a lens. Still, in a difficult situation, it is more advisable to follow international rules of navigation rather than pray, as Senator McCain does. The sea of mistakes does not forgive.
The American analytical publication The National Interest notes: “One of the disadvantages of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers is its weakness in anti-ship warfare. It clearly does not have enough anti-ship weapons. Only the older versions of the ship have eight obsolete Harpoon anti-ship missiles. This is a design feature because There are no serious surface threats to the destroyer."
As it turns out, the destroyer has any number of surface threats, including “inconspicuous” large-tonnage container ships and tankers.
How to live, where to hide the stern of the US Navy?
At least seven U.S. sailors were killed and three were injured in a tragic incident that occurred on June 17, 2017 at 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. June 16 Moscow time) off the coast of Japan, 56 nautical miles southwest from Yokosuka Port.
The US Navy 7th Fleet destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with the heavy laden container ship ACX Crystal, which was sailing under the Philippine flag from Nagoya to Tokyo.
According to the commander of the US 7th Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, as a result of the collision, the destroyer Fitzgerald received a serious hole below the waterline. As a result, several compartments on the starboard side, where the dead sailors were located, were flooded. And only thanks to the coordinated actions of the crew, the warship was kept afloat. However, it now requires lengthy repairs, which may take several months. Of the 20 crew members of the container ship, which included Filipino citizens, no one was injured, and the ship managed to reach its destination.
Currently, the Fitzgerald has already been towed to Yokosuka, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already expressed condolences to US President Donald Trump over the death of the American military.
US naval exercises in Okinawa, Japan. Photo: Lcpl. Christian J. Robertson/Zuma/TASS
Why did the collision happen?
It is noteworthy that the displacement of the Philippine merchant ship is about 29,000 tons, which is more than three times the displacement of the American destroyer. At the same time, experts argue that the Fitzgerald could have received such a serious hole only as a result of a blow from the bulb - the bow protruding below the waterline, which, in fact, is comparable to a ramming blow, which was widely used by the Greeks and Romans in naval battles antiquity.
Among the probable causes of the incident, either the failure of appropriate technical devices designed to prevent collisions, which are equipped even on civilian cargo ships, not to mention American warships, or the human factor, is considered. In other words, someone's negligence. Moreover, the second, apparently, is much more likely.
As CNN military analyst, Rear Admiral of the US Navy John Kirby, who until recently also served as the official representative of the State Department, said, after a thorough investigation of the incident, all those responsible should be punished. There is little doubt that it will ultimately be the crew members of the Philippine container ship, who have already been accused of veering off course and making abrupt maneuvers, who will end up on the losing end. One way or another, Americans have never been seen publicly admitting their own mistakes. However, final conclusions about the reasons for what happened are clearly premature. It is only worth noting that the commander of the Fitzgerald, Bryce Benson, who was among those hospitalized with injuries, took command of the destroyer about a month ago, on May 13, 2017. Before that, he was the commander of an American minesweeper, also belonging to the 7th Fleet and based in the Japanese port of Sasebo on the island of Kyushu, near the coast of South Korea.
How did the Fitzgerald end up in Japan?
The US Navy ship Fitzgerald itself belongs to the Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers, which are considered one of the most reliable and massive modern warships, equipped with the Aegis multifunctional combat system and carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles. . A total of 64 ships were commissioned from 1991 to 2017 of this type. At least 7 more destroyers of this class will be commissioned in the next three to four years. "Fitzgerald" belongs to the very first series of guided missile destroyers "Arleigh Burke" and has been in service since October 1995. The planned service life is 35 years. The cost of this warship is valued at more than $1 billion.
The guided missile destroyer Fitzgerald joined the US 7th Fleet in 2004. Since that time, he has been based in Yokosuka and has carried out security missions for Japan and South Korea, America's main allies in the Asia-Pacific region, as part of the carrier strike group of the US Navy aircraft carrier George Washington. It is assumed that in the event of an escalation of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula, the strike group of the 7th Fleet should be the first to strike the DPRK. At the time of the collision with the container ship, the destroyer was on regular combat duty. Over the past two months, since the next escalation of the situation and Washington’s threats to Pyongyang, the number of such combat duties and the number of American ships in the region have increased. Thus, in April 2017, a strike group led by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson approached the Korean and Japanese shores.
In connection with the sharp increase in the number of American warships in the region, representatives of a number of states expressed their concerns at the recent international conference on Security in the Asia-Pacific Region, which took place in early June 2017 in Singapore. However, the Yankees are just like the Yankees, because everything is like water off a duck’s back for them, and in an effort to maintain their own world domination, they are ready to sacrifice, including the safety of civil shipping. Here we cannot help but recall the well-known story about how an American squadron almost crashed into the rocks, refusing to change course at the request of an allegedly oncoming ship from another country. At the same time, during the negotiations on the air, the Americans clearly reveled in their own importance and exclusivity, which in the end almost ruined them, since they were required to change course not from someone else’s ship, but from a nearby lighthouse.
The situation in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey, where the Russian research vessel Liman crashed. Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP/TASS
What ruined Liman?
It should be noted that despite modern means of maritime navigation, ship collisions continue to occur with enviable regularity. Here we cannot help but recall the incident two months ago with the Russian reconnaissance ship "Liman", which sank on April 27, 2017 in the Black Sea near the Bosphorus Strait as a result of a collision with the Togolese-flagged livestock carrier "Youzarsif H", which was transporting several thousand sheep from a Romanian port Mussel in Aqaba, Jordan. All 78 crew members of the Liman were rescued by the crew of the livestock carrier and the Turkish coast guard that arrived in time. The cause of the collision is still under investigation. However, it is already reliably known that at the time of the collision, the Liman was at anchor, moreover, the captain of the Youzarsif H was twice informed that a ship was on his course, but did not make any attempts to prevent the collision. The Liman team, in turn, did not have enough time to weigh anchor and go off course.
It is worth noting that after the death of the Liman, publications appeared in which it was argued, not unreasonably, that planned sabotage could have taken place. First, the maneuvers monitored by the website marinetraffic.com that the livestock carrier Youzarsif H performed in thick fog before ramming the Russian ship raised serious questions. At the same time, all ships located in the Bosphorus waters at that time were ordered to either anchor or drift in order to avoid emergency situations until visibility improves. Secondly, the death of Liman looks like a clear success for NATO. This ship constantly monitored naval forces alliance, conducting exercises in the Black Sea. Thus, at the beginning of February 2017, it was “Liman” that controlled the course of the alliance’s largest maneuvers in the Black Sea region, “Sea Shield 2017,” in which 14 warships from the USA, Canada, Spain, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria took part. We cannot say to what extent the information about a possible deliberate ramming of the Liman may correspond to reality, but in any case it has a right to exist.
From the author of the blog. This is precisely the conclusion that can be drawn after the publication of the results of the investigation into the collision of the American destroyer Fitzgerald with the container ship ASH Crystal. Sooner or later, such a collision was bound to happen, and I personally am surprised that it happened so late.
On January 14, 2019, the American Navy Times website published two large and detailed articles (one and two) about the results of the investigation into the incident with the destroyer Fitzgerald. For a year and a half, these materials remained secret, and after reading them, it becomes clear why - they present the American fleet in a far from attractive form.
On June 17, 2017, the USS Fitzgerald collided off the coast of Japan with the Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Cristal. The ship received heavy damage and did not sink to the bottom only thanks to the decisive actions of the crew. Seven crew members were killed, three (including the ship's commander) were injured. The container ship escaped with scratched paint.
The collision had severe consequences. The Fitzgerald's commander and three officers were charged with negligence, dangerous operation of the ship and manslaughter. When a month later, on August 21, 2017, the destroyer John McCain, the same type as the Fitzgerald, collided with an oil tanker in the Strait of Malacca, Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, resigned - because two such incidents in a row is like - that's too much. But, as it turns out now, there were still flowers. Because the investigation, which lasted almost a month and a half, revealed the “atmosphere of general negligence, connivance and sloppiness” that reigned on board the destroyer (as stated in the report).
The ship's electronic navigation system did not work, and not only was it not going to be repaired, but quite the opposite - it was dismantled for parts in order to install other equipment that seemed more important to the crew. Moreover, the Fitzgerald has not had a navigator since 2015! Who and how plotted the ship's course in such conditions can only be guessed at - obviously, other officers did this in their free time from their main duties using good old paper maps. In light of this information, there is no question of why the collision occurred - one can only wonder why it did not happen earlier. The worst thing is that both the immediate superiors and the high command in the States knew about the situation with the navigation system and the navigator - but for two years no one raised a finger.
And this is what “ACX Crystal” looked like after the incident
But that's not all. In combat information center ship (BIC, or CIC - Combat Information Center, as the Americans call it) a real disaster was happening. Rear Admiral Brian Ford, who led the investigation, describes the center as looking more like a student dormitory than a battleship bay. Scraps, dirty clothes and household items were strewn everywhere. There was a smell of urine in the room - it turned out that most of the operators were too lazy to go to the toilet, and they relieved themselves in soda bottles, which they then left under the consoles. The board for operational information was covered with extraneous inscriptions and drawings. Half the equipment didn't work. The remote control of one of the radars, for example, was sealed with tape so that no one would needlessly poke the buttons, “because it still won’t turn on” - while no one even bothered to report the malfunction of the radar to the appropriate place, and how long it remained in this state I didn't remember. However, the malfunctions that were reported were simply not corrected. Some repair requests, Ford discovered, had been sitting unclosed for more than six months.
However, even if the BIC worked as expected, it would not help much. The signalmen on the bridge of the Fitzgerald immediately before the collision had difficulty keeping track of the situation - traffic is always busy off the coast of Japan near a major port. But despite this, they did not request help from the CIC in tracking surrounding ships - although this is precisely what it is designed for. Do you know why? Hold on tight to your chairs - because the officer of the watch, Second Lieutenant Sarah Coppock, had a personal dislike for the BIC operators and avoided communicating with them! Lieutenant Natalie Combs, commander of the CIC, however, was still busy with paperwork at that time. Yes, right on duty, but what’s wrong? This behavior is not surprising - the Fitzgerald officers were not highly professional at all. When they were forced to take a test on basic navigation during an investigation into the incident, the average score was 59%. No one passed the test “excellently”; only three officers out of twenty-two showed results above 80%.
One of the Fitzgerald's compartments after the collision
The final chord is that the control system for the destroyer's steering gear on the bridge has been faulty since 2016. Sometimes she simply refused to accept commands, and the only way to clear her mind was by rebooting, which lasted several minutes. This is despite the fact that the fate of a ship during maneuvering is often decided by seconds. The BIC has a remote control system that allows, if necessary, to “take over the helm” from colleagues on the bridge, but it - guess what? That's right, it didn't work and was partially disassembled for parts.
According to the naval command, “appropriate conclusions were drawn from what was happening” and “at the moment the situation is Pacific Fleet has improved significantly." But, in their opinion, journalists should not have published such materials, since this “could harm the interests of the United States and aggravate the suffering of the families of the victims.” Who would doubt that…