The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald, damaged by colliding with a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel, is towed by a tugboat upon its arrival at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Japan June 17, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Navy Times: Worse than you thought: inside the secret Fitzgerald probe the Navy doesn’t want you to read
A scathing internal Navy probe into the 2017 collision that drowned seven sailors on the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald details a far longer list of problems plaguing the vessel, its crew and superior commands than the service has publicly admitted.
Obtained by Navy Times, the “dual-purpose investigation” was overseen by Rear Adm. Brian Fort and completed 11 days after the June 17, 2017, tragedy.
It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.
Unsparingly, Fort and his team of investigators outlined critical lapses by bridge watchstanders on the night of the collision with the Philippine-flagged container vessel ACX Crystal in a bustling maritime corridor off the coast of Japan.
Their report documents the routine, almost casual, violations of standing orders on a Fitz bridge that often lacked skippers and executive officers, even during potentially dangerous voyages at night through busy waterways.
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WNU Editor: My must read post for today.
More News On The U.S. Navy's Second Probe On the USS Fitzgerald Disaster
The situation aboard the USS Fitzgerald before a deadly collision killed 7 American sailors was so much worse than previously thought -- Business Insider
The Navy's Secret Investigation Into The USS Fitzgerald Collision Details A Disaster That Was Just Waiting To Happen -- Task & Purpose
Ship owners to pay U.S. government for Fitzgerald collision -- Navy Times
