Article snippet: Posted at 9:44 pm on June 28, 2017 by streiff It has been nearly two weeks since the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Fitzgerald, was rammed by the container ship ACX Crystal near Fitzgerald’s homeport of Yokosuka, Japan. The Fitzgerald was extensively damaged–probably putting it out of service for at least a year–and seven sailors were killed. Initial reports based on tracking data from ACX Crystal showed it made a sharp right turn before impact. This led to a lot of speculation about a deliberate ramming because the crew of ACX Crystal is all Filipino and it had made previous stops in Pakistan. As it turns out, the sharp turn is actually the container ship broadsiding Fitzgerald and being forced off course, which the autopilot corrected when the two ships separated. Right now, however, the emphasis seems to be focusing on what was going on in the bridge and combat information center aboard the Fitzgerald. This is the kicker: I don’t pretend to be an authority on the day to day operations on the bridge and CIC of a surface combatant, but these statements comport with conversations I have had with Navy officers. The fact is that being asleep in your bunk will not prevent you from being relieved if something happens, most skippers are on the bridge anytime there is any danger of anything going wrong. As a commander, I had a couple of “misadventures” that could have ended my career had the dice rolled a bit differently and I’m reluctant to second-guess a man ... Link to the full article to read more