Traffic School Calls
CNN is reporting that a U.S. sub collides with Japan ship. Actually the fast-attack submarine, USS Newport News, rear-ended the Japanese supertanker, Mogamikawa, near the Strait of Hormuz.
It will be interesting to read the explanation of the captain of a vessel designed to detect and hunt even Soviet submarines operating in stealth mode missed a supertanker which can be 300 meters long. If you executed an “emergency stop” with a supertanker, going full reverse with the engines, it takes almost two miles to stop. Someone wasn’t paying attention in one of the most crowded waterways on the planet.
This is going to cost us money, and is to be expected with all of the naval vessels trying to work in the Persian Gulf added to the normal traffic patterns.
5 comments
“But, Officer, I swear his brakelights weren’t working!”
I hope the skills of the officers on duty weren’t sub-standard. <grin_duck_run />
Considering some of the games of “chicken” and tag that were played between the US and Soviet navies, these sorts of collisions are unreal. These guys are getting sloppy without the Soviets to test them.
Bryan,
Off-topic. Do you happen to know where in the Middle East our ships and carriers have assembled? I am dubious about the official explanation foe Rice’s new tour — and am thinking of wringing my hands over the administration’s Iran plans again.
There are more than two carrier battle groups clustered in the Northern Indian Ocean and in the Persian Gulf. They are in position to do something really stupid vis-a-vis Iran.