For no particular reason or point, here’s a partial list of
US Navy collisions and groundings in recent years. I say, partial, because I’m sure there are
more. These are just the one’s I’ve been
able to find documentation for.
Does this seem like a lot, a little, or just expected
frequency for our operations?
Oct 1999 – USS Underwood ran aground in Egypt
Feb 2000 – USS Shreveport grounded in the Suez Canal
Feb 2000 – USNS Yukon collided with civilian ship
Jul 2000 – USS Denver collided with USNS Yukon
Aug 2000 – USS Detroit and USS Nicholson collided
Sep 2000 - USS La Moure County ran aground off Chile
Feb 2001 – USS Greeneville collided with Japanese trawler
Nov 2002 – USS Oklahoma collided with LNG tanker east of Gibraltar
Oct 2003 – USS Hartford ran aground in Sardinia
Jul 2004 – USS Kennedy collided with a dhow
Jan 2005 – USS San Francisco collided with seamount
Sep 2005 – USS Philadelphia collided with merchant ship in Persian Gulf
Jan 2007 – USS Newport News collided with Japanese tanker in Strait of Hormuz
Feb 2009 - USS Port Royal ran aground off Hawaii
Mar 2009 – USS Hartford and USS New Orleans collided
May 2012 – USS Essex and USNS Yukon collided
Oct 2012 - USS Montpelier and USS San Jacinto collided off Florida
Jan 2013 – USS Guardian ran aground in Philippines
Jan 2013 – USS Jacksonville collided with trawler in Persian Gulf
Feb 2014 – USS Taylor ran aground in Turkey
Aug 2016 – USS Louisiana and Military Sealift Command vessel Eagleview collided
Oct 2016 – USS Montgomery collided with a tug causing a hull crack in the LCS
May 2017 – USS Lake Champlain collided with South Korean fishing vessel
Jun 2017 - USS Fitzgerald collided with cargo ship
Aug 2017 - USS McCain collided with cargo ship
Jan 2017 - USS Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay, Japan
Jun 2019 – USS Billings collided with a moored freighter in Montreal
Oct 2021 – USS Connecticut collided with seamount in South China Sea
Feb 2000 – USS Shreveport grounded in the Suez Canal
Feb 2000 – USNS Yukon collided with civilian ship
Jul 2000 – USS Denver collided with USNS Yukon
Aug 2000 – USS Detroit and USS Nicholson collided
Sep 2000 - USS La Moure County ran aground off Chile
Feb 2001 – USS Greeneville collided with Japanese trawler
Nov 2002 – USS Oklahoma collided with LNG tanker east of Gibraltar
Oct 2003 – USS Hartford ran aground in Sardinia
Jul 2004 – USS Kennedy collided with a dhow
Jan 2005 – USS San Francisco collided with seamount
Sep 2005 – USS Philadelphia collided with merchant ship in Persian Gulf
Jan 2007 – USS Newport News collided with Japanese tanker in Strait of Hormuz
Feb 2009 - USS Port Royal ran aground off Hawaii
Mar 2009 – USS Hartford and USS New Orleans collided
May 2012 – USS Essex and USNS Yukon collided
Oct 2012 - USS Montpelier and USS San Jacinto collided off Florida
Jan 2013 – USS Guardian ran aground in Philippines
Jan 2013 – USS Jacksonville collided with trawler in Persian Gulf
Feb 2014 – USS Taylor ran aground in Turkey
Aug 2016 – USS Louisiana and Military Sealift Command vessel Eagleview collided
Oct 2016 – USS Montgomery collided with a tug causing a hull crack in the LCS
May 2017 – USS Lake Champlain collided with South Korean fishing vessel
Jun 2017 - USS Fitzgerald collided with cargo ship
Aug 2017 - USS McCain collided with cargo ship
Jan 2017 - USS Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay, Japan
Jun 2019 – USS Billings collided with a moored freighter in Montreal
Oct 2021 – USS Connecticut collided with seamount in South China Sea
This article is from 2017 but it seems to hold true today.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/the-navy-having-collisions-sea-heres-why-its-happening-and-what-should-be-done
1. The Navy Fleet and its sailors are stretched too thin to meet the operational demands."
2." The extremely high operational demands on these forward-deployed ships, and the lack of a formal training and deployment certification process, has left little time to train and evaluate their proficiency."
3." Eight years of continuing resolutions and the Budget Control Act (or “sequestration”) have taken a heavy toll."
A lack of navigation skills was mentioned, due to overworked crews. Would adequate sonar readings prevent some of the ship groundings ? ( adequate knowledge of reefs / shoals?)
Perhaps the Navy should have some priority for spending on navigation training and what is necessary for sustainment.
What about good old fashion look outs as well .
I'm just a citizen wondering about the state of our Navy.
PB
Yes, it will always be reported this way. This is the basic sales pitch for more funding. The Navy's budget has increased higher than inflation each year. Don't expect the Admirals to blame poor management, ever!
DeleteMercy hit the Arizona Memorial in 2015.
ReplyDeleteThat's disturbing...
DeleteNot being navy or a seaman I have limited knowledge, tho this seems a lot for an organization whose institutional purpose is navigating vessels on the high seas. The grounding seem too much, but the collisions are totally avoidable.
ReplyDeleteThis one happened last week - Pentagon stops delivery of latest version of F-35, TR-3
ReplyDeletehttps://breakingdefense.com/2023/06/pentagon-will-not-accept-new-f-35s-with-tr-3-until-testing-completes/
Mid-90s addition: 14 October 1996, Ticonderoga-class Leyte Gulf collided with Nimitz-class USS Theodore Roosevelt off the coast of North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just arbitrarily cut off at 1999. As you noted, there's more collisions going back into the '90's and earlier.
Delete2017 seems like a high (low?) point for collisions. Since then, its been better. I know that after the McCain and Fitz incidents, lots of changes were supposed to have been made. Thoughts on the reduction since 2017- progress... or just luck??
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be progress after 2017 and I have not read about collisions or groundings since, other than the US Sub USS Connecticut hitting a sea mount in 2022.
DeleteCNO did mention the USS Billings collision in 2019...forgot to mention this.
DeletePB
It's mostly due to GPS and autopilot, plus smartphone use on the bridge.
ReplyDeleteThe collisions, or reduction in them??
DeleteThe collisions. Modern Jumbo jets can be fully automated, but they want the pilots to pay attention, so the system requires them to do many things manually.
DeleteIf the watch crew is texting and watching videos on their smartphone, accidents happen. They've reported civilian merchant marine accidents where no one was one bridge.
Well if anyone is on watch and is on their phone-and LPOs, Chiefs, or officers arent putting an immediate stop to it, then everyone in the chain of command should be relieved. Period.
DeleteIm not sure thats whats going on but if it is- weve got some real problems to fix!!!
If I was OOD and I saw a sailor using a cell on the bridge, my first instinct would to make him (her) eat the dang thing. What I probably would do is throw it over the side and put them on report. Cell phones have no place on watch, and IMHO onboard ship at all.
Delete2 Navy ships nearly collide while moving through San Diego Bay
ReplyDeletehttps://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2022-11-30/navy-ships-collision-investigation-8253105.htm A webcam in the bay captured the near miss and the video was posted online.
PB
I saw that. Looks like TWO bridge crews were napping... Ridiculous...
DeletePreliminary Report :
Deletehttps://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/04/14/warships-near-collision-san-diego-averted-junior-officers-navy-investigation-finds.html
And the action of Destroyer commander .
As a junior line officer, I never received any training in rules of the road, ship-handling, seamanship, strategy, or tactics, except for OJT. But we didn't run into anybody because we paid attention to what we were doing. It's time to get back to basics.
ReplyDeleteAs a junior sailor, I stood many a bridge watch, and had a good bit of helm time, although never in a crowded seaway, as I wasn't part of the Nav team. But I always took the duties seriously, always paid attention as a lookout, etc. Even on a noncombatant, everyone took it very seriously, and no slacking was allowed (although i admit, fantail watch was a struggle to stay awake, but...) Sure, that was the days before cell phones, but I cant fathom how far we've fallen, and how seemingly lackadaisical things are now....
DeletePerhaps we may be so fortunate that our (lack of a) strategy collides with reality in peacetime!
ReplyDeleteHow many of these accidents happened in high traffic areas or relatively narrow shipping lanes? In most countries such areas are managed via VTS and similar systems at least since 2000. As far as I've been told the US Navy in many cases disregards VTS orders and scheduling causing more than a few problems.
ReplyDeleteFor example the USN disregards VTS in the straits of Messina which is heavily trafficked in all directions.