Ex-U.S. Navy officers face negligent homicide charges over ship collisions

 

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain is seen after a collision, in Singapore waters August 21, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commanding officers of two U.S. Navy destroyers involved in deadly collisions last year in the Pacific Ocean face courts-martial and military criminal charges including negligent homicide, the U.S. Navy said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

Filing charges against the officers marks the Navy's latest effort to address the problems that led to collisions involving its warships in Asia, in which 17 sailors were killed.

 

The Navy has already dismissed several senior officers, including the commander of the Seventh Fleet, as a result of the collisions.

 

Evidence supporting the charges against the commanders and several lower-ranking officers who served on the ships will be reviewed soon in investigative hearings, according to the Navy's statement.

 

"The announcement of an Article 32 hearing and referral to a court-martial is not intended to and does not reflect a determination of guilt or innocence related to any offences," the statement added.

 

The commanding officer of the USS John S. McCain guided missile destroyer, which collided with a merchant ship near Singapore in August, faces charges of dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide, the statement said.

 

The commanding officer and three other officers on the USS Fitzgerald guided missile destroyer, which collided with a Philippine container ship in June, face charges including dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide, the Navy said.

 

Results from Navy investigations released in November found that both accidents were the result of human error by sailors aboard the ships, but determined that no single person could be blamed for the accidents.

 

Beyond the courts-martial, the Navy is conducting additional administrative actions for members of both crews, including non-judicial punishment for four crewmembers of each vessel, according to the Navy statement on Tuesday.

 

(Reporting by Eric Beech and Julia Harte; Editing by Eric Walsh and Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-17

Criminal charges?  This is pretty extreme.  The Adm who made the decision must have determined that the gross negligence was particularly egregious.  But how about ramifications?  I would think future COs would think twice about accepting the position if they can be held criminally liable for the dereliction of their subordinates.

Actually, it's a way of shifting blame downwards or at least not having the higher-ups in the Navy share the blame. The problem is that the Navy just isn't big enough to handle all the tasks assigned to it and give its sailors adequate time off to rest and recover.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/investigators-repeatedly-warned-navy-1503703292

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/348141-investigators-warned-of-overworked-sailors-ahead-of-navy-ship

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-06/navy-ships-suffered-from-shoddy-maintenance-overworked-sailors

Where does it say in the story that the accused are EX Navy officers as stated in the headline? Sloppy copy again.

12 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

Where does it say in the story that the accused are EX Navy officers as stated in the headline? Sloppy copy again.

They probably meant to say ex Commanding Officers.  But I think we all get it.

Hitting or being hit by a container ship boggles the mind as they are usually huge and would certainly be on radar. As an ex-navy man it sounds like incompetence. And as for negligent homicide, if sailors died it has to be negligence and the piper has to be paid. In this day and age with all of the tools at their disposal there can only rarely be reasonable excuses. Any time a captain runs aground or hits another ship his days as a captain are over for good. It doesn't matter what was done by lower ranks, he ultimately carries the can.

6 hours ago, Berkshire said:

They probably meant to say ex Commanding Officers.  But I think we all get it.

You are correct but it is still sloppy work.

 

Further, it will be interesting to see how the Captain of the ships were negligent and what specifically happened.

Edited January 17, 20188 yr by Trouble

Good. This is excellent news. A man piloting a ship costing a hundred million dollars, who is responsible for hundreds, if not thousands of young lives, should be held responsible when that ship collides with another ship at sea. They have the best radar at hand. They have a skilled crew. There is no excuse for this, on any level. They can see ships coming for miles. It is ridiculous that these accidents ever happen and when they do, the guy in charge should be charged and sentenced. 

 

Making  America great again? How about teaching Admirals how to pilot a ship?