It’s taken a while, but people are starting to wonder if the startling collision between the American destroyer Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal that killed seven American sailors might have been, you know, someone’s fault. Jonathan Soble, writing for the New York Times, manages to find a captain—not a U.S. Navy captain, of course—who’s willing to speculate:
“Capt. Sean P. Tortora, a veteran merchant marine captain and consultant who said he had sailed through the area where the collision occurred, said the evidence suggested that the Fitzgerald had been at fault.
“Captain Tortora described the collision as a “T-bone” in which the bow of the Crystal hit the starboard side of the Fitzgerald. “From what I’ve seen, the Fitzgerald should have given way and passed to the stern of the container ship,” he said.
“He added that a common cause of collisions, at sea or on the simulators used for training, is a misjudgment of distance and speed on the part of a captain trying to cross in front of another vessel. “They think they can make it and they make a run for it,” Captain Tortora said.”
Which sounds like the Fitzgerald’s captain, Commander Bryce Benson, ought to be facing a court martial. The U.S. Navy, naturally, isn’t excited about talking about such embarrassing issues. According to Capt. Charles W. Brown, a U.S. Navy spokesman quoted by Soble, “At this point, our foremost concern is the search for the missing sailors and the well-being of the crew.” Because when something terrible happens, holding the man in charge—Commander Bryce Benson, in this case—responsible for what happened only makes it all more terrible. And who needs that?
Afterwords I
So was Hillary Clinton responsible for the deaths at Benghazi? Yes, but not as the Republicans insisted. She was deeply responsible for urging the U.S. backed/led invasion/overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in the first place, a massive unforced error for which are we still paying, and will continue to pay, a terrible price. She was also responsible, certainly to some degree, for allowing the CIA to set up shop in Benghazi under the guise of a U.S. consulate, making U.S. State Department officials likely targets for terrorist retribution. Republicans, alas, did not want to discuss these issues; they only wanted to hear that Hillary had ordered ready and willing rescuers to “stand down”.
Afterwords II
In February 2001 an American submarine, the USS Greeneville, collided with a Japanese ship, killing six Japanese on board. The collision was manifestly due to numerous instances of negligence and poor decision-making on the part of the American captain, Commander Scott Waddle. However, Waddle did not even have to face a court martial, thanks to a finding of absence of criminal intent on his part, which strikes me as a suspiciously generous ruling. Waddle was allowed to resign and received an honorable discharge. See Wikipedia (of course), for details.
