Today we got
some really bad news about the USS Fitzgerald colliding with a merchant ship off
of Yokosuka, Japan! The ship experienced flooding after the collision and is
now missing seven shipmates!! Right now they’re working mighty hard to keep the
ship afloat and looking out for the well-being of their shipmates!!!
I have no
idea what is going on in the minds of the brave young men and women onboard
that ship but I couldn’t imagine waking up at 0200 hours in the morning
staggering over one another in a GQ situation with real fires and real
flooding! I spent Twenty-Three years considering myself lucky I’d never been in
that position!! But that’s what we trained for!!!
One of the
most important requirements and professional qualifications is learning how to
drive a ship! It ain’t no carnival ride that’s for damned sure!! I tried
navigating in a simulator once and it was like trying to steer a herd of elephants on
ice skates!! What do I know about elephants on ice skates you ask?!? I’ll tell
you, nothing… just like I don’t know shit from shinola about steering a ship!! I
do know it’s not for novice beginners!!!
It reminds
me of watching the USS Kinkaid limp into Subic Bay after a collision with the Panamanian merchant ship Kota Petani in
the Straits of Malacca in November of 89!’ She was in sad shape… I believe the
ship’s Navigator was killed in that collision and the Skipper was relieved
shortly after!! It’s a solemn image seeing
a ship staggering along into port like that… gotta feel for those boys!!!
Well, it ain’t
the first time and it ain’t gonna be the last! I guess that’s why you train 99%
of the time for that less than .001% chance something bad happens!! Hopefully
things turn out for the best and the crew can move on getting back to business…
‘cause that’s what we do as sailors and how we deal with the dangers we face!!!
I’m sure my
sentiments are no different than anyone else… I pray for the shipmates lost
and in pain! And of course the families who have lost as well!! It’s never a
situation you want to go home too!!!
Good reflection on realities of life at sea on a Warship.
ReplyDeleteThank you my friend for sharing your reflections, as I hope the outcome is where they find all their shipmates alive and well and I hope the families who have lost love ones can find comfort in the fact that they we surrounded by brave shipmates who were their second family.
ReplyDeleteI was on the Kinkaid messdecks getting ready to start crank'n in the scullery when we hit. The engines wound up and felt the ship turn hard port. It was the most unnatural sound with the metal grinding, lights going on and off, and smell. Never will forget it. SMSN
ReplyDeleteIt's not an easy life at sea and it's fraught with many dangers; this is only one of them. We can only pray for the lost, comfort those remaining and the sad families and loved ones, and be grateful for all the brave souls willing to meet those dangers for the Navy and the free land that we love.
ReplyDelete- Preacher