The two deadly collisions between Navy destroyer ships and cargo ships in the last three months are almost certainly influenced by the fact that the Navy is still operating at a high level with smaller crews who have had less training, shipboard veterans told the New York Times.
The USS John S. McCain’s collision with an oil tanker in Southeast Asian waters on Aug. 20 was the second crash involving a Navy ship in the Pacific in two months. Two died from the crash, with eight still missing, and seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship hit each other in waters off Japan.
“What seems impossible — that two ships could hit in the middle of the ocean — becomes very real,” Robert McFall, a former Navy lieutenant commander, told the Times. “If you are not at your best, events can start that
