Fitzgerald collision deserves close look, says retired admiral - "deliberate act

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Thursday, June 22, 2017

A retired U.S. Navy admiral says it's too early to dismiss the suggestion that the U.S. Fitzgerald was deliberately rammed by a merchant ship.

"Certainly one of the conclusions one has to consider that this was a purposeful act to ram the Fitzgerald," observes James "Ace" Lyons, who commanded the Pacific Fleet during the 1980s.

Lyons is watching as a U.S Coast Guard-led investigation unfolds after a Philippines-flagged container ship struck the Fitzgerald, killing seven sailors off the coast of Japan.

The U.S. Navy vessel, a guided missile destroyer, was hit by the ACX Crystal after it made a u-turn on June 17, Reuters reported.

Investigators have suggested the ACX Crystal did not immediately report the incident for nearly an hour.

Speaking to radio program "Sandy Rios in the Morning" on American Family Radio, Lyons says he doesn't understand how the merchant ship innocently hit the Fitzgerald.

"You just get out of there and get out of the way," he said. "This is troubling to me that more determined evasive action was not taken."

And that is why it appears deliberate, he says, citing the 180-degree u-turn that occurred before the collision.

"This is a deliberate act. These are not just happenstance," he claimed. "Certainly one of the conclusions one has to consider that this was a purposeful act to ram the Fitzgerald."

https://www.onenewsnow.com/national-security/2017/06/22/fitzgerald-collision-deserves-close-look-says-retired-admiral

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June 23, 2017

Freighter Was On Autopilot When It Hit U.S. Destroyer

The deadly collision between a U.S. destroyer and a container ship June 17 took place while the freighter was on autopilot, according to Navy officials.

The Philippines-flagged cargo ship ACX Crystal was under control of a computerized navigation system that was steering and guiding the container vessel, according to officials familiar with preliminary results of an ongoing Navy investigation.

Investigators so far found no evidence the collision was deliberate.

Nevertheless, an accident during computerized navigation raises the possibility the container ship's computer system could have been hacked and the ship deliberately steered into the USS Fitzgerald, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/freighter-autopilot-hit-us-destroyer/

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EXCLUSIVE-U.S. warship stayed on deadly collision course despite warning-container ship captain

TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. warship struck by a container vessel in Japanese waters failed to respond to warning signals or take evasive action before a collision that killed seven of its crew, according to a report of the incident by the Philippine cargo ship's captain.

Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way into how the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the much larger ACX Crystal container ship collided in clear weather south of Tokyo Bay in the early hours of June 17.

In the first detailed account from one of those directly involved, the cargo ship's captain said the ACX Crystal had signalled with flashing lights after the Fitzgerald "suddenly" steamed on to a course to cross its path.

The container ship steered hard to starboard (right) to avoid the warship, but hit the Fitzgerald 10 minutes later at 1:30 a.m., according to a copy of Captain Ronald Advincula's report to Japanese ship owner Dainichi Investment Corporation that was seen by Reuters.

The U.S. Navy declined to comment and Reuters was not able to independently verify the account.

http://news.trust.org/item/20170626101937-6xsul