Sacked...

I still think that they are way too hard on these men....

[Camaero]

Weed out the weak, only the strong will remain.

I mean, it could happen to anyone. As for the punisment, maybe one rank below than the present one, but to end a whole career.
That sucks...

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by GakunGak

I mean, it could happen to anyone.

No, it doesn't happen to competent captains, only incompetent ones. If your ship runs over someone else's, it's your fault. If your ship gets run over, it's your fault, even if you were asleep in your bunk at the time.

After HMS Melbourne ran over and sank USS Frank Evans in 1969, both captains ended up losing their commands. Later in 1970 my ship was doing maneuvers with the Melbourne. I was a radioman on the midwatch, and was surprised to find our captain up on the bridge a 02:30. He wasn't taking any chances.

It's an old tradition. Even part of the Horation Hornblower novels are concerned with how precarious a command is. There was also an episode of JAG in which a ship ran aground, and the captain had to explain to marine lawyer Colonel McKenzie why his next command would be a desk.

I'm not saying it's necessarily right; it's just the way the navy looks at it.

[AntEater]

My company commander (Kaleu A.....) in basic training lost command of his S-Boat (Hyäne, I think) by driving it up on the beach in Kiel for almost its entire lenght because the engine telegraph man misunderstood an order (ahead flank instead of back emergency).
She came to rest on a bicylce shed, crushing a few bikes.
He phoned his squadron commander "sir, we broke some bicycles"
"Ok, then throw them away.."
"Not possible, our boat lies on top of them!"
After that he was reassigned to recruit training and I must say he sucked even there...
:rotfl:
And no, he was not named Bernard.

Originally Posted by AntEater

My company commander (Kaleu A.....) in basic training lost command of his S-Boat (Hyäne, I think) by driving it up on the beach in Kiel for almost its entire lenght because the engine telegraph man misunderstood an order (ahead flank instead of back emergency).
She came to rest on a bicylce shed, crushing a few bikes.
He phoned his squadron commander "sir, we broke some bicycles"
"Ok, then throw them away.."
"Not possible, our boat lies on top of them!"
After that he was reassigned to recruit training and I must say he sucked even there...
:rotfl:
And no, he was not named Bernard.

LOL!!!:rotfl:

[Kapitan]

At the end of the day your the captain the navy has given you a $1 billion dollar toy to go play with they dont want thier money wasted because the captain has banged her into a ship or run her aground, and as the captain is soley responcible for every action the buck stops with him.

Same with us guys even though a loader who is putting the rubbish on the back the driver is fully responcible for anything that should not be there regardless if he knows its there or not, not only that a dust cart costs around £100 grand mark so the council has entrusted that driver to look after it being overwieght costs the drive per 100kg (£10 per 100kg) it comes out of his wages at the end of the month.

Now a navy cant do that cause you smash up a billion dollar sub, and cause 90 million dollar damage no matter how many times you re mortgauge your house you wtill will never be able to pay for it.

But what about the situation where there is an increased surface traffic, shallow water and degraded sonar preformance. And still cap's fault? That's major BS!

[CCIP]

I think it is unfair. By civilian standards. But by civilian standards the captain's powers over his ship would also be considered rather despotic - you don't question the captain. It's a very hierarchical structure, and one where errors are not forgiven.

Another oversight on his ship could result in much worse than the captain's sacking, and there's no second chances there either.

If no one questions the skip, then why are commands confirmed several times?
To minimize the possibility of error, and XO & Chief should also see if there's any danger and inform the cap.
:hmm: