Sacked...

[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.