Navy: USS John F. Kennedy collide with dhow in Gulf

[realFedUp]

This was yesterday's news...kind of ironic that
a ship involved in "Summer Pulse 2004" ran over
a fishing boat...kind of reminds one of the sub
off Hawaii that sank a Japanese fishing boat. That was
an expensive settlement. Same man heads the navy
and these war games.

http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=36845

Navy: USS John F. Kennedy collide with dhow in Gulf

Friday, July 23, 2004

MANAMA, Bahrain - The USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier collided with a dhow in the Arabian Gulf while running night flights in support of U.S. operations in Iraq, the Navy said Friday. The crew of the small boat was missing.

The Navy said none of its sailors were hurt and described the Thursday night collision as an accident. A nearby British warship, the Somerset, sent teams to search for the dhow's crew but had found nothing so far, the Navy said in a statement from its 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.

Fleet spokesman Cmdr. James Graybeal said via telephone that ``there is nothing to indicate that this is anything more than a maritime accident.''

continued..

[Pepperbelly]

1. The JFK collided with the Belknap back in the 70s and killed some ...

of our guys.

Sliced the superstructure right off the Belknap. Happened off Australia I think.

[izzie]

2. Hardly the same. War games vs a day at sea tour by big givers.

I think the sub Capt. is also long gone and the Capt of the JFK will keep his job . one can not up set the Presidents big givers, you know War training and running over boats is another story.

[realFedUp]

4. Common factor - Adm. Thomas B. Fargo

http://hnn.us/articles/6241.html

snip-
Operation Summer Pulse '04 was almost surely dreamed up at the Pearl Harbor headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Command and its commander, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, and endorsed by neocons in the Pentagon. It is doubtful that Congress was consulted. This only goes to show that our foreign policy is increasingly made by the Pentagon.

[readmylips]

3. oh, oh, my stepson is on board....

better tell his Dad

[Zomby Woof]

5. it's Clinton's fault!

:crazy:

[Paradise]

6. Yeah!

:grr:

[HawkerHurricane]

7. I hate to sound cold, but...

If I'm in a fishing Dhow, and some big arse carrier starts coming my way, blowing it's horn and buzzing with helicopters, and a frigate (smaller than the carrier but still much bigger than a dhow) starts buzzing about, I think I'd move...

This ain't a case of the fishing boat being surprised.

[AngryAmish]

8. I'm no sailer but isn't the smaller ship supposed to get out of the way

Law of the Sea and all that? I could be wrong.

[HawkerHurricane]

15. Depends on circumstances...

If the Kennedy was doing flight ops, they would indicate by lights (red light over white light over red light at night) that they were 'Restricted in thier ability to manuever'... if the dhow was fishing, they would indicate it by a white light over a red...

A boat fishing would have the 'right of way', BUT the carriers don't operate in the fishing grounds. If the boat wasn't fishing, the carrier would have the right of way (if conducting flight ops).

But, always remember the Law of Superior Tonnage: Does it matter if your 10 ton fishing boat has the right of way when the 100,000 ton aircraft carrier is coming?

[realFedUp]

16. HH, can you see the RR from where you are?

or are you out to sea?

[HawkerHurricane]

19. I'm retired, I don't go out to sea anymore...

And my home is too far south to see the Navy bases.

BUT...

I work on North Island. I saw the Reagan pull in.

[realFedUp]

11. HH, you think it was intentional?

Do you think this boat had intentions
of exploding the JFK? Did any explosives
go off when the ship sunk it? Was it
intentionally sunk IYO?

[HawkerHurricane]

17. No

I think that the boat was stupid and not paying attention. In the gulf, tankers run over boats all the time; the tanker crews don't care. It's only in the news because we do care.

The possibility of a dhow full of explosives is something we worry about. Which is why some small boy should have checked him out (and a helicopter, too) and run him off.

[realFedUp]

20. The USS JFK info

(HH, so which one is the one that ran over the boat?)

'Big John' - The Role of a Carrier

USS John F. Kennedy and its crew form the centerpiece of the USS John F. Kennedy Strike Group, consisting of an airwing, two cruisers, four destroyers, two attack submarines and a fast combat support ship.

Big John serves as one of our nation’s most flexible tools of diplomacy. When a crisis erupts anywhere in the world and threatens U.S. interests, a carrier strike group is generally less than 48 hours away. It serves as a highly visible deterrent to would-be aggressors. If deterrence should fail, then the carrier and its strike group offer the most versatile and powerful weapons systems in the world.

On board these floating mobile airports seven different types of aircraft land and launch. During flight operations, the flight deck vibrates with intense activity. The crew and equipment work as a well-rehearsed, carefully choreographed team. The various functions of the flight deck crew are identified by the colors they wear: yellow for deck officers, catapult officers and aircraft directors; purple for fuel handlers; green for catapult and arresting gear crews; red for crash and salvage teams and ordnance personnel; and white for quality assurance or safety personnel.

More than 5,000 sailors call the carrier home. As a self-contained city, Kennedy has the same amenities as any U.S. city with a comparable population. It has a daily newspaper, radio and television stations, fire department, library, hospital, two general stores, a barbershop and a post office - with its own zip code.

[HawkerHurricane]

22. Article says it was the Bird Farm.

If it had been one of the Small Boys, they would have said something like "A ship escorting the USS John F. Kennedy, a aircraft carrier based out of Norfolk Virginia, collided with a dhow in the Persian Gulf. There was no damage to the carrier."

[oneighty]

23. Hmmm

As an ex commercial fisherman off our southeast coast we lived in fear of the "Big ships" passing. Often they are cruising on auto pilot, no eyes on the bridge and if they do happen to see a trawler in the way it is tough shit. It is impossible for the trawler to "Get out of their way" especially if one has the trawl overboard.

Stay out of the shipping lanes one might argue? Big ships should stay in their shipping lanes. That would help.

It is unfortunate of course that an insignificant fishing boat and equally insignificant crew are lost at sea. Happens all the time.

Down to the sea in ships. Many never return. Enemy or not they are our brothers.

180

[HawkerHurricane]

24. No arguement...

We always worried about cargo ships and tankers, they often ignored us and just went cruising through our formations like we were invisible.

At least U.S. warships keep lookouts up.

[readmylips]

12. The JFK carrier is suppost to be protected by military....

vessels that keep smaller boats away from the carrier. It's to protect another attack like the Cole. Per my hub, heads will roll. There was an incident months back, when a small boat came too close to another US carrier, top officials and crew responsible for the protection of the carrier were fired. Reassigned to other jobs.

[HawkerHurricane]

18. Your hub is correct.

Somebody is getting a bad fitrep.

[readmylips]

9. Didn't bush say the war is now in Iraqi hands???

Why is the JFK bombing Iraq again..bush flip flopping again.

Link:<http://www.news4jax.com/news/3564725/detail.html>

[soupkitchen]

10. Do you think the dhow skipper said, D'oh like Homer Simpson?

[madrchsod]

13. ok how about this-

lets say that fishing boat was full of high explosives and the captain ran into it or the fishing boat ran into the carrier? one carrier out of action for months or years...you remember the Cole? that was a small boat and look at the death and destruction that caused. the guy in charge should be fired-but it was an accident so no one is to blame

[realFedUp]

14. Jennings mentioned in newscast last night

that some of the planes rolled around on the carrier.
It was the only news I heard on the incident.

If it ran into a small boat, heads should roll.
If it intentionally sunk it at a distance...

[slackmaster]

21. Maritime equivalent of the Lug Nut Rule

The vehicle with the most lug nuts ALWAYS has the right-of-way.

I sail in San Diego Bay on occasion. The first thing you learn there is that big ships can't stop or change direction quickly. If one is coming at you, you have to get out of its way.

[HawkerHurricane]

25. Maritime Equivalent: The Law of Superior Tonnage.

"You're sailboat might have the right of way, but carriers don't turn on a dime, and if he hits you, you'll be sunk and he'll have a smudge."