Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
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Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
1–10 of 108 posts
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#2A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS.
The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did not work. Nor could commanders communicate over a classified email system...
Technicians were constantly fixing the SPS-73, the other main navigational radar on the Fitzgerald. Sometimes, the radar would show the destroyer heading the wrong way. At other times, it simply locked up and would have to be shut down...
A third radar, used for warfare, was slow to acquire targets, but technicians had installed a temporary fix that became permanent. “Problem known since 2012. Declared hopeless,” read notes attached to the repair report...
Other equipment had been written off, too. The so-called Bright Bridge console was supposed to help the bridge crew by sharing information from the combat room. The console had been scavenged for spare parts, leaving the station unmanned.
I found this section of the article legitimately infuriating. How the hell does a first-line warship of the United States Navy get into a state like this? I can understand the occasional malfunction, but this sounds less like that and more like some sad-sack Russian ship circa 1995, where the crew is struggling to keep the thing afloat with just duct tape and bubble gum. But at least the Russians in the '90s had the excuse that the government that had built the ship had collapsed and the replacement hadn't bothered spending a dime to maintain it. What's our Navy's excuse?
Based on the article it sounds like the excuse they've settled on is just blaming everything on the crew, which is shameful. Things don't get this bad in the absence of some kind of systemic rot. If that rot isn't tackled now it'll end up having to be tackled after we lose some future war, in which case, God help us all.
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#3A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
Microsoft Outlook did not work. Nor could commanders communicate over a classified email system...
A functioning local email system requires very little resources. This is really an indictment of M$, that they couldn't set up a server that would just run for a couple of decades. If sendmail had been installed in the mid-90s when DDG-62 was commissioned, it probably would still be functioning.
Yes we know that it would be better to receive regular software updates, but in their absence the system shouldn't just shit the bed.
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#4A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
Corruption my friend.
Direct from a deployed friend's mouth:
"When laser printers would run out of toner on base in Iraq, we wouldn't order more toner (we couldn't) - we'd order another entire printer and use the toner cartridge in the new one, and shoot at the printer on the range."
Your tax dollars at work.
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#5A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
[deleted]
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#6A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
Corruption my friend. Direct from a deployed friend's mouth: "When laser printers would run out of toner on base in Iraq, we wouldn't order more toner (we couldn't) - we'd order another entire printer and use the toner cartridge in the new one, and shoot at the printer on the range." Your tax dollars at work.
On the one hand, yes that's terrible. On the other hand, I can totally see several scenarios where this is a reasonable outcome of an unreasonable system:
1. Toner not in order system.
2. Previous orders of toner found to be incompatible with printer.
etc.
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#7A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
> How the hell does a first-line warship of the United States Navy get into a state like this?
Command negligence at very high levels, a high optempo without adequate attention to readiness and discipline.
> Based on the article it sounds like the excuse they've settled on is just blaming everything on the crew
Unless you are including the chain of command above the ship's commander up through and including the 7th Fleet commander as “the crew”, you are wrong.
The cluster of 7th Fleet incidents (the Antietam grounding and the Fitzgerald and McCain collisions) resulted in at least the dismissal of the 7th Fleet commander, the Task Force 70 commander, and the Destroyer Squadron 15 commander, and the early retirement of the head of Naval Surface Forces.
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#8A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
Corruption my friend. Direct from a deployed friend's mouth: "When laser printers would run out of toner on base in Iraq, we wouldn't order more toner (we couldn't) - we'd order another entire printer and use the toner cartridge in the new one, and shoot at the printer on the range." Your tax dollars at work.
It has nothing to do with corruption. See my other comment.
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Corruption my friend. Direct from a deployed friend's mouth: "When laser printers would run out of toner on base in Iraq, we wouldn't order more toner (we couldn't) - we'd order another entire printer and use the toner cartridge in the new one, and shoot at the printer on the range." Your tax dollars at work.
It has nothing to do with corruption. See my other comment.
Hanlon's razor at work...
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
Re: Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by Its Own Navy
#10A dozen or so [maintenance issues] were considered more serious. They included problems with the ship’s primary navigation system. It was the oldest such system among destroyers based in Japan. It was running on Windows 2000, even though other ships had been upgraded. It could not display information from the AIS. The broken email system had a “major impact” on the ship’s day-to-day operations. Microsoft Outlook did…
I spent 5+ years on a ship in 7th fleet and am all too familiar with what was described above.
I would attribute it to a few things. Mostly the over-extension of resources and people. The operational tempo in 7th fleet is absolutely ridiculous, so everything that isn't "mission accomplishment" gets pushed to the wayside. Training, making sure equipment is properly fixed.. our days were so jam packed full of bullshit that this important stuff suffered.
I considered myself lucky if I got 5 hours of unbroken sleep a night while at sea, and most of the people I worked with were the same way. Walking around functionally drunk doesn't lend itself to good problem solving skills. Do you know after these incidences there was massive effort to train people about the importance of sleep? Guess what, this mandatory training forced people to interrupt their sleep to attend.
All in all 7th fleet suffers badly from undermanning based on the operational requirements. Ask anybody. AMA I guess.