NAVY CRASH TWIST

USS Fitzgerald ‘ignored’ warning signal

The captain of the container ship that rammed the USS Fitzgerald, killing seven sailors, says that the warship did not take evasive action or respond to warning signals before the collision.

The cargo ship’s captain said his vessel, the ACX Crystal, signaled with flashing lights after the Fitzgerald “suddenly” began steaming on a course that would cross its path in Tokyo Bay, the incident report said.

The Crystal steered hard to avoid the guided-missile destroyer but slammed into it at around 1:30 a.m. June 17, Capt. Ronald Advincula’s report to Japanese ship owner Dainichi Investment Corp. said, according to Reuters.

The collision ripped open a gash in the Fitzgerald’s side and sent water gushing into the berthing compartments where the sailors were sleeping.

The seven deaths constitute the greatest loss of life on a Navy ship since the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen in 2000, killing 17.

The Fitzgerald’s captain was injured in his cabin, suggesting he had no indication that a warning had been sounded.

A spokesman for the Navy’s Sev- enth Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, the Fitzgerald’s home port, said he couldn’t comment because of the ongoing investigations.

There are currently six investigations into the crash, with experts examining witness testimony and electronic data to determine how the Crystal could have collided with a warship outfitted with sophisticated radar systems.

The probes are also looking into why the Crystal did not report the crash to the Japan Coast Guard until nearly an hour later.

Reports also say the container ship, three times larger than the Fitzgerald, continued steaming to- ward Tokyo for half an hour before turning around, suggesting the ship was on auto-pilot.

In his report, the Crystal’s captain said there was “confusion” on his ship’s bridge, and that it turned around and returned to the collision site after continuing for 6 nautical miles.

In a related development, a petition to name the Navy’s next destroyer after Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Rehm Jr., a Fitzgerald sailor who died saving more than a dozen of his shipmates from the flooding, has nearly all the 15,000 signatures it needs to be considered by the Navy.