Goddamn, this just hasn't been a good summer for Seventh Fleet between this, Fitz and that other jackwagon who hid in the engine room for a week and was presumed dead. Ten sailors missing
Remember a few years ago when the Secret Service had several scandals and it really tarnished the agency's reputation? Yeah, Navy... Some of the most advanced sensor platforms on planet Earth and you can't avoid the 10kt cargo ship...
Did they really name a ship after a still-living person? Is that normal, or rare? Just seems kind of...tacky. Having said that, sorry to all of those involved...hopefully the recovery goes smoothly.
It's normal. Destroyers are typically named after people who performed heroic acts or otherwise contributed greatly to the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Besides, this ship is named both for Admiral John S. McCain Sr. and Admiral John S. McCain Jr. The grandfather and father, respectively, of Senator John S. McCain III (Capt. USN Ret.). But, there's also Lt. John S. McCain IV (Class of '09) that is the fourth McCain to graduate from the USNA.
That's exactly, word for word, what I said to the people I was with at the time I learned about it. Great minds and all that jazz...
The damage seems be right at the waterline, port side aft. I've been told the crew is fighting flooding in the crew berthing, and in Shaft Alley, which is not good.
No disrespect meant to the current Senator John McCain, but I would prefer it if the government was Constitutionally prohibited from naming things like buildings and ships after still living persons. As funny as it might have been for the sewage treatment plant to be named after George W. Bush, we've since had a President who is far, far, far more deserving of that "honor," and he hasn't even completed his first year in office yet.
The Donald J. Trump Center for Presidents Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too
That was from another crash involving the Fitzgerald, a ship I once served on. No one started a thread on that and I didn't have the energy to deal with fuckos here trolling me with it to discuss it in detail. It was pretty big news in SD since two of the sailors were local boys.
"That's too bad" was Trump's comment when asked about the missing sailors. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/20/mccain-ship-collision-241849
I'd go even farther. Ships shouldn't be named after any politicians unless that politician has been dead for at least 50 years.
Admiral John S. McCain Sr. died in 1945 IIRC. Admiral John S. McCain Jr. died in 1981 IIRC. the last more than a decade before the ship entered service.
It happens all the time. What does it being "U.S. Navy" have to do with it? Not to mention that from what I've read it isn't uncommon for civilian ships or small craft to deliberately come very close to a USN vessel. I was reading about the nuclear missile submarine U.S.S. Nebraska in the book "Big Red" . As it was leaving the SSBN base in Georgia one of the officers commented it wasn't uncommon for bikini clad women in speedboats to come dangerously close to the lumbering submarines as they headed out to sea and take off their tops for the benefit of the sailors topside.
It gives folks a bad impression about America and her military. The last thing we need right now are news stories which make it appear that our military is ineptly run.
No, it doesn't. What Zombie said. And it's still the responsibility of watchstanders to notice this shit and report it. In boot camp, I watched an interview with the sailor on roving watch during the attack on the Cole. He saw the boat floating around the ship, but this being a year before 9/11, no one took the threat of terrorism seriously. He thought they were just curious locals. I'm pretty sure he likely got an admin sep, and that's a best case scenario.
Both the Fitzgerald and McCain are Burke class destroyers with fore and aft vertical launch missile magazines. You can put many types of missiles in a VLS magazine. Anti aircraft missiles. anti missile missiles. Land attack Tomahawks too IIRC. In the 1990s, the USN basically decided to get rid of all its warships without vertical launch missiles systems. IIRC.
Why does Tuckerfan make reference to Gerald Ford in the OP? While the first years of Saturday Night Live liked to lampoon President Ford as clumsy, he was in fact the best athlete to ever serve as president. He was offered a pro football contract after playing in college.