OT: USS Truman Collides Off Egyptian Coast | Bulk Carrier and US Aircraft Carrier

[manatree]

U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Collides With Merchant Ship Off Egypt
NYTimes
By John Ismay and Ephrat Livni
Reporting from Washington
Feb. 13, 2025, 5:22 p.m. ET

The U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class carrier, had been operating in the Red Sea while deployed under U.S. Central Command since Dec. 14, helping to launch attacks in Yemen against Houthi militias there that have been attacking civilian ships and vessels tied to Israel.

There were no reports of flooding or injuries aboard the Truman, and the Navy said in a statement on Thursday that the ship’s propulsion systems, powered by two onboard nuclear reactors, were “unaffected and in a safe and stable condition.”

The Navy also said the crash was under investigation.

The online ship tracking service Vessel Tracker reported that there were no injuries to the crew of the commercial vessel, the Besiktas-M, a bulk carrier built in 2003 and sailing under the Panamanian flag. The ship was traveling from the port of Aqaba in Jordan to Constanta, a port city in Romania by the Black Sea.

 

[Nitt1300]

The Navy frowns on this kind of thing.

 

[Midnighter]

The Navy frowns on this kind of thing.

Can I ask how this happens? Not like the aircraft carrier is hard to miss (well…).

 

[Psu00]

Can I ask how this happens? Not like the aircraft carrier is hard to miss (well…).

I was thinking the same. How do these 2 ships collide? Does the carrier captain get punished? How do you allow a tanker to get so close to a carrier, especially in that part of the world post USS Cole? Just asking for trouble.

 

[manatree]

Little Manatree used to love him some bumper boats at Knoebels.

 

[manatree]

This update mentions some of the damage sustained by the Truman.

 

[CamelbackPSU]

I remember crossing from FL to the Bahamas over night in a friend's boat. We watched the radar blips - us & BIG Boat - for a long time. We could see w/o corrective action a collision could be possible. Then we heard - "BIG BOAT to Little Boat". US Navy carriers have to have systems better than our seat of the pants visuals of our blips.

 

[Nitt1300]

Can I ask how this happens? Not like the aircraft carrier is hard to miss (well…).

My best guess is heavy traffic and a bad job by whoever had the conn - whether or not the CO was driving or even on the bridge, it falls on him. We follow what are called "The Rules of the Road" when operating ships, but you have to be prepared for the other guy to make a mistake. I never steered a carrier; I was in destroyers- I'm sure it takes a lot more distance to do anything with a carrier.

 

[Tgar]

My best guess is heavy traffic and a bad job by whoever had the conn - whether or not the CO was driving or even on the bridge, it falls on him. We follow what are called "The Rules of the Road" when operating ships, but you have to be prepared for the other guy to make a mistake. I never steered a carrier; I was in destroyers- I'm sure it takes a lot more distance to do anything with a carrier.

When we used to get resupply on the run, ( CVN69, USS Dwight D Eisenhower, the Ike ) it was incredible to stand on the flight deck, watch two ships just yards apart while underway with helicopters ferrying pallets from the supply ship to the carrier deck back and forth, fuel lines hanging in between the ships pumping JP5 and never an accident. It was organized chaos.

Once during sea trials we were ripping with the engines and screws at full throttle and we were weaving through to ocean with the tower calling out the deck angle from horizontal. 8 degrees doesn’t seem like much until you are flying along at 25 knots doing S turns And looking over the edge.

No idea how what the distance is it takes to stop a carrier going over a couple knots an hour but is sure is not instantaneous.

 

[Nitt1300]

When we used to get resupply on the run, ( CVN69, USS Dwight D Eisenhower, the Ike ) it was incredible to stand on the flight deck, watch two ships just yards apart while underway with helicopters ferrying pallets from the supply ship to the carrier deck back and forth, fuel lines hanging in between the ships pumping JP5 and never an accident. It was organized chaos.

Once during sea trials we were ripping with the engines and screws at full throttle and we were weaving through to ocean with the tower calling out the deck angle from horizontal. 8 degrees doesn’t seem like much until you are flying along at 25 knots doing S turns And looking over the edge.

No idea how hat the distance is it takes to stop a carrier going over a couple knots an hour but is sure is not instantaneous.

I was a QM and helmsman for both GQ and Unrep. Once had refueling with our DD on the starboard of the oiler and the JFK (last oil burning carrier) to the oilers port side- both ships refueling. They had all three of us turn to port together just to make it interesting. Fun times indeed.

 

[Nitt1300]

Captain relieved of command

USS Truman Commander Fired After Collision with Merchant Ship near Suez Canal | Military.com