To no one’s surprise, the CO has been relieved.
The commanding officer of the cruiser Port Royal was sacked Monday, only hours after salvage ships pulled his cruiser off the shoal where it had been stuck since Thursday night.
Capt. John Carroll was “temporarily relieved of command pending the results of the ongoing investigation to determine the cause of the ship’s grounding,” according to a Navy announcement.
Note that at this point, he has only been temporarily relieved of command while the investigation is in progress. This is typical in a situation such as a grounding, collision, or allision. In fact, there are two investigations in progress.
First off, the JAGMAN is being conducted under the auspices of the General Court Martial Convening authority (most likely SURFPAC) and will determine culpability for UCMJ violations, specifically Art. 108, destruction of military property, and Art. 110, hazarding a vessel.
That is what everyone in the WR on USS JEFFERSON CITY (SSN759) was investigated for following our grounding in March 1994. Believe me when I tell you that it is no fun. You are being interviewed for the JAGMAN while at the same time you are trying to fix the ship. Long days.
Secondly, there is a Mishap investigation in progress. This one is to determine what happened so that training and procedures can be changed/updated as necessary.
As for damage, a preliminary report is out, too.
The cruiser Port Royal sheared off blades on both its screws, damaged its bow sonar dome and left its anchors, anchor chains and other debris on the ocean floor during the three days it was stuck on a shoal near Honolulu Airport, the Navy said.
The $1 billion cruiser sat at Pearl Harbor’s Mike 3 pier Monday as Navy divers ran a remotely operated vehicle underneath it looking for additional damage.
Back into dock they will go, where it will take some time to fix. Remember, this is one of the TBMD ships so it is a significantly higher value asset that is not available.
After the JAGMAN is complete, the CO will go to Admiral’s Mast and he will be relieved for cause. There will most likely be some others in the WR who will answer up, but he will take the biggest hit.
The crew is going to have a lot to overcome. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Not having seen this sort of thing before, what are the odds of an complete, unclassified, account of what happened on the bridge and elsewhere that resulted in the Port Royal ending up on the rocks?
Does the Navy put such things out, or are the kept behind the curtains?
I seem to recall reading that an Admiral was aboard when it happened. I wonder how that will impact the outcome.
There is an e-mail making the rounds of the USNA groups saying that the Skipper ignored the advice of his navigation team.
The admiral will get off scott free-the Captain on the other hand, is done. (Flag officer protection corporation will move in).
The loss of a BMD ship is bad-particularly since the COCOMS want more than the Navy has.
SN – I feel for you, brother. You all have a hard row to hoe. As I alluded to above, I was involved in a grounding, and it sucked. I have no idea what went on out there, and I am not prejudicing an opinon against your CO. The fact remains, he was the CO and the ship broke. He is accountable. That is the way it is.
You guys need to fix it. You will. Good luck.