U.S. Navy photo, 2012/Released
On August 12, 2012, the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter collided with a supertanker, the M/T Otowasan, near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The collision tore a large hole in the starboard side of the destroyer, forcing it to Jebel Ali, Dubai for temporary repairs.
U.S. Navy photo, 2000/Released
Unlike the bomb incident in 2000, while refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden, when 17 American sailors were killed and 39 were injured, no one was injured on either ship.
The ship’s captain, Cmdr. Martin Arriola*, was subsequently relieved of command and replaced by Cmdr. Dave Richardson. On 12 October 2012, the Porter rejoined Carrier Strike Group Twelve for its transit through the Suez Canal following extensive repairs to the ship.
On Tuesday, Navy Times released the following USS Porter bridge recording of the conversation between Cmdr. Arriola and the OOD leading up to and during the collision.
After listening to the audio, I could not help but remember Abbot & Costello. They could have update their skit “Who’s on the Helm?”
* About Commander Martin F. Arriola
He graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Engineering and a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve-Inactive Ready Reserve (Merchant Marine Reserve Program). After graduation, CDR Arriola worked for Exxon Corporation in Guam as a Bulk Fuels Terminal Supervisor. In September 1995, CDR Arriola voluntarily commenced Active Duty service.
Here are some of the comments posted on this audio release:
- Oops…better get Maaco! (probably $25M bill to fix that)
- Surely that was a recording from a TV comedy parodying the Navy?
- Having been a DWO in the military, I don’t know why this doesn’t happen more often. The majority of JO’s that I observed coming up were so scared to make a decision because of the CO. They were never allowed to make a course alteration on their own unless they consulted with the CO. How many times have you been called on the radio for passing arrangements by a military vessel and you say to yourself….”what in the world are you thinking”. When I am meeting one now in the civilian world, I’m always on the defensive until they are free and clear of me.
- Crazy audio. Wish there was more of that around. My brother sends me audio of aircraft accidents every once in a while. Some of the shit they say in their last minutes…crazy.
- Not all the pieces, but interesting to get an idea of the situation. Tanker was approaching the outbound lane for the strait. WTF was the destroyer doing? I certainly don’t miss navigating as a DWO on a military ship in restricted waters. What a cluster fuck. CG was nice as they let a lowly 2nd class PO, like myself, get qualified as long as you knew your shit. In restricted waters it was always hard to filter out all the noise up there with all the JO’s scrambling around trying to look good in front of the CO and XO. Underway was much nicer. I stood my watch and people left me the fuck alone. I do long to have a helmsman now and then. Coming into Fourchon. Barking orders at the AB.
- This is not that surprising, as others have stated. They are just really lucky that nobody was killed. I wonder how far over she went on impact? I thought I heard that great sound of everything flying off the chart table. Maybe this will persuade the navy to better train their surface warfare officers on rules. Last one I had beers with had a canned answer to any rules type of situation, “Call the captain!”
- Seems like when the navy is operating around here in Washington they rarely answer the radio calls made to them. When they do you can usually hear all the confusion going on in the wheelhouse, the radio guy has to ask someone what do say and so on so forth.
Some additional sources of information:
Read more comments on Military.com
Sailing With Devious, 2014 