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For reasons unknown even to me, I was reminded last night of the Evans / Melbourne incident. One night in the summer of 1969, while I was eagerly awaiting my third birthday, the USS Evans, a WWII-era destroyer, was cut in half by the HMAS Melbourne, an ex-British carrier in Australian service.
The accident was caused by the Evans - she didn't know where the carrier was, and turned into her. Melbourne was damaged, but Evans sunk, taking 74 of her crew to the bottom with her. The hell of it was, some of the Evans' crewmembers knew (or should have known) that they were in the wrong.
Navy ships have a compartment called a Combat Information Center (CIC). It's where all the radars are, and the ship is fought from there. CIC knew Evans was in the wrong spot, but they didn't say anything. The collision cut the ship in half right where the CIC was, killing everybody in the space, so we don't know why they didn't speak up. The moral of the story is this: If you see something going wrong, speak up - the life you save may be your own.
I, like thousands of junior officers before me, learned of this via a US Navy training film. It's on YouTube, and is posted below for your edification. (Yeah, the special effects are cheesy - it was done on a budget.)
The accident was caused by the Evans - she didn't know where the carrier was, and turned into her. Melbourne was damaged, but Evans sunk, taking 74 of her crew to the bottom with her. The hell of it was, some of the Evans' crewmembers knew (or should have known) that they were in the wrong.
Navy ships have a compartment called a Combat Information Center (CIC). It's where all the radars are, and the ship is fought from there. CIC knew Evans was in the wrong spot, but they didn't say anything. The collision cut the ship in half right where the CIC was, killing everybody in the space, so we don't know why they didn't speak up. The moral of the story is this: If you see something going wrong, speak up - the life you save may be your own.
I, like thousands of junior officers before me, learned of this via a US Navy training film. It's on YouTube, and is posted below for your edification. (Yeah, the special effects are cheesy - it was done on a budget.)
