How in world does This happen?

[76-1]

USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier crashes into merchant ship near Middle East port

The nuclear-powered USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collided with a merchant ship off the coast of Egypt, Navy officials said Thursday. The US Navy said the carrier collided with the Besiktas…

nypost.com

Shouldn't the destroyers attached to that Battle Group have done everything (up to ramming) this ship to keep it from getting that close to an Aircraft Carrier... Terrorists across the planet are saying "damn, that could have been us[!]..."

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier crashes into merchant ship near Middle East port

The nuclear-powered USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collided with a merchant ship off the coast of Egypt, Navy officials said Thursday. The US Navy said the carrier collided with the Besiktas…

nypost.com

Shouldn't the destroyers attached to that Battle Group have done everything (up to ramming) this ship to keep it from getting that close to an Aircraft Carrier... Terrorists across the planet are saying "damn, that could have been us[!]...)...

There isn’t enough in that to form an opinion on how this happened, who was at fault, or the damage incurred by either ship.

 

[76-1]

There isn’t enough in that to form an opinion on how this happened, who was at fault, or the damage incurred by either ship.

My question is: How does any civilian ship that's certainly not a part of the Carrier Group get Inside its security zone and close enough to even have a collision???

To me it's not a question of who was at fault rather than how could it even happen...

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

My question is: How does any civilian ship that's certainly not a part of the Carrier Group get Inside its security zone and close enough to even have a collision???

To me it's not a question of who was at fault rather than how could it even happen...

It’s international waters and we allow merchant shipping to pass through the formation. Happens all the time. It’s not like the ships are within a few hundred yards of each other. They’re usually one to many nautical miles apart from each other. Of course traffic is closely monitored. They may have been going through a strait. Don’t know yet.

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

You have to blame the CIC, right? Or is he too busy trolling the libs?

 

[76-1]

It’s international waters and we allow merchant shipping to pass through the formation. Happens all the time. It’s not like the ships are within a few hundred yards of each other. They’re usually one to many nautical miles apart from each other. Of course traffic is closely monitored. They may have been going through a strait. Don’t know yet.

Seems like a Major security risk to allow civilian vessel that close to an asset like an Aircraft Carrier no matter what the circumstances...

Here's a slightly more detailed take:

https://news.usni.org/2025/02/13/breaking-uss-harry-s-truman-collides-with-merchant-vessel-in-mediterranean-sea

My laymans perspective would be that you'd keep a ship far enough away from you based on the amount of explosive material it could potentially be carrying and you'd stay 1,000 yards Outside the potential blast radius if at all possible...

Now maybe that's Not possible in that area but it seems a pretty obvious major security risk to allow another ship that close to one of our Carriers...

They just gave the Iranians and Houtis a blueprint as the how the take out a Carrier, in my opinion...

 

[mcmurtry66]

You have to blame the CIC, right? Or is he too busy trolling the libs?

D
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I

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

I searched and there isn’t enough information out yet to know much more. It happened in the Med off Egypt (don’t know how far from the coast), no casualties or flooding on either ship or damage to propulsion systems. I’m guessing a glancing blow since the carrier is about 100,000 tons and the other about 50,000 tons. A direct hit would have caused significant damage and the merchant being more likely to sink if direct and high speed. Happened around noon so visibility should be good. More will come out in the next couple days.

 

[mattndallas]

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Seems like a Major security risk to all a civilian vessel that close to an asset like an Aircraft Carrier no matter what the circumstances...

Here's a slightly more detailed take:

https://news.usni.org/2025/02/13/breaking-uss-harry-s-truman-collides-with-merchant-vessel-in-mediterranean-sea

My laymans perspective would be that you'd keep a ship far enough away from you based on the amount of explosive material it could potentially be carrying and you'd stay 1,000 yards Outside the potential blast radius if at all possible...

Now maybe that's Not possible in that area but it seems a pretty obvious major security risk to allow another ship that close to one of our Carriers...

They just gave the Iranians and Houtis a blueprint as the how the take out a Carrier, in my opinion...

Sure we try to have all merchant traffic keep their distance - usually at least 1500 yards. Don’t have any idea what the trraffic situation was or where they were. The traffic going into major ports looks like that of a super highway. I loved driving the ship into ports like Hong Kong and Tokyo. Maintaining separation in those situations isn’t possible like in the open seas.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Seems like a Major security risk to all a civilian vessel that close to an asset like an Aircraft Carrier no matter what the circumstances...

Here's a slightly more detailed take:

https://news.usni.org/2025/02/13/breaking-uss-harry-s-truman-collides-with-merchant-vessel-in-mediterranean-sea

My laymans perspective would be that you'd keep a ship far enough away from you based on the amount of explosive material it could potentially be carrying and you'd stay 1,000 yards Outside the potential blast radius if at all possible...

Now maybe that's Not possible in that area but it seems a pretty obvious major security risk to allow another ship that close to one of our Carriers...

They just gave the Iranians and Houtis a blueprint as the how the take out a Carrier, in my opinion...

Also, Iranians and Houthis have tried and failed to attack our ships. A 50,000 ton merchant ship isn’t going to work for any attack.

 

[UncleMark]

You have to blame the CIC, right? Or is he too busy trolling the libs?

D
E
I

Pete drunk at the helm.

 

[76-1]

Also, Iranians and Houthis have tried and failed to attack our ships. A 50,000 ton merchant ship isn’t going to work for any attack.

Why not? If they packed it full of explosives and got close enough to do what this guy just did it would seem as though they could make a significant dent in the Carrier not to mention the potential blast damage to the flight deck...

I'm guessing no one thought a RIB presented any threat against the Cole either...

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

The articles say this occurred near Port Said which is a busy port, it’s also near traffic lanes for the Sue’s Canal. Could have been heavy traffic.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Why not? If they packed it full of explosives and got close enough to do what this guy just did it would seem as though they could make a significant dent in the Carrier not to mention the potential blast damage to the flight deck...

I'm guessing no one thought a RIB presented any threat against the Cole either...

Easy problem to defeat at sea. Would be an expensive defeat.

Small boats are no longer permitted near a ship in potentially dangerous ports. We had armed Sailors have small boats in the water and gunners topside and an exclusion zone. Anyone entering the zone was at risk of being destroyed.

 

[76-1]

Easy problem to defeat at sea. Would be an expensive defeat.

Small boats are no longer permitted near a ship in potentially dangerous ports. We had armed Sailors have small boats in the water and gunners topside and an exclusion zone. Anyone entering the zone was at risk of being destroyed.

Well... They didn't defeat it this time and there's no way they had any idea whether that ship posed a threat or not... Hope is not a Defense...

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Well... They didn't defeat it this time and there's no way they had any idea whether that ship posed a threat or not... Hope is not a Defense...

Looks like an accident, but we don't know enough to know about what happened. They may have been in a heavy traffic lane going toward Port Said or the Suez Canal, which can be like a two or three lane highway each way and the ship came over too close. Every ship is assessed to determine whether a threat or not. They may have been talking on the bridge to bridge (should have been), etc. The Navy will investigate the hell out of it to see who or what was responsible, and we'll know the gist of the incident within a few days most likely.