Excerpts from article:
...Dakota Bordeaux had rarely traveled outside his home state of Oklahoma before he joined the Navy in February 2017.
...But only four months later, Bordeaux was standing at the helm of the USS John S. McCain, steering the 8,300-ton destroyer through the western Pacific.
...Part of the Navy's famed 7th Fleet, the McCain was responsible for patrolling global hot spots, shadowing Chinese warships in the South China Sea and tracking North Korean missile launches.
...To guide the McCain, Bordeaux relied upon a navigation system the Navy considered a triumph of technology and thrift.
...It featured slick black touch screens to operate the ship's wheel and propellers.
...It would save money by requiring fewer sailors to safely steer the ship.
...Bordeaux felt confident using the system to control the speed and heading of the ship.
...A 19-year Navy veteran, Sanchez had watched as technicians replaced the ship's traditional steering controls a year earlier with the new navigation system.
...In August 2017, Sanchez and his crew steered the ship toward a naval base in Singapore, where technicians were waiting.
...He ordered Bordeaux to take over steering the warship while another sailor controlled its speed.
...To check that he had control, Bordeaux tugged the ship's wheel slightly to the left.
...Bordeaux suddenly realized that the McCain was steaming uncontrolled toward the cargo ships sailing through the Singapore Strait.
...Ten Navy sailors were killed and scores more were injured.
...Immediate responsibility, the Navy ruled, rested with Sanchez, his officers and senior sailors.
...Sanchez had made a critical error in not adding more sailors to stand watch as the McCain navigated the treacherous strait.
...Commanders issued new instructions to the Navy's entire fleet of destroyers on how to properly use the navigation system to avoid the kinds of mistakes that could lead to "inadvertent" loss of control.
...Just before Sanchez's trial, the Navy dropped a homicide charge and he pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty.
...The chief petty officer responsible for training also pleaded guilty and has since left the Navy.
Submitted 1608 days ago
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