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Arabia
Two US Navy Vessels Collide in the Gulf of Aden
2014-11-20
Two US Naval supply ships have collided in the Gulf of Aden at the beginning of a replenishment operation.

USNS Amerlia Earhart and USNS Walter S. Diehl crashed into one another with only minor damage caused to each vessel, according to the US Navy. No crew members were injured in the incident and the ships are now continuing with their assigned missions in the Gulf.
Though they'll shortly have two new commanding officers...
The US Navy said that it would conduct an investigation into the cause of the collision.

Despite a decline in attacks in recent years, the Gulf of Aden still remains an area which witnesses hijackings by Somali pirates, forcing an international naval coalition to maintain a presence in the region.
Posted by:Steve White

#10  #6 I guess Amelia and Walter were, just a bit too much, attracted to each other.

Whatever happened to Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

All snark aside, this is just another example of how doing mil stuff is like running with scissors - explosive fragmentation scissors. In civilian life, a screw-up means you have to fish a fork out of the garbage disposal or reboot the server because your code skipped checking for an error condition. Maybe expensive, but seldom fatal. Nobody was hurt here, but often times a mil screw-up means people die. Just something to think about. Hey, anyone up for a night carrier landing?
Posted by: SteveS   2014-11-20 21:15  

#9   I suspect promotions might be over for the commanders

USNS = Military Sealift Command ship Civilian crews, with a small military detachment. Captained by a civilian (Master.)
Posted by: Pappy   2014-11-20 20:07  

#8  So it appears that Walter Diehl Never did find out where Amelia ended up......
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2014-11-20 17:51  

#7  Replenshing operations mean some pretty close ships. I'm not sure this would justify replacing the command, although I suspect promotions might be over for the commanders.

Of course I was never in the Navy, I just read a lot about them.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2014-11-20 15:01  

#6  I guess Amelia and Walter were, just a bit too much, attracted to each other.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2014-11-20 13:54  

#5  Playing Marco Polo with expensive ships is never a good idea.
Posted by: DarthVader   2014-11-20 13:49  

#4  Hey, it happened to Nimitz.

Although he didn't hit another boat.
Posted by: charger   2014-11-20 12:13  

#3  Every ship can be a minesweeper ...... once.
Posted by: Lone Ranger   2014-11-20 11:39  

#2  There's a suction between vessels crusing closely, you gotta watch out, or the ships will suck together.

(Very ex- Navy)
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2014-11-20 11:21  

#1  Two new commanding officers and two new deck cleaners.
Posted by: JFM   2014-11-20 11:02