The US Navy's Honda Point disaster

[Slater]

An incident that I've never heard of before. Presumably, with GPS and other modern navigational aids, this kind of thing probably would be very unlikely nowadays:

"The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships. On the evening of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers, while traveling at 20 knots (37 km/h), ran aground at Honda Point, a few miles from the northern side of the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Arguello on the coast in Santa Barbara County, California. Two other ships grounded, but were able to maneuver free off the rocks. Twenty-three sailors died in the disaster."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Point_disaster

[duece71]

You would think this wouldn’t occur with eyes in the sky. Remember the collision between a US Navy ship and an oil tanker “On autopilot” a couple of years ago? The oil tanker had to make port on schedule at a specific time, the autopilot apparently steered the oil tanker into a holding pattern of course reversals. That’s when the collision occurred. It was back in 2017.....

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/21/54495...-off-singapore

Even with today’s modern technology, things happen.

[mack7.62]

You would think this wouldn’t occur with eyes in the sky. Remember the collision between a US Navy ship and a cargo ship “On autopilot” a couple of years ago? The cargo ship had to make port on schedule at a specific time, the autopilot apparently steered the cargo ship into a holding pattern of course reversals. That’s when the collision occurred. It was back in 2017.....

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/21/54495...-off-singapore

Even with today’s modern technology, things happen.

the link mentions the USS Fitzgerald that collided with a container ship off the coast of Japan that killed 7 sailors. Contributing factor in that incident was the female Officer of the Deck and the female Officer in Charge of the CIC were feuding and not talking to each other, ain't diversity grand.

[chuckman]

You would think this wouldn’t occur with eyes in the sky. Remember the collision between a US Navy ship and an oil tanker “On autopilot” a couple of years ago? The oil tanker had to make port on schedule at a specific time, the autopilot apparently steered the oil tanker into a holding pattern of course reversals. That’s when the collision occurred. It was back in 2017.....

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/21/54495...-off-singapore

Even with today’s modern technology, things happen.

Technology helps, but it isn't foolproof. That's why you up the number of sailors standing watch when you are in high-traffic areas.

I can't think of a single Navy ship collision that was unavoidable.

Regarding Honda Point, as I understand it there was a whole chain of avoidable errors, but unpredictable currents and outdated maps contributed. There are several areas of the US I know of where the coastline changes so much that an area is clear today but unnavigable a month from now. These things do not absolve you from responsibility or accountability, but reinforces that you need latest nav charts and know where you can and cannot go in what kind of boat.

[utahjeepr]

People fall into a trap of trusting technology. Be it charts or autopilots, people get complacent that the tools will protect them. Works great until it doesn't.