Sleeping Sailors on U.S.S. Fitzgerald Awoke to a Calamity at Sea
But it reflects “the unique status of the captain of a Navy ship in American society
— absolute authority, and absolute accountability,” Mr. McGrath said.
Then, Navy officers with decades of experience at sea say, there were probably minutes of sheer terror
aboard the Fitzgerald before the collision with an enormous container ship that killed seven sailors.
“It’s a terrible, swift sanction, but it sends a message to everyone else in the fleet — make sure you’re
training harder, make sure they call you when another ship is approaching,” Mr. McGrath said.