A US Navy caught napping is no joke, and no reason for China to cheer

Tom Plate says the embarrassing recent blunders by America’s prized Seventh Fleet may seem good for a laugh, but they add risks to an already tense region. Besides, it’s not a good idea to underestimate the strength of US military pride

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The recent US Navy mess-ups in the Pacific are obviously anything but a joking matter to America’s military establishment; they are extremely painful. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Published: 5:30pm, 28 Aug 2017Updated: 7:11pm, 28 Aug 2017

It’s easy to imagine that in some officers’ club, perhaps at Yulin naval headquarters on Hainan Island, where China’s brass (vice-admirals and others) gather and, after a few rounds of baijiu, recycle submarine stories and second-guess their masters in Beijing – it’s easy to imagine them laughing their heads off. Why? The extremely embarrassing recent stumbles by the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet just have to be the toast of the PLA Navy.

Fuelling the merriment is that the object of their presumed hoopla – four recent astonishing US Navy mess-ups in the Pacific that left sailors dead and/or missing – is obviously anything but a joking matter to America’s military establishment. It is extremely painful.

Earlier this month, off Singapore, the destroyer USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker slammed into each other, injuring sailors and leaving some others missing. In June, off Japan, seven sailors perished and many others were injured when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship. There were other blunders at sea. In May, the USS Lake Champlain rammed into a South Korean fishing boat. In January, the USS Antietam guided-missile cruiser ran aground near Yokosuka, home port of the Seventh Fleet.

The Pentagon, getting that sinking feeling, sacked the vice-admiral in charge of the Pacific armada, which oversees roughly 52 per cent of the Earth’s surface, from the waters of the US west coast to the west coast of India. A red-faced navy fleet command officially explained that the three-star admiral had been relieved “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command”. Other captains, sailors and technicians face discipline, reassignment and/or more training.

Watch: US warship collides with tanker east of Singapore

US Navy halts all operations worldwide to investigate warship collision near Singapore

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