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Opinion: After recent collisions, the Navy needs to reemphasize basic seamanship and navigation

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To the editor: There was yet another collision recently involving a guided-missile destroyer and a commercial vessel. The collision reported in The Times emphasizes the poor seamanship of our U.S. Navy navigators. This was not a unique incident, as there have been many of these occurrences involving our Navy vessels over the past years. (“Navy orders ‘operational pause’ for warships and a fleet-wide investigation after latest collision at sea,” Aug. 21)

Many years ago I was assigned to remove deceased sailors from the bow of the USS Collette after it collided with the USS Ammen off the coast of Southern California. At the time, in July 1960, I thought I would not be hanging in a wooden box from a huge crane removing a fellow sailor and his body parts from this severely damaged ship if those in charge had been paying attention to their navigation duties.

The primary responsibility of the officers and men on the bridge should be navigating the vessel. Everything else should be secondary. I would not second-guess the officers who train our sailors, but perhaps the basics of seamanship should be reemphasized on our Navy ships.

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Bob Curran, Hollywood

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