Diamond Jim,

But come to think of it (I wasn't a Black Shoe so I don't know) but doesn't
a vessel under sail have the right of way over any powered vessel?

True, IIRC...as long as one doesn't care that exercising their right-of-way
under this rule just might conflict with the Law Of Gross Tonnage.
Newtonian mechanics trump all laws of Man. g

***

Sea Story About "Vessels" - Very Tangential

My Dad (also a retired Naval aviator) recalls a 1960s era visit he and
several other officers made while serving on the USEUCOM staff to the
then-U.S. Ambassador to Greece. This distinguished gent, a retired USN flag
officer, regaled his visitors in proper fashion for a former naval person.
(Translation: They did what all good sailormen do in port - they went
drinking.)

One of the EUCOM visitors, an Army LTC, asked the Ambassador, "...what
vessel he liked the best in his naval career?" The Ambassador - by now
several sheets to the wind - roared back, "A VESSEL IS SOMETHING YOU ****
IN! AND A SHIP IS NOT A VESSEL!"

--
Mike Kanze (not a shoe either, and trying hard to remember my International
Rules of the Road)

"In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"

- Homer Simpson


"Diamond Jim" wrote in message
. ..

"Larry" wrote in message
...

"John S. Shinal" wrote in
message
...
Woody Beal wrote:
Command at sea. No other service quite matches it. Ultimate
responsibility
and accountability. Hard concept for those outside the Navy to
understand
sometimes.

Looks tough. Dinged for someone in a dhow trying to run past
the bow of a CVN. Or are they more upset over the a/c getting bent up?

Yes, the cost of the A/C repair upsets the 'higher ups'. But the real big
deal is that a little boat actually got close enough to contact the ship.
Had it been loaded with explosives, there would have been a very
different
outcome. In this current climate of security, THIS is what really upsets
the
'higher ups'.

There have been similar incidents (in years past) that did not end up
with
the CO being relieved, but these days things have definetly changed.

Larry
AECS (AW/SW/MTS)
USN 'Retired'
20 years if gettin 'em off the pointy end
AND safely home again!

I was at the local Naval Hospital last Friday and as I was waiting for my
appointment I started to look at a recent copy of the Navy Times that
another retired old fart set down. I only looked at it for about 15
seconds
before I was called but, what I read said that the Dhow or whatever it was
had been spotted and watched for a fairly long time.

So it wasn't a surprise "Where did that SOB come from!" type of thing.

I don't know if the JFK was at Flight Quarters, or what but if they were
the
JFK CO should have had one of the escorts shoulder the Dhow out of the
way.
Maybe the escorts have forgotten how to perform this maneuver since the
cold
war ended and they can't practice with the ruskie trawlers. Somehow I have
gotten the impression from what others have said, what was on the news and
in the papers, that the JFK CO, was depending on his having the right of
way.

But come to think of it (I wasn't a Black Shoe so I don't know) but
doesn't
a vessel under sail have the right of way over any powered vessel?

Diamond Jim