AP reporting JFK's skipper will be relieved

From the AP (via SDiego UT paper):

start
Aircraft carrier captain relieved of command after crash in Gulf

By John J. Lumpkin
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:47 p.m. August 26, 2004
WASHINGTON –– The Navy is relieving the captain of the aircraft carrier USS
John F. Kennedy in connection with a collision with a small boat in the Persian
Gulf in July.
In the crash, a dhow smashed into the starboard hull the Kennedy. No survivors
from the traditional Arab sailing boat were found. The dhow's origin, cargo and
destination are unknown.
The Kennedy itself was unscathed, but two jet fighters on the deck were damaged
when one slid into the other as the carrier made a hard turn to avoid the small
boat, Navy officials said.
Capt. Stephen B. Squires, the commander of the Mayport, Fla.,-based Kennedy,
will be temporarily assigned to duties in the United States, a statement from
the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says.
A Navy spokesman said Squires' removal from command was temporary pending the
completion of an investigation into the collision.
Vice Adm. David C. Nichols Jr., the 5th Fleet's commander, will formally
relieve Squires on Friday, the Navy said. The captain will be replaced by Capt.
John W. Miller, who previously commanded the carrier USS Constellation, which
was decommissioned last year.
The Kennedy is the only carrier operating in the Persian Gulf. Officials said
its operations have been unaffected by the July 22 collision.
Navy officials said the collision appears to have been accidental, but some
acknowledged it raised the specter of terrorist attacks against U.S. warships
at sea, particularly because a small boat was able to penetrate the carrier's
defenses to strike its hull.
The deadliest terrorist attack on a U.S. ship in the Gulf came on Oct. 12,
2000, when a bomb-carrying boat rammed the hull of the USS Cole, a destroyer,
in the port of Aden, Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed. Senior al-Qaeda
operatives directed the attack.
This past April 24, a dhow approached an Iraqi oil platform in the Gulf. A Navy
patrol vessel, the USS Firebolt, launched a small boat to intercept it. When
the small U.S. craft approached, the dhow exploded, killing two U.S. sailors
and a Coast Guardsman.
At roughly the same time, two speedboats approached a different oil terminal in
the area. Security guards opened fire on them before the boats exploded.
A previous captain of the Kennedy lost his command in late 2001 when the ship
failed an inspection.

On the Net:
USS John F. Kennedy: www.navy.mil/homepages/cv67

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...collision.html
end

BTW, Squires assumed command this past 08 April.

MW

I think I knew that guy is steve squires a hummer guy? He was flying cods in
the C-1 when I saw him last.
Sparky

Yowser. just like flying, ya put your carrer on the line everyday.
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer

From: (Elmshoot)
Date: 8/26/2004 20:49 Pacific Daylight Time

I think I knew that guy is steve squires a hummer guy? He was flying cods in
the C-1 when I saw him last.

His bio says yes.

MW

I think I knew that guy is steve squires a hummer guy? He was flying cods in
the C-1 when I saw him last.

His bio says yes.



Damn, He was a good **** to.
Sparky

On 8/27/04 22:55, in article ,
"Elmshoot" wrote:

I think I knew that guy is steve squires a hummer guy? He was flying cods in
the C-1 when I saw him last.

His bio says yes.



Damn, He was a good **** to.
Sparky

I know I'm preaching to the choir here but...

Command at sea. No other service quite matches it. Ultimate responsibility
and accountability. Hard concept for those outside the Navy to understand
sometimes.

--Woody

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?

"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!

Woody Beal wrote:

....
I know I'm preaching to the choir here but...

Command at sea. No other service quite matches it. Ultimate responsibility
and accountability. Hard concept for those outside the Navy to understand
sometimes.


"There is nothing so much like a God on earth as the captain of
a ship at sea."--Thomas Heggen, "Mister Roberts"
(Or words to that effect.)

"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