Well as most people know by now the Philly hit a Turkish freighter during a surface transit to Baharain. I can't even begin to imagine how this is possible. How do you just not see another vessel with all the equipment onboard let alone your own two eyes? Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming either ship. It is entirely possible neither ship had room to maneuver. We won't know until the official report comes out. Here's an excert from The New London Day on the collision (free registration required; complete story is here:
"Sources said the freighter was coming up behind the submarine about 30 miles off the Bahrain coast and apparently ran right up over the back of the ship, scraping along the starboard side of the hull, the fairwater plane, the rudder and the housing for the towed sonar array. The sources said under international maritime "rules of the road," any vessel overtaking another must automatically yield the right of way, so if the M/V Yaso Aysen is found to have been overtaking the submarine, then legally the Philadelphia would be in the clear, which could mean the Navy is not responsible for legal damages to the freighter. But a Navy investigation could still conclude the Philadelphia captain and navigation team should never have let the freighter get close enough to hit it, and the captain and some members of the crew could still face some kind of punishment, the sources said."
