I was the duty officer on a ship in drydock for almost a year. I can say that I found all sorts of fire hazards from contractors inadvertently moving fire fighting equipment, random boxes with hazmat being put in all sorts of places. With work going on 24/7 and 100's of people coming on and off the boat, it was an absolute mess and a constant game of cat and mouse to ensure passageways were clear, equipment in good condition, etc. I saw "disconnected firehoses" every single day and it wasn't due to angry sailors but poor work and cleanliness standards.
BM2 84-88 3rd fleet here, when our ship was in drydock we all stood fire watches while welders were working it was a strict watch with charged hoses and fire extinguishers nearby with OBA's on stand by. From what I understand they use civilian contractors for FW's nowadays.
No it certainly wouldn't. But the one thing people should remember about the military is that whenever something bad happens, it's always somebody's fault. For instance some of the DOD's finest Intel agents failed to anticipate the 1968 Tet Offensive. Where thousands of enemy fighters spent years marshaling tons of gear build up in South Vietnam. One of military history's greatest blunders. A blunder that had US forces across Vietnam not only days away from final defeat, but even being cut off and trapped in Vietnam. Much like the French airborne' demise at Dien Bien Phu.
@@NinjaKiller1022 I was in the Army for longer than I needed to be... I saw it happen more than once. OTOH, I saw few times that people were given a pass who should have been held accountable for dumb ass decisions.
@@nunyabizznus2216 Linda could be right. Remember the time Uss Iowa's turret exploded and Navy blamed as a homosexual sailor's suicide? Turns out that wasn't the case. charges were used more than the normal ammount
Is this going to be another incident like the USS Iowa back in the late 1980’s? The Navy went out of their way to blame it on a sailor named Clayton Hartwig, who in fact turned out to be innocent.
@@tdurden9532 I have met some ignorant and obtuse people in my life but you take the Grand Prize in stupidity. Explain to me how Clayton Hartwig could admit sabotaging the USS Iowa in 2012 when Clayton Hartwig was killed in the blast on 19 April 1989. After 20-30 years have passed and you finally have figured it out, get back to me and I will tell you what you can suck.
@@jacobdurand4347 The GAO conducted an in-depth investigation and stated that the blast was caused by ramming the powder charges too fast and causing an explosion before the cannon breech was closed.
I was stationed in Norfolk in early 2000's. Had a shipmate mess our engine up so we couldnt deploy. Gave him 15 years for treason. This guy is in alot more trouble.
treason would be selling secerets to an enemy state or selling military hard ware to an enemy state and you get shot or put to death or a life sentence for such crimes look what the elements of the crime droping wrenches or tools in the reduction gears is not treason it has happen and accidents are not taken lightly if he really did not want to go on deployment just sleep walk or give the skipper a big wet kiss or just show up to work in a dress
@@brandonoakley8962 it's only sabotage if content was proven it could have been an accidental situation that caused the ship not to be able to play because of the fact that something went down the wrong way the job of the prosecutor will have to say it was intentional
With a drop out rate of around 80% they should not allow jr sailors to come in with SEAL contracts and this is a prime example. There is nothing glorious or fun about being a undesignated seaman and I don’t think these young kids realize that if you fail BUDs that’s exactly where you’ll end up. You should already have a established rating and some TIS before BUDs that way if you fail at least you got a job to go back to🤷🏾♂️
They do lie and don’t pay ..I left seal team after many years / after a no pay dispute..that dragged on for years .. they never paid me .. I left cold 🥶 I have now cut all military connections. I want new life path for myself now at age 45
@@simon.houseaccount4807 liar… your not gonna leave any part of the military over a pay dispute😂😂 only thing you can do is suck it up and wait for the back pay🤷🏾♂️🤣🤣
@@beforethemast3678 yes… back when SEALS had regular ratings like BM, QM, SK or some random stuff. Can’t lie though I understand why they made the SO rating because it was weird seeing a SEAL and somebody called him BM1 or something like that😂
@@beforethemast3678 that’s what I thought 💭.. I quit military few years back now .. thing would be bit different now though from when I joined up over 30 years now,,
@@GH-oi2jf It comes with the job. Being in the navy isn't sunshine and rainbows, so like everyone has a love/hate relationship with it. So your question is kind of weird to answer because obviously people who saboteur are automatically going to be haters lol.
Back in the late 1980s the Navy blamed Clayton Hartwig for the massive explosion and fire on the USSSA Iowa which killed 47 sailors. It turned out that Hartwig was an asset who tried to help the gun crew get better. But the Navy needed a scapegoat. This guy could be innocent. Soft evidence like 'I think I saw him' and 'he might not like the fleet' doesn't add up to an overwhelming case.
@@JogBird In the case that he is guilty, he basically destroyed a billion+ dollar ship and injured people in the fire. He also nearly killed several people.
JogBird & Hopeless to say on that WHITE PRIVILEGE & CANT SEE PAST it. The hopeless person… I really don’t need to say anymore. But it sad, he hated his life…IF HE DID IT
You know some people have to flip Burgers to survive. And some people including a ninety-year-old person that I know happens to enjoy it and second of all there are people flipping burgers making almost $20 an hour. So what do you do that it was necessary to make that comment
Somebody "believe" they saw him go down there? I really hope they have more evidence than that. Because if this sailor is found innocent he's gonna get paid....
i dont know about getting paid for wrongfully accused in the military. it just doesnt work like that in the civilian side. as a military man, you cant counter sue the military.
@@pinoy32123ify I'm pretty sure with the right lawyer, you can sue anyone for just about anything. The evidence that's currently known against this kid is the stuff that makes Saturday morning cartoon interesting.
i don't think you understand. the SAILOR cannot sue the military. the military handles it internally. that's why we have court martial, military Brigs and JAGS. its not a civil case. its an internal military case where JAGS are assigned to handle more about the UCMJ (Uniformed Code of Military Justice). basically saying, he cant hire a lawyer nor pick his JAG for his case. FYI, unless you've been in the military, the stories we have are FAR more interesting than you can imagine. the best ones becomes a movie, and the rest are better kept as a secret.
I served 22 years in the Navy and on a couple of klunkers like the LaSalle and Coral Sea. It takes a lot to sink a navy vessel and all that fire... sounds like the liquid oxygen plant to me. This one guy would have to have access to mucho controlled spaces.
I was in the Army when the Iowa explosion happened. We all had the idea that it had to be something in ordinance (projectiles or powder) were defective. Some old NCOs and officers said things like "Yeah, but the Navy will find a scapegoat(s)." I'm seeing the same thing now - I mean the guy 'hated the Navy' so he went to seal school? That does not quite pass the sniff test just yet. There needs to be a LOT more than some individual 'believes he saw....'
I'd be more suspicious if the guy *didn't* say he hates the Navy. It's such a normal thing to say. Also dropping out of SEAL training isn't necessarily a big deal. If the SEALs had a 100% graduation rate, their training probably wouldn't be very good.
Maybe he lucks out and life in prison is declared unconstitutional. The long term trend increasingly views de facto or de jure imprisonment for life as being harmful. Already under 18 are no longer sentenced to it. Then it will inevitably move to 18 21. Finally to everyone. Retributive justice has no future in the XXI century. Its the truth.
This whole storyline just doesn’t add up. The fire control systems should have been adequate enough to at least contain the fire. One man could allegedly destroy an entire ship?
I would've thought that the US Navy had been visiting Tokyo Bay for so many years that there was no way they could possibly run a ship aground there -- and I was wrong.
Seems unlikely, but if one man's arson combines with negligence by others in maintaining fire control systems or securing hazardous materials etc., could happen.
The ship was going through a maintenance period so the main firefighting system was completely down, but the temporary ones they had in place where the fire originated had been sabotaged. Thr ventilation played a huge part in the fire spreading from compartment to compartment causing it to burn out of control.
@@Alucard171 Fire control system down due to maintenance issues elsewhere? This sounds unbelievable and negligent. Fire control system down.....someone screwed up....big time.
@Marie Hackett LOL 🤣 I Think You Meant Guantanamo Bay,Cuba. It's where the U.S. 🇺🇸 Kept the Terrorists we caught. Guatemala is a Central American country.
@Marie Hackett No Marie he won't end up in Guantanamo. He's going to end up in a Federal Prison in the States,I'm guessing the Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth,Kansas.
there is no shame in being a SEAL dropout. To even be accepted into that training you have to be the best of the best. The vast majority of those elites never graduate. That's what makes the SEALs so respected by everybody. You have to be the very top of the best of the best. So don't go saying "A drop out..." as though that is something we should despise him for. I guarantee you wouldn't last a day in SEAL training. I was in the Navy and I would never have made it through SEAL training either.
Hes a scapegoat. Happens all the time, always the young sailors fault.....Nothing ever changes..Knew this was coming and won a bet with my wife on this..
First off, it's a ship not a boat. Second, fires onboard ships are extremely dangerous and hard to fight. I was in the Navy and I trained for fire control in boot camp. That is the sort of thing you need all hands on deck helping to put it out. It seems counter-intuitive because you're surrounded by water, but ship fires have decommissioned ships many times before. Usually not due to someone who lives on that ship setting it on fire purposefully though. There are a lot of flammable materials inside a Navy ship. And when the hoses are disconnected, that makes it a lot harder to put the fire out before it spreads to other compartments. And once it starts spreading it gets even harder to put out.
We were told (in 1973, so maybe things have changed) that more than two coats of paint was a fire hazard. So, that's why they were always chipping paint.
Is the inside just lined with grease? Why was it so flammable and how did it cause so much destruction without anyone being able to put it out? are there no smoke detectors or fire sprinklers?
I was in the Army, this is a typical case of an incompetent officer in charge. They are throwing this guy under the bus as an escape goat. I can see it very well.
This is well after the verdict came out (and thank god they didn’t give him a guilty verdict) and I hope every new Sailor looks at this and starts to fear for their own well-being. The Navy showed their true colors in what they want to do with you. They will not hesitate to make you a scapegoat regardless of the situation.
lets see how you last in buds the BEPO which is the Elite squad of the Brazilian police force is way more tougher then the seals mosad and the IDF and the SAS then any ELite fighting force ever combined watch the ELITE SQUAD seal traing has a 80-90 precent drop out rate no matter how fit you are there 2 componest one is phyiscal fitness and mental fitness
Damn.. maybe all the none hard working billionaires in America that’s too cowardly to enlist in the military can put their money together and repair this ship, instead of going into space
I recall a criminal case about 20+ years ago when a sailor was arrested for arson (he burned his car for insurance money) near the Whidbey Naval Air Station. The local police arrested, charged and tried him for arson, but the jury found him NOT guilty after the judge ruled some of the prosecutor’s evidence as non-admissible. Since there is no double-jeopardy, the US Navy arrested him and charged him the same crime. Since rules of evidence are less stringent in a court-martial, the US Navy was able to use the non-admissible evidence from the first trial. The sailor was quickly convicted and sentenced to 10+ years in the stockade plus a dishonorable discharge. The same thing is happening in the case against this sailor. All the hearsay and circumstantial evidence might NOT be sufficient for an arson conviction in Federal Court, but it will be in a US Naval court-martial that’s always stacked against the accused when “reasonable doubt” is never considered.
Regardless of what happens at trial, his time in the US Navy will be at an end. Even if he's found "Not Guilty" he will be administratively discharged, for the good of the service.
@@davidtucker7219 only a court martial can adminster a bcd not an admin sept I was admin sep given a gen under honorable but washington came back with a honorable and retirement
@@brianharrington6276 Point taken. But I am going to bet that his possible charges were much more worse than whatever it was you were given. And thank you for your service. USMC myself.
Curriculum vitae "Accomplishments" entry: "I destroyed an aircraft carrier." Job interviewer: "Was it an ENEMY aircraft carrier?" The applicant: ".............. Define 'ENEMY' ... "
He didn't drop out of the Navy. He dropped out of BUDs training which is the program to become a SEAL. He quit after 5 days and returned to the fleet. He is still a sailor.
@@FuzzyStayBuzzin183 He paid attention to the news presented in this video, so he was able to answer the question you asked because you didn't pay attention.
@@jamesbooker9411 how do you know he is guilty? Did you participate in the investigation? Doesn't matter anyway, because in America people are innocent until proven guilty. I joined the Navy in 2003 to protect those rights. Don't go trying to deny this man his rights or you spit in the face of every American.
Was this "rocket scientist" competing for the "Guinness Book of World Records" title for "Most Costly Arson in U.S. history"? Anyway, he's a coward and could have killed many of his shipmates. Life without parole sounds reasonable.
Their Damage Control plan should have easily countered any insider threat. Especially, from someone who would have had minimal access to critical systems as an undesignated seaman. Gotta blame someone that stands out as disgruntled. I had a good friend who wash out of BUDS and he reassimilated just fine albeit a little embarrassed and he didn’t even last five days I think. I’m not convicting the guy in my mind just yet especially since I’ve seen an oily rag literally self combust myself - fire is the number one hazard on any ship not just a warship undergoing major maintenance. Oh, and just so most of you know, to even get a shot at one of those seats you have to be pretty squared away physically and mentally. I’m sure he knew he only had himself to blame for quitting and plenty of folks attempt multiple times without negative consequences.
The fact that he dropped out of Bud's after 5 day's has zero to do with anything , Very few sailors achieve SEAL team status . BUD's is very hard to complete and is only the beginning of the tuff training to get on a SEAL team . Allot of SEAL team members attempted BUD's multiple times (due to injury's / health issues) before finally graduating and moving on to next stages of training .
Hold on here, this story doesn’t make sense. How can one sailor totally destroy a huge amphibious assault-ship. This ship was brand new with the latest in fire control systems. It just doesn’t add up to one sailor destroying the ship.
After the Navy's botched investigation of the 1989 USS Iowa incident I've learned to hold my opinion until all the evidence is presented and the defense has had it's say in court.
