Should the youngest and lowest ranking person on a naval vessel be steering the ship?

The helmsman is just moving a metal lever or a wheel under orders by the OOD or Conning officer. In less than capital ships, these two positions are held by the same person. The Conning Officer is responsible for navigation only. The Officer of the Deck is responsible for the entire bridge watch which includes the Conn, Quartermaster, Messenger, Bos'n of the Watch, Lookouts, and management of the bridge during his watch. The basic watch positions rotate about every hour to keep concentration levels high. During flight Ops, there would be a Helicopter Control Officer on the bridge. UnRep, BoatOps and other special evolutions, additional crew will be on the bridge. The CO comes and goes as he wishes to exercise veto power over anything that goes on. If the Captain is quiet then you are usually doing a good job.

There is no indication that the helmsmen were at fault during any of these collisions.

During a four or six hour watch an OOD; must read msg traffic, check navigation charting, schedule wakes ups, ensure msg delivery, constantly check Radar and other electronic navigation devices, frequently communicate with Combat, Main Prop, Weapons, flight and other vital ship's departments to check on any affect on operations, rotate bridge staff, carry out training exercises, refresh bridge crew on emergency procedures, ensure all bridge equipment is properly operating, make ship announcements, ensure proper honors are displayed or practiced, ensure proper flag hoist and signals are made, management external ship to ship communications, plus many other responsibilities that change at a moments notice.

Age or pay grade seldom reflect a person's ability to follow instructions. Ask any of my old bosses.

No, maybe don't ask.

I think this is a rather ignorant question that demeans the training and operation of the Navy crew. One could just as easily ask if a 22 year old Army officer right out of college should be "steering" a platoon into battle. At some point, there needs to be some level of trust in the senior officers and the NCO support team to offer their experience and guidance for an operation in any branch of the military.