LCS Commanding Officer Fired after Ship Breakdown

As a member of the submarine force from 1962 to 1997 first as a white hat on a WWII Diesel and then through the the ranks on Nuclear Missile and Attacks Submarines and finally as the guy in charge of Submarine Acquisition I can tell you that in every case where we identified a submarine that had significant mechanical, electrical,, electronics and overall material failures it was primarily because the CO, XO and other senior officers avoided their responsibility and knowledge of the engineering spaces and the propulsion and auxiliary power divisions and the condition of the crew and the equipment. It was lesson one and every important lesson I learned and as a CO there was nothing Concerning the material condition of my ship or the men operating that equipment that I did not know within minutes of any event. I trusted and respected the officers and men and they returned that trust by making sure I was aware. They also took the action necessary to keep us CASREP free. Clearly in this discussion we have some officers who believe their lives are involved only on the bridge or in CIC. They should be relieved. As a Deputy Squadron Commander I had the unsatisfactory experience of riding on a few submarines that were having trouble and I relieved more than one of them on the spot due to incompetence and lack of confidence. Our crews deserve the best. They bust their butts all day everyday to keep our ships and submarines operating at 100%.

Probably should have shut her down at the high-temperature alarms. If it wasn't the CHENG's call to make, the CO should have.
Bad News: That skipper is responsible for everything the ship does... or fails to do.
Good news: That the former vacancy at MWR-Office at NAS North Island just got filled.

The same could be said of colliding with another ship. The CO is fired. He wasn't conning the vessel. He wasn't the helm. He wasn't the navigator. But it's his authority upon which they act. So he or she owns it.