Officials: Navy cruiser ran aground near Japan

Unless the article is completely wrong about them dragging anchor, then I'm perfectly willing to judge. Any professional deck mariner knows how to avoid dragging an anchor, whether that's by pulling it and getting underway, 2- or 3-point moorings, or putting a few turns on to counteract it. Dragging an anchor is entirely avoidable, and entirely inexcusable as a justification in this case, IF they did in fact drag an anchor.

SN Greg Wright - In this day and age I wait a few days even weeks till I know the whole story, but yes if that is the actual fact you are correct. But the other side is once they discovered they were dragging the anchor they did pull it and get underway... that's when they hit what ever it was they hit. I wonder about the sea charts and what they ran aground on really. The Draft of a cruiser is only about 34 feet if I remember my ESWS correctly

CPO (Join to see) - You're right that there's more to be known, and there might be some mitigating circumstance yet. We'll see.

Gotta wonder why they didn't have a 3-point going.

GT ship at the least I would have gotten underway to help the anchor hold, I had to do that on the G-Hall and she was a Diesel pig. GTs are much more responsive and fun to boot. As far as 3 point anchoring I am not familiar with Yokosuka but you would need an anchor buoy for the third point on a cruiser. Most ports do not have a lot of anchor buoys available and the maneuver is very complicated.

I guess they did get underway and then loss pitch control, I wonder if they ran aground and that caused the leak in the CPP which would be where that amount of oil would come from. All in all a bad day in the wardroom.