# How did the USS Newport News manage to hit a TANKER? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289 "2007-01-09T14:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/81 "2007-01-31T18:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=robby] "While Nimitz was a young 22 year-old ensign in the Philippines in command of the destroyer Decatur. . . [/QUOTE] A 22-year-old ensign in command of a destroyer? How’d \*that \* happen? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/82 "2007-02-01T20:19:19Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] A 22-year-old ensign in command of a destroyer? How’d \*that \* happen? 😕 [/QUOTE] It was 1907. Different times, indeed. (Also, if you look at Nititz’s biography on wiki, he commanded a number of destroyers, submarines, and even a submarine flotilla as an ensign and a lieutenant. None of these vessels were capital ships and were, in fact, pretty small vessels. It would still be unheard of today, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/83 "2007-02-02T04:23:00Z")
[sidebar] “USS Newport News”? The U.S. Navy has named a sub after a newspaper? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/84 "2007-02-02T04:59:09Z")
[Newport News](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_News%2C_Virginia) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/85 "2007-02-02T06:37:39Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] [sidebar] “USS Newport News”? The U.S. Navy has named a sub after a newspaper? 😕 [/QUOTE] Almost all _Los Angeles_-class submarines have been named after U.S. cities. (And Admiral Rickover reportedly remarked that the vessel named after him “should have been an aircraft carrier.”) There’s a [USS Groton (SSN 694)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Groton_(SSN-694)), named after [Groton, Connecticut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groton,_Connecticut), home to a submarine base and [Electric Boat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_Electric_Boat), which is one of the two shipyards that build nuclear submarines. The [USS Newport News (SSN-750)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Newport_News_(SSN-750)) is named after [Newport News, Virginia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_News,_Virginia), home to [Newport News Shipbuilding](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_Newport_News). Guess what they build (besides aircraft carriers)? [sub]No, not bicycles.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/86 "2007-02-02T06:48:24Z")
And then you’ve got the [USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN-705)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_City_of_Corpus_Christi_(SSN-705)), which, as wiki notes, “she is the only one required to bear the “City of” prefix (added to placate protesters who felt it improper to name a warship “the body of Christ”, which is the meaning of the phrase “Corpus Christi”).” After that fiasco, I’m surprised the Navy didn’t just go back to naming subs after fish. :rolleyes: On the other hand, as Admiral Rickover also noted, “[Fish don’t vote!](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover)” ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/87 "2007-02-02T09:09:08Z")
A few things brought to my attention by this thread; 1.) Submariners seem to have the most fascinating tales to recount, possibly because of the measures to reduce screw ups even in peace time (and the catastrophic nature of screw ups in comparison to other branches of the US armed services) 2.) There seem to be a _lot_ of submariners on the boards (and they’re most welcome! 😉 ) 3.) It was suggested to us at school that the gravity produced by the bulk of large ships would pull them together, I’d not heard of the venturi effect before. 4.) Is there enough of a turn over of officers to allow the US Navy to dimiss a sub captain and replace him? Seems to be a lot of experience to loose. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/88 "2007-02-02T12:03:24Z")
And you’ve got the _Minneapolis/St. Paul_ , which can’t seem to make up its mind what it wants to be. There will be plenty of juniors treading on his heel who are keen for command. Admittedly the zero-defects mentality which pervades the US military generally has been criticised in recent years for producing a play-it-safe, refer-all decisions-upwards mindset. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/89 "2007-02-02T14:23:38Z")
[QUOTE=Mk VII] And you’ve got the _Minneapolis/St. Paul_ [/QUOTE] And who’s Captain was also [recently relieved](http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=27381). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289/90 "2007-02-02T14:33:45Z")
Getting the command climate just right is very tough. Zero-defects causes inefficiencies and injustices, no doubt. On the other hand, it was not so long ago the Navy was criticized for being overly-agressive, this lead to the shoot-down of an Iranian airliner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-uss-newport-news-manage-to-hit-a-tanker/387289.md?page=4)