Yesterday a Russian Navy ship approached a US destroyer in the Arabian Sea. The US Navy released video of the incident today on Twitter which shows the Russian ship intentionally moving closer. As you can hear in the top clip, the US destroyer “sounded five short blasts” to signal danger of a collision:
Farragut sounded five short blasts, the international maritime signal for danger of a collision, and requested the Russian ship alter course in accordance with international rules of the road. pic.twitter.com/OGCeAGKOy3
— U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) January 10, 2020
While the Russian ship took action, the initial delay in complying with international rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased the risk of collision.
The U.S. Navy continues to remain vigilant and is trained to act in a professional manner.
— U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) January 10, 2020
There was a similar incident last June when a Russian Navy ship came within 100 feet of the USS Chancellorsville as a helicopter was preparing to land on the US ship:
The Fleet said a helicopter that was operating at sea was preparing to land on the Chancellorsville, which was traveling on a steady course, when the Russian destroyer, traveling behind the U.S. ship, sped up and approached as close as 50 to 100 feet…
Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, blamed the Russian navy for the near collision. Earlier in the week, a U.S. Navy surveillance plane was buzzed by a Russian warplane.
“The behavior by the captain of the Russian destroyer in the Philippine Sea was irresponsible and reckless,” Richardson tweeted.
In that instance the Chancellorsville had to “execute all engines back full and to maneuver to avoid collision.” But the Russians had a very different story, claiming the Chancellorsville had moved into the path of the Russian destroyer, not the other way around. Lying is just what Russia does. Here’s a news report from June about that previous near miss:
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