{"id":19041,"date":"2018-01-18T02:56:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T02:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/18\/navy-ship-collisions-prompt-rare-criminal-charges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:17:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:17:04","slug":"navy-ship-collisions-prompt-rare-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/01\/18\/navy-ship-collisions-prompt-rare-criminal-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy ship collisions prompt rare criminal charges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Navy\u2019s decision to charge five officers with negligent homicide for their involvement in two fatal ship crashes marks a rare legal move that, if proven, could send them to jail for up to three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Navy officials and other experts struggled Wednesday to identify other naval accidents in recent history that triggered such a serious criminal charge, and couldn\u2019t point to a case that led to a negligent homicide conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy on Tuesday laid out the charges that would be presented at what is called an Article 32 hearing, which will determine whether the accused will go to trial in a court-martial. No doubt paving the way for the severe charges was the significant loss of life in the two collisions. The USS Fitzgerald struck a commercial ship off the waters of Japan in June, killing seven U.S. sailors; the USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker in coastal waters off Singapore in August, killing 10 U.S. sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s different here is the loss of life,\u201d said Eugene Fidell, an expert in military law who teaches at Yale Law School. \u201cThe victims\u2019 families are obviously devastated by this, the Navy obviously feels it has an obligation to them as well to its own standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t