{"id":11887,"date":"2019-02-16T00:17:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T00:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/16\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:09:02","slug":"cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/show-reporter\/2019\/02\/16\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\/","title":{"rendered":"CNO defends hiding scathing internal report on Fitzgerald collision from public"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SAN DIEGO \u2013 The Navy\u2019s top officer Friday defended the decision to keep from the public eye a damning internal report on the 2017 warship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/01\/14\/worse-than-you-thought-inside-the-secret-fitzgerald-probe-the-navy-doesnt-want-you-to-read\/\" target=_blank>Fitzgerald<\/a> collision that killed seven sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to reporters after his appearance at the U.S. Naval Institute\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westconference.org\/West19\/Public\/Enter.aspx\" target=_blank>West 2019<\/a> conference here, Chief of Naval Operations <a href=\"https:\/\/dod.defense.gov\/About\/Biographies\/Biography-View\/article\/621885\/admiral-john-m-richardson\/\" target=_blank>Adm. John Richardson<\/a> said much of the report overlapped with what the service publicly released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But much of the probe overseen by Rear Adm. Brian Fort portrayed a far grimmer picture of what the crew of the guided-missile destroyer faced. It also prompted hard questions about the actions taken by the Fitz\u2019s squadron and Navy officials back in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First revealed by Navy Times, the Fort report chronicled details that Richardson, other Navy leaders and their public reports never mentioned, such as specifics about the destroyer\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/01\/15\/a-watery-hell-how-a-green-crew-fought-the-fitz-to-save-her\/\" target=_blank>brutal operational tempo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/01\/14\/a-warship-doomed-by-confusion-indecision-and-ultimately-panic-on-the-bridge\/\" target=_blank>officers who didn\u2019t trust each other<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/01\/14\/the-ghost-in-the-fitzs-machine-why-a-doomed-warships-crew-never-saw-the-vessel-that-hit-it\/\" target=_blank>radars that didn\u2019t work<\/a> and sailors who didn\u2019t know how to operate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The investigators also portrayed the warship\u2019s chiefs mess as ineffective and their sailors plagued by low morale in the months leading up to the June 17, 2017, collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/01\/14\/worse-than-you-thought-inside-the-secret-fitzgerald-probe-the-navy-doesnt-want-you-to-read\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"179\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FITZMAIN2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Worse than you thought: inside the secret Fitzgerald probe the Navy doesn\u2019t want you to read<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reporting by <a href=\"https:\/\/features.propublica.org\/navy-accidents\/uss-fitzgerald-destroyer-crash-crystal\/\" target=_blank>ProPublica<\/a> this month offered further insight into the Fitzgerald tragedy, renewing debate about the decisions made in the highest ranks of the Navy, including those by Richardson both before and after the collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richardson stood by his decision to keep details from the public, insisting that the Fort report\u2019s status as a dual-purpose investigation meant it was \u201clocked up in other litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think what you\u2019ll find is that if you take a look at what we did release, that there was a tremendous overlap and there\u2019s not a lot of difference in terms of actionable information between what we released and what you released,\u201d Richardson told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richardson said the Navy released the entirety of its comprehensive review and strategic readiness review, calling it \u201cthe appropriate amount of information&#8221; and later adding that it provided \u201ca sufficient level of actionable details.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richardson declined to answer a question about comments made at a U.S. Senate hearing this week by fellow four-star Phil Davidson, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When pressed by Maine Sen. Angus King about readiness in the surface fleet, Adm. Davidson said that while the Fitzgerald and its fellow destroyer John S. McCain suffered fatal collisions in 2017, \u201c280-odd other ships weren\u2019t having collisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that any high performing organization needs to be focused on really fixing every possible defect. These are the characteristics of high-performing organizations,\u201d Richardson said in response to a question about Davidson\u2019s comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe United States Navy is a high performing organization and so we\u2019re going to continue to be focused on eliminating problems wherever we find them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A reporter noted that Richardson did not answer the question about Davidson\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s the answer you get,\u201d Richardson told the reporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHigh performing organizations focus on fixing problems,\u201d he repeated. \u201cWe\u2019re going to remain focused on fixing the problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/14\/as-navy-pledges-surface-reforms-some-ask-for-proof-of-improvement\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/still-a10-Navy-upping-training-standards.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">As Navy pledges surface reforms, some ask for proof of improvement<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Navy leaders defended reform efforts a day after a Senator questioned the lack of data on such efforts.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy has addressed 80 of 111 reform recommendations laid out in the comprehensive and strategic readiness reviews and \u201cthe rest are on track\u201d but some will take longer, Richardson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe idea of changing the culture, particularly in the surface force to be one of standards and assessments and those sorts of things,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cYou can start to see that culture change \u2026 moving the team more towards a culture of rigor and standards for material training, certifications, enhancing the career path to do more training, get more experience, more assessments, again, so I think that you\u2019re starting to see all those things moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. King told Davidson at this week\u2019s hearing that he wasn\u2019t getting enough hard data charting how the surface fleet reforms were progressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would like to see specific data on where we stand with issues like certification of sailors and personnel on the ships, maintenance status of the ships, training rules, staffing levels, and I want real numbers,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/14\/as-navy-pledges-surface-reforms-some-ask-for-proof-of-improvement\/\" target=_blank>King said<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t want general \u2018We\u2019re working on staffing\u2019 or \u2018We\u2019re working on more training.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richardson told reporters that he will make sure King gets whatever information he wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/09\/navy-captain-who-moonlighted-as-fat-leonards-pr-man-is-headed-to-prison\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/breslau.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Navy captain who moonlighted as Fat Leonard\u2019s PR man is going to prison<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Retired Capt. Jeffrey Breslau was sentenced Friday in a San Diego courtroom.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about the status of the Navy\u2019s probe of hundreds of officers suspected of infractions in the so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/09\/navy-captain-who-moonlighted-as-fat-leonards-pr-man-is-headed-to-prison\/\" target=_blank>\u201cFat Leonard\u201d<\/a> scandal, Richardson declined to set a deadline for when the sea service wraps up its reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery time I make a prediction, I end up being inaccurate, so I\u2019m hesitant to make any kind of an end date prediction,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added Navy leaders need to properly propagate lessons learned along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Justice Department is prosecuting the most severe allegations in the West Pacific public corruption cases involving scores of Navy officers, including members of the admiralty, but it passed hundreds of lower-level cases to the Navy for final adjudication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While a secret report offered new insight into the problems plaguing the Fitz before the warship&#8217;s 2017 collision, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said much of it overlapped with what service leaders already released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3392],"class_list":["post-11887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-show-reporter"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7CQNV2UWMJHZHG6FZ6DS4YGEKE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/16\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CNO defends hiding scathing internal report on Fitzgerald collision from public - C4ISRNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While a secret report offered new insight into the problems plaguing the Fitz before the warship&#039;s 2017 collision, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. 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John Richardson said much of it overlapped with what service leaders already released.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/show-reporter\/2019\/02\/16\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"C4ISRNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-16T00:17:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:09:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Geoff Ziezulewicz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Geoff Ziezulewicz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"CNO defends hiding scathing internal report on Fitzgerald collision from public\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-02-16T00:17:29+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:09:02+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 841,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/CNO-WEST.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Show Reporter\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/show-reporter\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/16\\\/cno-defends-hiding-scathing-internal-report-on-fitzgerald-collision-from-public\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"CNO defends hiding scathing internal report on Fitzgerald collision from public - 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