Mid-watch. Somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean, October 1972. Quiet. The USS Luce (DLG 7) steaming independently.
The scheduled liberty port visit to Venice had been changed to Naples. Surprise. i was scheduled for several Italian and other ports, but they were always cancelled because the Navy needed my ship to come to Naples. But we were at sea, not in Naples yet.
The seas were calm. It was a cloudless night with an uncountable number of stars.
Combat (CIC) reported to the OOD (me) they had spotted a contact on the radar at 20 miles, right at the limit that radar could detect a ship, and were tracking. i checked the radar in the pilot house just to verify there was indeed a blip at about 20 miles.
In a few minutes, they reported the contract was “CBDR.” That is not a good thing. For landlubbers, this means “constant bearing, decreasing range,” i.e. that damn contact was on a collision course with us. My JOOD worked his own maneuvering board, an engineering/math, a piece of paper 12×12 inches, that was marvel using relative bearing and speeds of the contact and the ship to determine the amount the two ships would have their closest point of approach (CPA), in this case zero by any measurement. His solution agreed with CIC.
i have forgotten the specifics of the captain’s night orders for the OOD. i know those night orders required me to report any contact at 10,000 miles if the CPA was closer than 2,000 yards. i waited. When the bogie (we also contacts bogies, especially if we did not know who they were) reached 10,000 yards, i called the captain and woke him up. It was around 0200. i reported the situation and added, “Captain, we are the privileged ship, and she should maneuver to pass astern of us.” He told me to keep watching and let him know when the contact was at five miles.
The nautical rules of the road designates the ship with another ship to her port side as the “privileged vessel,” which was the Luce in this situation and requires the privileged vessel to remain on her course while the “burdened vessel” with the other ship on her starboard side must maneuver to pass astern of the “privileged vessel.”
The contact’s mast with it’s running lights became visible just over seven miles, the horizon from our bridge.
As ordered, i called the captain when the contact was at 5,000 yards. i told him the contact remained CBDR and asked him to come to the bridge. He complied. Commander Richard Butts joined me on the port bridge wing.
“She’s down to four thousand yards, Captain, still CBDR.”
“Keep watching,” he replied
“Aye, sir,” i said, and stood at the gyro compass repeater and continued to peer through the sight. No change. Then at about 2,000 yards, i told CDR Butts it seemed there was a slight change to the right. i recommended we go starboard (an avoidance maneuver to avoid a collision when a ship is in “extremis).”
Captain Butts asked, “Do you still have bearing change?”
“Yes, sir, but it’s only a degree or so.”
Captain: “Continue on course and speed.”
The freighter crossed our bow when her bow was about 100 yards from us. When his fantail passed our bow, it was less than 50 yards, a minuscule amount for ships at sea. The captain and i looked up to their pilot house. There was no one there. The damn freighter was on auto-pilot.
We all gave not sighs, but gasps of relief.
Captain Butts paused on the bridge wing and said to me, “If you have bearing drift, you won’t have a collision at sea.”
To this day, i am convinced one of the best COs i had maintained our course and speed to teach me a lesson. He did.
The next day, he gave me another lesson.