An informal atmosphere — along with crew complacency, a “weak” command and inferior submariner skills — are named as contributors to the March 20 collision between the attack submarine Hartford and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans in the Strait of Hormuz.

And according to a heavily redacted 102-page Judge Advocate General Manual investigation obtained by Navy Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, what turned into a major embarrassment for the submarine fleet was entirely “avoidable.”

No blame lies with the crew of the USS New Orleans according to the report.

Pictures of the damaged sub here.

The 38th president’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, declared the keel “truly and fairly laid” at an authentication ceremony attended by congressmen, dignitaries and shipworkers at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s shipyard.

Bales, the ship’s sponsor, on Friday added her initials in chalk on a metal plate, which was welded to the 900-ton keel — the building block upon which the carrier will rise.

Susan Ford Bales, daughter of former President Gerald R. Ford and ship's sponsor of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), writes her initials onto a metal plate during the keel laying and authentication ceremony. Gerald R. Ford is the newest class of aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin S. O'Brien/Released)

Robert Bowker welds the initials of Susan Ford Bales into the keel of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during a keel laying and authentication ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Newport News. Gerald R. Ford is the newest class of aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin S. O'Brien/Released)

Ford served aboard USS Monterey (CVL-26) during World War 2 and was nearly washed overboard during Typhoon Cobra. As I wrote in that post, Murdoc doesn’t really believe that ‘Ford’ is a good choice for the name of an aircraft carrier, particularly a lead ship. But I guess it could have been worse.

Here’s a video from WOOD-TV:

The ship is scheduled to enter service in 2015.

British defence equipment and support minister Quentin Davies called the report “complete rubbish.”

He also noted that the British have no intention to cut back on the number of F-35s they plan to purchase. This had been the reason cited for the downgrading of the carrier.

The amphibious dock landing ship Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) New York (LPD 21) transits New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty. The ship has 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center in her bow and will be commissioned Nov. 7 in New York City. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Eric M. Durie/Released)

Amphib built with WTC steel arrives in New York

The new Navy assault ship New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a rifle volley salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.

First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel.

The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts.

The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.

Let’s hope the kinks have been worked out of the San Antonio class by now. New York is the fifth of the class.

Tugs towed the amphibious assault ship formerly known as the Saipan out of its mothball berth in Philadelphia on Wednesday, beginning the ship’s final trip to sea — one that will end at the scrap yard.

The Saipan is scheduled to arrive mid-November in Brownsville, Texas, where workers at International Shipbreaking Ltd. will begin cutting the 28,000-ton ship apart.

USS Saipan (LHA 2, bottom) and USS John F Kennedy (CV 67) tied up in Philadelphia's Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Weapons effect testing was conducted on the Saipan after she was decommissioned.

Not at all what happened
USS Ramage (DDG 61) firing a 5-inch gun in 2008.

Destroyer accidentally fires on Polish port

Three 7.62 rounds from an M240 machine gun equals “fired on Polish port.”

The crew of the destroyer Ramage was doing “routine maintenance” to the ship in the port of Gdynia when a sailor inadvertently fired the burst from one of the warship’s M240 machine guns, the official said.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But if you think this headline is bad, check out this Russian headline:

US destroyer shells Polish shore

Rooskie journalism hasn’t lost a step.

Three landing craft air cushion vehicles assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 approach the shore after launching from the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan during Bright Star 2009. The biennial, multinational exercise is conducted by U.S. Central Command and involves U.S., Egyptian and other coalition forces. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristopher Wilson

The LCAC on the right of the photo appears to be the one pictured earlier in Bright Star Abrams

The amphibious assault ship Pre-Commissioning Unit Makin Island conducts builder's trials in the Gulf of Mexico.

Makin Island is the final Wasp-class ship, but she incorporates a number of changes. The most significant is the switch to gas turbine engines and electric drive.

She was commissioned last weekend.

UPDATE: Video about the commissioning below.

Prince of Wales may go from carrier to commando ship if budget cuts cancel F-35 buys.

It is too late for the Navy to cancel the contract, but the carrier may have to be downgraded to a commando ship, with only helicopters on board to carry troops.

The move would save about £8.2billion from the defence budget.

They’re thinking that when the only fixed-wing capable carrier is in for refit that they’ll borrow a carrier from France.

This seems crazy.

UPDATE: A British official has called this report “complete rubbish.”

Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing 14 perform a diamond formation fly-by over the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during a Tiger Cruise air power demonstration in the Pacific Ocean Oct. 18, 2009. For the Tiger Cruise, friends and family members of U.S. Sailors assigned to the ship embarked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to sail to San Diego, Calif., for the ship’s homecoming ceremony. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Torrey W. Lee, U.S. Navy/Released)

Typical carrier fly-over shot, but note the bulbous bow visible in the clear water:

USS Reagan's (CVN 76) Bulbous Bow