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USS Fitzgerald – May 8, 2018 Washington Navy Yard Special Court Marshall Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock

“Coppock failed in her duties, but she received very little support,” prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Paul Hochmuth argued during the sentencing portion of the trial. “Being complacent was the standard on USS Fitzgerald.”
During the sentencing portion of the trial, lawyers for the defense outlined the gapped billets and inability to complete training on Fitzgerald. For example, the ship had been without a chief quartermaster for two years before the collision, and the SPS-73 navigation radar was unreliable, defense attorney Lt. Ryan Mooney said, quoting from the Navy’s investigation into the collision. The watch stander in the CIC who operated the SPS-67 search and surveillance radar was unfamiliar with the system.
“Lt. Coppock was not put in a position to succeed,” Mooney said.“She was set up to fail.” https://news.usni.org/2018/05/08/former-uss-fitzgerald-officer-pleads-guilty