7 Missing after Destroyer hits Merchant Ship

The United States Navy has come a long way, from its first wooden frigates to today’s nuclear carriers. But in all that time, one thing remained almost as fixed as the North Star: A skipper’s power to throw troublesome sailors in the brig with nothing to eat but bread and water.

Though it sounds like something from an old pirate movie, the antique penalty is not only still on the Navy’s books, it is still actually imposed, despite a century of abolition efforts.

On New Year’s Day, it will finally go by the boards.

A sweeping update of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, passed by Congress in 2016, will take effect on Jan. 1, bringing dozens of changes that are intended to make the system fairer and more efficient. Most are the kind of procedural tweaks that concern lawyers, not sailors. But the bread-and-water part will be felt on all decks.

Commanders throughout the armed services will still have the authority to punish minor misconduct in various ways without a trial. But the new law deletes the regulation that authorized ship commanders to confine low-ranking sailors on “diminished rations” — bread and water — for up to three days at a time.

That regulation is no mere neglected relic from a bygone era. As recently as 2017, a destroyer in the Pacific was known as the U.S.S. Bread and Water because of the skipper’s liberal use of the penalty to punish missteps like missing a curfew or drinking under the legal age.

Many in the Navy will be happy to see it go. But some mourn what they see as an expedient and effective tradition of the seas.

“It sounds medieval, and that is sort of the point,” said Capt. Kevin Eyer, who regularly sentenced sailors to bread and water for minor misconduct before he retired in 2009. “Sometimes you just need to scare a kid. We want them to succeed, but you need to give them a kick in the pants.”

Captain Eyer said that when he joined the Navy in 1982, the penalty was common and never frowned upon by the top brass, who traditionally give ship commanders broad authority.
...
The change was recommended by an independent Defense Department review group. Asked if the Navy supported the move, a spokeswoman said, “Once drafted, the Navy did not oppose the legislation.”
[...]
Today, the rules say sailors are entitled to three unlimited servings of bread each day. Sailors also can typically have their choice of religious books to read in the brig.

“It’s not that bad — that’s why I like it,” Captain Eyer said. “It sounds scary, but it’s just three days, you get as much bread and water as you want — a captain can do much worse things.”

Punishments that captains will still be able to impose include extra duty for up to 45 days, restriction to the ship for up to 60 days, loss of rank, and half-pay for two months.
[...]
In online forums where sailors sound off about Navy life, the views posted on bread and water are mixed. Some said three days in the brig was better than losing pay or being stuck onboard when a ship made a port call. Others saw the punishment as demoralizing and the mark of a poor leader.

Legal experts say bread and water’s demise will not free the military justice system of all its troublesome relics. Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School, pointed to how authority over legal proceedings remains in the hands of commanders, rather than an independent judiciary. And he noted that military cases cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court unless the military agrees to grant review, which he said rarely happens.

“That’s the real archaic part of this — our troops have fewer legal rights than detainees at Guantánamo Bay,” Mr. Fidell said. “We adopted that practice from the British centuries ago. The British gave it up a long time ago, but we never did. We’re more British than the British now.”

Since this is USNavy related and since I don't want to start a new thread:

No More Bread and Water: U.S. Navy Scraps an Age-Old Penalty

Quote:

The United States Navy has come a long way, from its first wooden frigates to today’s nuclear carriers. But in all that time, one thing remained almost as fixed as the North Star: A skipper’s power to throw troublesome sailors in the brig with nothing to eat but bread and water.

It was a punishment available only to captains of ships at sea. It was very useful in cases where sailors openly defied or even attacked the petty officers who oversaw and were responsible for their actions. Three days B&W was very effective in calming them down and restoring order in the unit. I had standing orders calling for immediate notification and Mast hearing after such events - they were fairly rare but having the perpetrator in the brig within ten minutes of the event, was a wonderful palliative, and a lot more appropriate than two months forfeiture of half pay.

MOSCOW/TOKYO (Reuters) - Russia and the United States blamed each other for a near collision between their warships in the East China Sea on Friday with both countries accusing one another of dangerous and unprofessional behavior.

Russia’s Pacific Fleet said that the USS Chancellorsville, a guided-missile cruiser, had come within just 50 meters (165 feet) of the Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov which had been forced to take emergency action to avoid a collision, Russian news agencies reported.

They cited a Russian Pacific Fleet statement as saying the incident took place in the early hours of Friday morning in the eastern part of the East China Sea at a time when a group of Russian warships was on a parallel course with a U.S. naval strike group.

“The U.S guided-missile cruiser Chancellorsville suddenly changed course and cut across the path of the destroyer Admiral Vinogradov coming within 50 meters of the ship,” the statement said.

“A protest over the international radio frequency was made to the commanders of the American ship who were warned about the unacceptable nature of such actions,” it said.

That version of events was rejected by the U.S. Navy, which said the behavior of the Russian ship had been “unsafe and unprofessional”.

“While operating in the Philippine Sea, a Russian Destroyer...made an unsafe maneuver against USS Chancellorsville,” U.S. Seventh Fleet spokesman Commander Clayton Doss said.

“This unsafe action forced Chancellorsville to execute all engines back full and to maneuver to avoid collision.”

He described a Russian assertion that the U.S. ship had acted dangerously as “propaganda”. The Russian destroyer came within 50 to 100 feet of the Chancellorsville, he said, putting the safety of her crew and the ship at risk.

The incident comes days after Washington and Moscow sparred over an allegedly unsafe spy plane intercept by a Russian fighter jet near Syria.