Norfolk-based destroyer accidentally fires at Poland

Posted to: Military
Login or register to post comments

By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 30, 2009

A Norfolk-based destroyer ended a visit to a Polish port Wednesday with a literal "bang," when a crew member accidentally fired three rounds from a machine gun into the city of Gdynia.

The Ramage, a guided missile destroyer, had recently wrapped up an international training exercise called Joint Warrior and was at anchor at the city on the Baltic Sea in northern Poland.

A Navy official at the Pentagon with knowledge of the incident said that at 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, three rounds were "accidentally discharged" from one of the Ramage's M240 machine guns, which provide self-defense for small Navy ships.

The crew of the destroyer was doing routine maintenance at the time of the discharge, the official said.

No one was injured, and there was no damage to property. Crew members fully cooperated with Polish military police, the official said.

The ship departed later in the day, as scheduled.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.

Rules not followed

Submitted by BB61gunner on Sat, 10/31/2009 at 10:33 am.

The maintenance requirement cards state, clear the weapon of ammunition before starting maintenance. The maintenance person will pay with a stripe and pay. The issue of what could have happened will be used at his Captains Mast. This was not the only weapon loaded for protection of the vessel. Clear and safe, one weapon at a time maintenance causes no security issues. No one is trained to clean a weapon loaded.

Poland

Submitted by alexvb on Fri, 10/30/2009 at 7:56 pm.

I been to Gudyina and Gdansk. If you go in summer, there are lots of pretty girls in mini's looking for an American guy to take them to Miami or LA.

Not exactly a canon

Submitted by sdougan on Fri, 10/30/2009 at 5:48 pm.

They make it sounds like they lobbed some artillery shells at the city. This is something you can pick up and carry around with you.

Yikes!

Submitted by Katetb on Fri, 10/30/2009 at 4:23 pm.

Maybe it's time to stand up for more stand downs.

The Navy's new TV Ad.

Submitted by jpjones on Fri, 10/30/2009 at 4:15 pm.

"AMERICA'S NAVY. A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD."

Huh?
Politically correct in every way.
Another nail in the wussification of our military!

Notice, it's not "The United States Navy." It's "America's Navy." It shows a lot of footage of Katrina rescues and hospital ship stuff and makes sure every gender and ethnic group are shown. I wonder what all those fighter plans, guns, missiles, and torpedoes on those ship are are for?

Give me back, "Join the Navy and see the world," "The United States Navy. It's not just a job, it's an adventure!" and "The United States Navy. Full speed ahead!"

This happens all the time

Submitted by dank24563 on Fri, 10/30/2009 at 3:59 pm.

Fact is, these types of incidents occur regularly. A few years back, a US Navy ship discharged it's CIWS and tore through the bridge of a Turkish navy ship and killed some of their personnel.

Life in the military is inherently dangerous and difficult and cannot be taken for granted.

Don't demeanor military folks or take for granted their sacrifice.