U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe...oot/index.html

Washington (CNN) -- A crew member aboard a U.S. Navy ship accidentally fired a machine gun into the Polish port city of Gdynia on Wednesday while cleaning the weapon, Navy officials said Friday.

Three rounds were fired from an M240 machine gun into the town but no injuries or damage were reported, officials said.

The gun, aboard the USS Ramage, a Navy destroyer, is used to defend the ship in close combat.

Navy officials said a crew member was cleaning the weapon when it accidentally discharged.

The incident happened as the ship was in port after returning from an international exercise in the Baltic Sea. It was preparing to leave later that day, the Navy said.

Polish military police boarded the ship to investigate, and Navy officials said the crew of the Ramage fully cooperated. No U.S. sailors were taken into custody by Polish authorities, Navy officials said.

There was no immediate word of a U.S. Navy investigation into the incident.

Re: U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

I think it was the Chosin in about '94 or so that laid a CIWS round into Aiea Heights. I heard it happen and thought it was a dropped pallet on deck. Nope.
Pardon if my details (date and exact place) are wrong. The event did happen.
Oh, there will be a "looking into" by squid authorities. That poor stupid gunner's mate is in some doo doo. Stand by for heavy refresher training division wide!

Re: U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

Or ... it was a warning shot.

Re: U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

If only they had missile defense installed by us, none of this would have ever have happened.

Re: U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

A M240 is a belt fed light machinegun. What kind of idiot can't see there is a belt loaded when "Trying to clean it?"

Cleaning Accident? WTF?
 

http://www.fnhusa.com/support/images.../FNM0044mb.png

The M240, formally United States Machine Gun, 7.62mm, is a family of belt-fed, gas operated medium machine guns firing the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge (w/ M13 Link). It is the US designation for the Belgian FN MAG 58 machine gun.

The M240 has been used by the United States armed forces since the late 1970s. It is used extensively by infantry, as well as ground vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft. Despite not being the lightest medium machine gun in service, the M240 is highly regarded for reliability, and its standardization among NATO members is also seen as a major advantage.

Re: U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

highly regarded my ass. Got off three unanswered rounds and didn't hit a Gawd damn thing. I could have done better with a slingshot.

Re: U.S. Navy ship accidentally fires on Polish port city
 

Fixed it for them.

I think it's possible that whoever fired the rounds was actually messing around with the gun, and made up the "I was cleaning it and it just went off!" story afterwards.