I stand partly corrected: Commander, 7th Fleet VA Aucoin has relieved CDR Benson of the Fitzgerald after the collision noting a lack of confidence in leadership. The majority of the blame in the administrative findings however falls on the XO and COB for failing to station proper watches for the transit, as they were standing the watch at the time.

That said, you cannot assume that the captain will always be on the bridge. In fact regs state that the CO, XO and/or Navigator are acceptable officers to have on watch during a transit of that region. Fitzgerald's skipper was asleep at the time of the collision and had to be rescued from his destroyed cabin.

As for the culture, this is the fourth incident, 2 destroyers and 2 cruisers, so its not a ship-side culture alone, this is a 7th Fleet problem.