This reminds me of Vietnam June 68, when oue sister ship, the destroyer HMAS Hobart, was hit by 2 heat seeking missiles fired by a carrier bourne Phantom jet. Two dead and several badly injured. The Hobart wasn't even on the gunline at the time.
When mistakes happen with the military its usually fatal due to the tools employed but its the ridiculous excuses that I have trouble with.
At the enquiry for the event, the jet pilot said he thought he had a helicopter on his radar. ( It was night-time ) Now, I don't know a helluva lot about radar but I would think a 4500 ton ship sitting in the water would give a different image to a helicopter in the sky.
But the point that nobody seemed to pick up on was that the only people to have helicopters in Vietnam were the Americans or their allies. What does this say? Didn't the pilot know something as basic as this?

JG/FME