Wow, that's something, if they could be recovered the bridge recorders would be an interesting listen, but good job on the investigators putting that all together conclusive enough for this kind of public release.
For the non-mariners, the autopilots generally just keep the ship on a compass heading (like you set it to run due east). I think the newer versions can actually be a pre-programmed course done by the navigator as well, but haven't seen that in person.
Even with our systems, and the amount of drills we do, sometimes there is still panic when something happens. In our procedures, when the bridge makes the pipe for 'steering gear breakdown' we run back and take manual control at the lowest level, but again that process can get screwed up with people panicking. WIth reduced crews and commercial designs, you can end up with things taking longer to happen, and when you have the stopping distances and turning radius measured in nautical miles you can get control back but still be too late to avoid it.
Not a steering breakdown issue, but that's basically what happened with HMCS Preserver alliding with a floating drydock at ISI. There weren't tugs around, but basically the ships need to be moving for the rudders to manuever, so below that speed (bare steerage way) you are basically drifting). Internally there were a bunch of people in the dockyard watching it happen in slow time, with plenty of cell phone videos.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/hmcs-preserver-crash-leaves-500k-repair-bill-1.1203948
Unlike the RNZN, we just buried the BOI and didn't do anything publically, because that's how the RCN rolls with BOIs and investigations. Lessons learned are for losers!
