U.S. Navy leadership deficiencies and human error are responsible for five serious “mishaps” in the Pacific last year that resulted in the loss of 20 sailors and “degraded long-term operational capabilities,” two top officials from the American military branch told lawmakers.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy is going to back to basics after a series of fatal collisions in the Asia Pacific region earlier this year that left 17 sailors dead.
WASHINGTON – The two U.S. Navy destroyers that fatally collided with commercial ships in East Asia this year were both lacking necessary training certifications, a U.S. government watchdog representative said during a congressional hearing on Thursday.
The captain of a Philippine-flagged cargo ship that collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer this month in Japanese waters has claimed his ship flashed lights and tried to steer hard to the right to avoid the U.S. warship, according to a report by Reuters.
Japanese Coast Guard investigators are trying to figure out why it took nearly an hour for a distress call to be made after a U.S. destroyer suffered a collision with a Philippine-flagged merchant ship last week, leaving seven American sailors dead.
The U.S. Navy destroyer Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine merchant vessel at approximately 2:30 a.m. local time on Friday, while operating about 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, Japan.
