The following is the National Transportation Safety Board recently released Safer Seas Digest 2020 that summarizes major maritime accidents and lessons learned including the 2017 collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) off Japan and the collision of then-under construction USS Delbert Black (DDG-119). Read More
Undated photo of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) pierside in Japan shortly after accident. US Navy Photo
Federal investigators highlighted an “unexplained course change” by a U.S. guided-missile destroyer as “a critical error” that put the warship on the path to the fatal 2017 collision that would kill seven sailors, according to a new report released Thursday. Read More
USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) departs Huntington Ingalls Industries – Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Pascagoula shipyard to conduct comprehensive at-sea testing on Feb. 3, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to clarify where USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) was built. The destroyer was constructed at Bath Iron Works, Maine.
After more than two years of repairs, guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) left the Mississippi coast for sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, Navy officials announced on Monday. Read More
Cmdr. Bryce Benson, then-executive officer, assists in bringing down the battle ensign aboard USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) in 2016. US Navy Photo
The former commander of a guided-missile destroyer that was involved in a fatal collision in 2017 will retire at his current rank and will be eligible for retirement and medical benefits, his lawyer confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday. Read More
Cmdr. Bryce Benson, then-executive officer, assists in bringing down the battle ensign aboard USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) in 2016. US Navy Photo
The former commander of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) is pushing back against a rebuke from the Secretary of the Navy, disputing major facts in the service’s argument he was criminally negligent leading up a June 17, 2017, fatal collision, according to a copy of the April 26 rebuttal obtained by USNI News. Read More
USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) sits inside a dry-dock in preparation for launch at Huntington Ingalls Industries Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard on April 16, 2019. US Navy Photo
After more than a year of repairs, the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) left a dry dock at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., Naval Sea Systems Command announced late Tuesday. Read More
USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) stands by before it is loaded onto the heavy lift transport vessel MV Transshelf in 2017. US Navy Photo
Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer has issued formal letters of censure to the former commander and tactical action officer of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) for their roles in the June 17, 2017, collision between a destroyer and a merchant ship. Read More
USS Fitzgerald pierside at the U.S. naval base at Yokosuka, Japan in June 2017.
The Navy plans to drop all criminal charges against two officers for their roles in the 2017 fatal collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USNI News has learned. Read More
The guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) arrives at the port of Pascagoula, Miss. on Jan. 19, 2018 aboard the heavy lift transport vessel M/V Transshelf. US Navy Photo
A board of inquiry moved not to separate from service a sailor who the Navy had previously charged with negligent homicide for his role in the 2017 fatal collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USNI News has learned. Read More
Adm. James F. Caldwell, Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, gives remarks during a senior leader all hands at Sharkey Theater, July 11, 2017. US Navy Photo
A military judge has disqualified Director of Naval Reactors Adm. Frank Caldwell from overseeing the upcoming negligence trial of the former USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) commander due to actions Caldwell made during other legal proceedings related to the fatal 2017 collision, according to a copy of a Tuesday ruling obtained by USNI News. Read More
