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
The following is the Feb. 25, 2019 one-year report from the Readiness and Reform Oversight Council (RROC) that was established following the 2017 fatal collisions in the Western Pacific and chaired by Under Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly and Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran. Read More
Adm. Phil Davidson participates in an honors ceremony at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in New Zealand in August 2018. US Navy Photo
The head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is defending the Navy’s effort to reform its surface fleet after a tense exchange with a senator in a posture hearing earlier this month. 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
Several high profile legal actions for the Navy occurred in 2018 from the ongoing Fat Leonard investigation to several special operations cases and the ongoing accountability actions for the Western Pacific destroyer collisions that killed 17 sailors. Read More
(top left to right) Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon
(bottom left to right) Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckles, Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell
Last year, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) collided with a merchant ship while approaching Singapore, an incident that resulted in the death of 10 sailors and prompted the Navy to take a hard look at how it operates and trains crews on forward-deployed ships.
