USS John S. McCain

2017

Singapore Strait, throttle error, ten dead Location: Strait of Singapore, east of Singapore · Coordinates: 1.22°N 103.88°E · Casualties: 10 · Survivors: ~310 · Depth: survived · repaired · Cause: collision — Collided with the Liberian tanker Alnic MC in the Singapore Strait at 05:24 on 21 August 2017 after a bridge watch confused the throttle control transfer and lost maneuvering authority. Ten sailors drowned in Berthing 5. · Fate: repaired · returned to service 2021 · Type: destroyer · Arleigh Burke class · Tonnage: 8,400 tons · Crew: 320 · Flag: United States · Launched: 1992 American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, attached to the 7th Fleet, two months after the USS Fitzgerald collision. Collided with the Liberian tanker Alnic MC in the Singapore Strait at 05:24 on 21 August 2017 after a confused bridge-watch throttle transfer. Ten sailors drowned in Berthing Compartment 5. The second catastrophic 7th Fleet collision in two months produced the Comprehensive Review ordered by the Chief of Naval Operations. The Vessel The USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) was an American Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer of the United States Navy, built at the Bath Iron Works yard at Bath, Maine between 1991 and 1994 and commissioned on 2 July 1994. She was 154 metres long, 8,315 tons displacement, and armed with 90 vertical-launch-system missile cells, one 127mm primary gun, two Phalanx close-in weapon systems, and six torpedo tubes. Her propulsion comprised four gas-turbine engines producing approximately 100,000 horsepower. She was named after the American admirals John S. McCain Sr. (Great-grandfather of the Arizona Senator John McCain) and John S. McCain Jr. (grandfather of the Senator). Her specific operational role in 2017 was as part of the US 7th Fleet's Destroyer Squadron 15, based at Yokosuka, Japan. Her master on her final voyage was Commander Alfredo Sanchez, 44, a career US Navy officer. Her complement on 21 August 2017 was approximately 337 officers and enlisted personnel. The Disaster The specific consequence of the steering control confusion was a loss of effective ship control. McCain began to drift from her intended course; her specific direction of drift was toward the Alnic MC's transit lane. At approximately 05:24 on 21 August 2017, the USS John S. McCain and the Alnic MC collided in the Strait of Singapore approximately 40 kilometres off the eastern approach to Singapore. The specific collision was substantially the fault of McCain's bridge crew: the steering control confusion and subsequent inadequate response had placed the destroyer in the path of the transiting tanker. The specific collision damage to McCain was substantial. The Alnic MC's bow struck McCain's port side amidships at approximately the waterline; the specific impact penetrated the destroyer's hull approximately 3 metres; the specific impact location was at the crew berthing spaces. Ten US Navy crew members died in the specific collision: all killed either by the direct impact or trapped in the flooded berthing spaces. The specific bodies of the ten dead were progressively recovered over the following days from the ship's flooded compartments. USS John S. McCain did not sink; she remained afloat and was eventually escorted to Changi Naval Base in Singapore for emergency damage control. Her specific structural damage was substantial but not catastrophic. The ship was subsequently transported by heavy-lift ship to the Fincantieri Marinette Marine yard in Wisconsin for comprehensive re