USS Fitzgerald

2017

Shimoda, the container ship, seven sailors Location: Philippine Sea, off Shimoda, Japan · Coordinates: 34.52°N 139.08°E · Casualties: 7 · Survivors: ~300 · Depth: survived · repaired · Cause: collision — Struck the Philippine container ship MV ACX Crystal off Shimoda, Japan, at 01:30 on 17 June 2017. The Crystal's bow tore into Fitzgerald's starboard side; flooding of Auxiliary Machine Room 1 and Berthing 2 drowned seven sailors in their racks. · Fate: repaired · returned to service 2020 · Type: destroyer · Arleigh Burke class · Tonnage: 8,400 tons · Crew: 310 · Flag: United States · Launched: 1994 American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, attached to the 7th Fleet out of Yokosuka. Struck the Philippine container ship ACX Crystal in the Philippine Sea at 01:30 on 17 June 2017 after a series of bridge-watch failures. Seven sailors drowned in their racks as Berthing Compartment 2 flooded. Two months later USS John S. McCain repeated the pattern in the Singapore Strait. The Vessel The USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) 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 1993 and 1995 and commissioned on 14 October 1995. 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. The Arleigh Burke class was the principal US Navy destroyer class of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; Fitzgerald was the 12th ship of the class. Her specific operational role in 2017 was as part of the US 7th Fleet's Destroyer Squadron 15, based at Yokosuka, Japan. Her specific mission was forward-deployed defence of the Western Pacific and Japanese territorial waters. Her master on her final voyage was Commander Bryce Benson, 40, a career US Navy officer. Her complement on 17 June 2017 was approximately 320 officers and enlisted personnel. The Disaster At approximately 01:30 on 17 June 2017, the USS Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal collided in Japanese coastal waters approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Yokosuka, Japan. The specific collision was substantially the fault of both vessels: Fitzgerald's bridge watch had failed to maintain adequate awareness of the surrounding traffic; ACX Crystal's bridge watch had also failed to properly coordinate. The specific collision damage to Fitzgerald was substantial. The ACX Crystal's bow struck Fitzgerald's starboard side amidships, penetrating the destroyer's hull approximately 4 metres; the specific impact location was at the crew berthing spaces; seven crew members were killed immediately or trapped in the flooded spaces. Progressive flooding of the destroyer's damaged compartments was substantial; the ship's damage-control teams conducted immediate emergency procedures. Over approximately 4 hours, the specific damage control efforts progressively stabilised the ship's condition; the specific emergency evacuation procedures were initiated for the injured crew. USS Fitzgerald did not sink; she remained afloat and was eventually escorted to Yokosuka, Japan for emergency repairs. Her specific structural damage was substantial but not catastrophic. Seven US Navy crew members died in the specific collision: all killed either by the direct impact or trapped in the flooded berthing spaces. Commander Benson was injured but survived.