The USS Fitzgerald captain along with two senior officers will be officially fired after getting temporary relieve from duty following the tragic collision with a Philippine vessel off Japan coast in June. The dreadful impact left seven sailors dead while others managed to escape being buried under the sea and lived. However, some of those who are alive will still receive punitive measures for their miscalculations.
The bodies of the seven dead sailors were found in the flooded compartments of the destroyer ship in the place of the distorted metal caused by the impact.
The USS Fitzgerald landed in Japan where its base is located after securing it in the open waters.
USS Fitzgerald commanders relieved of duty
Before the deadly collision, the then-officers of the destroyer USS Fitzgerald were Commander Bryce Benson (the captain), Commander Sean Babbitt (executive officer) and Master Chief Petty Officer Brice Baldwin. These commanding officers will be relieved of their duty according to the vice chief of naval operations, Admiral William Moran. This is in accordance to the commander of the Navy's 7th Fleet, Rear Admiral Joseph Aucoin’s order who is based in Yokosuka, Japan, and lost confidence in them, The Chicago Tribune reports.
Sailors to face undetermined non-judicial sanctions
Additionally, almost 12 people involved in the catastrophic accident will deal unspecified non-judicial punishment. Adm. Moran stated that the information regarding the procedures will be unveiled on Friday after its completion. Although the Navy’s probe on the reasons why and how the destroyer ship run into a Philippine container ship on June 17 is not yet concluded, the procedures will be implemented sooner.
Adm. Moran said, "Serious mistakes were made by members of the crew.” However, he cannot say at the moment in full details what those mistakes are since the investigation is still ongoing. He mentioned as well that the bridge team which should be in charge to making sure that the ship’s bridge is safe was shaken off preventing them to act quickly to avoid the accident as soon as the container ship was sited.
The occurrence of a deadly collision
The Philippine cargo ship, MV ACX Crystal made a huge impact as it punctured a 17x13-foot hole in the USS Fitzgerald naval ship’s hull. In about half to a minute, the whole space was flooded with water drowning seven sailors while 28 are lucky to make it to the surface. The intensity of destruction can be seen from the aerial footage where the two ships collided within 54 nautical miles off Yokosuka where the most significant naval facility of Washington is situated.
The crash between the USS Fitzgerald and MV ACX Crystal happened on June 17 off Japan’s coast which happens to be an accident-prone area due to the traffic jam. The horrific encounter cut the external communication including the power in the ship’s forward portion.
