- While Navy collisions are rare, in 2017 two destroyers were involved in separate deadly collisions that killed a total of 17 sailors.
- This Tuesday, two Navy suffered another incident wherein two ships collided stern-to-stern during a resupply operation.
- Mercifully, no one was injured, and both ships were able to operate following the encounter.
- The incident happened around 4 p.m. and the ships were taken to port at Norfolk to assess damages.
A Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser and a dry cargo ship collided stern-to-stern during a resupply operation in the Atlantic off the southeastern coast of the U.S., the Navy announced on 5th February, says a report published in Military.com.
What happened?
The cruiser Leyte Gulf and cargo ship Robert E. Peary “made contact” during an underway replenishment operation, Navy officials said in a release. No one was injured, and both ships were able to operate following the encounter.
When was the incident reported?
The news of the collision was first reported by USNI News, which added that damage was minor and occurred at the waterline. The incident happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday; the ships were then headed into port at Norfolk to assess damages, according to the release. “U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Military Sealift Command will thoroughly investigate this incident,” officials said in a statement.
The ships were operating in conjunction with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which is conducting pre-deployment operations off the coast of Norfolk. The Lincoln is expected to deploy to the newly re-established 2nd Fleet this spring.
Tragic 2017 Collisions
While Navy ship collisions are historically rare, the service is still recovering from a devastating year in 2017. In June and August of that year, two destroyers were involved in separate deadly collisions in the Pacific. In all, 17 sailors died in the two collisions. The tragedies prompted a series of Navy reviews and policy changes ranging from improved sleep schedules for deployed sailors to updated training protocols for Navy surface officers.
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Source: Military.com
