Two U.S. Navy destroyers that were crippled in separate collisions this summer arrived in Tokyo Bay this week. Amateur photographers took pictures of the two warships, out of the water and resting on heavy lift ships less than a half mile from one another. The startling sight is a stark reminder of the collisions the forward-deployed U.S. 7th Fleet endured this year.
The USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald, both Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, arrived in Tokyo Bay en route to nearby Yokosuka, home of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet. The USS McCain will undergo repairs in drydock at Yokosuka while the more heavily damaged USS Fitzgerald is conducting a stopover before traveling to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi for repairs. Ingalls is currently building new Burke destroyers and is the ideal place to repair them.
On June 17th, 2017 USS Fitzgerald was involved in an early morning collision with the merchant ship ACX Crystal approximately 10 miles off the coast of Japan. The collision ripped a large hole in the side of the Fitzgerald, killed seven sailors and injured three others. Two months later, on August 21st, 2017 the USS McCain was involved in a collision off the coast of Singapore with the merchant vessel Alnic MC. The collision killed ten sailors.
Of the two ships, the USS McCain was considered in better condition and the decision was made to repair the ship in Japan. Fitzgerald on the other hand sustained more serious damage and is being sent back to the United States. USS McCain stayed in Singapore for several months before being picked up by the heavy lift ship M/V Treasure, while the Fitzgerald is riding the M/V Transhelf back to Mississippi.
Both destroyers will be out of action for at least six months and up to a year, as crews race to repair hull damage and replace critical electronics and structure damaged in the two collisions.
Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.
