Navy orders pause in operations, safety review after USS John S. McCain collision
WASHINGTON – The Navy’s top officer on Monday ordered a pause in operations for operations around the world in the wake of the second major collision in three months of one of its frontline combat ships.
Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, said the pause was ordered to allow commanders to take immediate action to keep sailors and ships safe
Richardson, who made the announcement in a video message, said the latest collision involving the USS John S. McCain had left him “devastated and heartbroken.â€
On Sunday, the McCain, a guided-missile destroyer, collided with an oil tanker east of the busy Straits of Malacca and Singapore on Sunday. Ten sailors remain missing, and five were injured in the latest of four major mishaps involving ships in the Navy’s 7th Fleet.
On June 17, the USS Fitzgerald, badly damaged in a collision on June 17 that killed seven sailors off the coast of Japan.
Richardson also ordered a Navy-wide review to get at the “root causes†of the problems.
The review will be done on a “very tight timeline†because of the need for urgent action.
“We need to get to the bottom of this,†Richardson said. “So let’s get to it.â€
The McCain is moored in Singapore, while search and rescue operations continue.
Top priority missions, such as ballistic missile defense in light of tensions with North Korea, will likely continue despite the pause, said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the non-partisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Navy veteran and senior civilian official at the Pentagon.
Commanders and crews elsewhere will examine training plans and preparations sailors make before they’re deployed, Clark said.
Since 2000, the Navy’s fleet has shrunk but demand for ships at sea around the world has risen, Clark said. That mismatch means sailors and ships are stressed.
“Each ship is working 20% more,†Clark said.
Â
Posted!
1 of 6
2 of 6
3 of 6
4 of 6
5 of 6
6 of 6
Â