The U.S. Navy says divers have recovered the remains of all 10 sailors from the USS John S. McCain, the naval ship that collided with a merchant vessel last week.
Last Monday, the USS McCain became the second U.S. guided-missile destroyer to collide with a commercial vessel in as many months.
U.S. investigators are trying to determine what led to the collision with a Liberian oil tanker near the Strait of Malacca. Navy photos show a gaping hole below the waterline on the destroyer’s port (left) side. Some sleeping areas and communications rooms flooded as a result.
In response to the incident, the Navy ordered an immediate operational pause across the U.S. fleet and dismissed the commander of the 7th Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin.
In the earlier collision involving a U.S. destroyer, seven sailors from the USS Fitzgerald died when their ship collided with a container ship in waters off Japan. The Navy relieved the ship’s captain of his command, and further punitive actions are expected, following an inquiry that found poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch contributed to the collision.
The USS McCain is named for the father and grandfather of U.S. Senator John McCain, both of them four-star Navy admirals. The senator also was a naval officer, an aviator who spent six years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.