Deadly Collision Crushed Captain’s Cabin of USS Fitzgerald Bodies of seven U.S. sailors recovered after the U.S. destroyer collided with the ACX Crystal By Alastair Gale and Gordon Lubold
https://www.wsj.com/articles/seven-u-s-sailors-confirmed-dead-after-collision-with-cargo-ship-1497750366
YOKOSUKA, Japan—A deadly collision with a cargo ship crushed the captain’s cabin of a U.S. destroyer and other sleeping quarters, giving sailors almost no time to save themselves as seawater flooded in, the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet said Sunday.
The bodies of seven U.S. sailors missing after the USS Fitzgerald collided with the Philippines-registered ACX Crystal early Saturday have been recovered from inside the destroyer, U.S. defense officials said.
Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin said the impact crushed berthing cabins below the waterline and ripped open a large hole in the vessel. Bodies of the missing sailors were found in the berthing cabins, the Navy said.
The cabin of the ship’s captain, Bryce Benson, was also badly damaged.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” Vice Adm. Aucoin said, adding that Commander Benson, who was airlifted from the Fitzgerald, is in a stable condition in a nearby hospital.
Two berthing areas were crushed, housing more than 100 sailors. Many were asleep at the time of the collision.
“The water inflow was tremendous” after the collision, Vice Adm. Aucoin said. “There wasn’t a lot of time” for sailors to react. “The crew had to work very hard to keep the ship afloat”
Vice Adm. Aucoin said he had ordered a full investigation into the cause of the collision, and would also cooperate with Japanese investigators looking into the incident.
A spokesman for the Japanese coast guard said its investigation was continuing, and Filipino crew members of the ACX Crystal had been questioned. He declined to discuss further details of the probe.
Nippon Yusen K.K . , the Japanese shipping company that operates the 728-foot-long ACX Crystal cargo ship, said all of the 20 crew members were unharmed. The company said it would fully cooperate with an investigation into the cause of the collision.
The region where the two ships collided is often busy with marine traffic.
Collisions at sea for the U.S. Navy are extremely uncommon, said Bryan McGrath, a former destroyer captain, who said they occur only once or twice a decade, if that. He said he couldn’t remember a recent collision that was this consequential. CONTINUE AT SITE
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