US dismisses 7th fleet chief after collisions

Singapore said the search for the missing American sailors had been widened to about 5,500 sq km yesterday

The US navy dismissed the commander of its Asia-based 7th fleet yesterday after a spate of warship accidents raised doubts about its operations in the Pacific.

Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific fleet, relieved Vice Adm Joseph Aucoin “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command”, the navy said.

The move came after four accidents in the Pacific since January, including two collisions that left sailors dead and missing.

“While each of these four incidents is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation,” Adm Swift said earlier.

He said the navy would carry out a “deliberate reset” of all its ships in the Pacific, focused on navigation, mechanical systems and bridge resource management. It will include training and an expert assessment of each vessel.

The navy said Rear Adm Phillip Sawyer, who had already been named as Vice Adm Aucoin’s successor, would assume command immediately.

The destroyer USS John S McCain and an oil tanker collided off Singapore on Monday, injuring five sailors and leaving 10 missing. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan.

Adm Swift, speaking on Tuesday in Singapore where the McCain is now docked, said navy divers had found remains of some of the missing in a flooded compartment in the ship.

He said Malaysians assisting in the search had found a body, but it had not been determined if it was that of a McCain crew member.

The 7th fleet yesterday said navy and marine corps divers were continuing to search flooded compartments in the McCain.

The ocean search east of Singapore “is expanding to encompass a greater area as time goes on”, it said.

Singapore’s government said the search area more than doubled yesterday to about 5,500 square kilometres, with aircraft and vessels sent by the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

At least three of the missing sailors have been identified by relatives. Crew member Logan Palmer is from the Decatur, Illinois, area. His mother identified him as missing.

April Brandon in Michigan said the military told her her son, Ken Smith, was missing. She said Mr Smith’s father, stepmother and grandfather served in the navy

“His father and I could not be prouder of our son,” Ms Brandon said.

The family of Jacob Drake of Ohio was told he was among the missing, the Columbus Dispatch reported.