Navy to relieve admiral in charge of 7th Fleet

Move comes on heels of four accidents this year, including two in which sailors died

The Navy will relieve the senior admiral in charge of the service’s 7th Fleet based in Japan in response to four embarrassing accidents this year, two of which killed sailors at sea, two U.S. officials said.

Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin will be removed from his job formally Wednesday, the official said. The incidents include the deadly collision Monday of the destroyer USS John S. McCain with a much heavier oil tanker off Singapore, and a June 17 accident in which the destroyer USS Fitzgerald was ripped open by a larger Japanese container ship. Seven sailors were killed in the Fitzgerald disaster, and at least some of the 10 sailors reported missing from the McCain are dead, Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said Tuesday.

Aucoin has been the 7th Fleet commander since September 2015, and was previously the deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems. His removal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is the highest profile in the Navy since the disasters occurred.

The collisions have shocked the Navy, where good seamanship and avoiding collisions are a fundamental expectation and demand. Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, announced Monday that he is ordering an “operational pause” across the globe in which commanders take a day or two each to make sure that sailors understand the fundamentals of good seamanship. He also directed a four-star officer, Adm. Phil Davidson of Fleet Forces Command, to launch a separate review of the 7th Fleet over the next few months to assess its culture, operations and readiness for missions.

Swift, who oversees the 7th Fleet as part of his role as Pacific Fleet commander, expanded the scope of that scrutiny Tuesday, ordering a second step to Richardson’s review that will include all Navy forces in the Pacific. It will include a “deliberate reset” for ships that focuses on navigation, maintaining mechanical systems and manning the ship’s bridge appropriately, Swift said.

“One tragedy like this is one too many, and while each of these four events is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation,” Swift said of the 7th Fleet’s accidents. “I welcome the broad, comprehensive view announced by the chief of naval operations.”

So far this year, the fleet has faced four accidents that together have prompted questions about whether the sailors are being properly trained and supported. On May 9, the guided-missile cruiser Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing vessel. On Jan. 31, the guided-missile cruiser Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay.

The 7th Fleet has headquarters in Yokosuka, Japan, and is responsible for an area that spans 36 maritime countries and 48 million square miles in the Pacific and Indian oceans, according to the Navy. The fleet has about 50 to 70 ships assigned to it, including about a dozen at sea at any time.