U.S. Navy says a Japanese tugboat ‘drifted into’ a 7th Fleet destroyer

The U.S. Navy said a Japanese tugboat “drifted into” a destroyer during a scheduled exercise Saturday, causing “minimal damage” to the warship and no reported injuries.

The USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, appears to have sustained scrapes on its side and remains at sea, according to the Navy’s 7th Fleet, which is based in Japan. The tugboat lost propulsion before drifting into the warship, the Navy said in a statement.

The tugboat was towed to a port in Yokosuka, a city south of Tokyo, where the 7th Fleet has its headquarters. The Navy said the collision will be investigated.

This incident occurred amid heightened scrutiny of the 7th Fleet in the wake of numerous embarrassing accidents, including two fatal collisions involving guided-missile destroyers. In June, the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship in Tokyo Bay, flooding the destroyer and killing seven sailors. Two months later, the USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore, leaving 10 sailors dead.

These prior collisions prompted questions about the strains faced by the Navy, and the Navy’s leaders have acknowledged the grueling deployment pace and exhausting workweeks faced by sailors.

After the McCain collision, the Navy announced a fleetwide investigation and fired several officers. In August, the Navy relieved the admiral in charge of the 7th Fleet due to a “loss of confidence,” and two senior officers who oversaw warships involved in accidents were fired weeks later for the same reason. Last month, the Navy fired the McCain’s top two officers due to what officials called poor judgment and leadership on their part.