National Defense

Two Navy Destroyers Went Dead In The Water In Just Three Months

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

Two of the U.S. Navy’s front-line destroyers suffered ship wide power failures in the Indo-Pacific within three months.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold lost power for four days while operating in the South China Sea in July following an engineering issue involving its generators, U.S. 7th Fleet told USNI News. The issue came less than three months after another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Higgins, lost power and propulsion while conducting routine operations in the Indo-Pacific, Stars and Stripes reported.

Benfold reported the issue on July 24, leaving sailors without air conditioning, galley services and functioning toilets, USNI News reported. Potable water was also affected, according to the outlet.

The George Washington Carrier Strike Group supported the stranded destroyer, while USS Robert Smalls provided meals to the crew, USNI News reported, citing 7th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Matthew Comer.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contracted tugboats eventually towed Benfold to Subic Bay in the Philippines on July 28. Power was restored July 30, and repairs were completed Aug. 7, allowing the destroyer to return to operations. The Navy is still investigating the cause of the issue.

The incident occurred roughly three months after the USS Higgins reported an issue with its electrical distribution system on April 28 while operating in the Indo-Pacific.

“Higgins experienced a loss of power throughout the ship, resulting in the loss of propulsion,” 7th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Matthew Comer told Stars and Stripes at the time.

Initial reports pointed to an electrical malfunction that may have produced sparking or smoke before power was cut, according to Comer. No sailors were injured, and the Navy restored power and propulsion. The cause was placed under investigation.

The two incidents have not been publicly linked, and the apparent failures involved different systems. Benfold’s incident involved its generators, while Higgins reported a problem with its electrical distribution system. Both ships are assigned to operations in the Indo-Pacific, where the U.S. military has increasingly focused on deterring China.

Private repair companies accumulated almost 10,000 additional days repairing Navy destroyers between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, the Government Accountability Office said in a March report. The Navy has also struggled to complete all required surface-ship maintenance, sometimes leaving work unfinished or canceling maintenance periods altogether and contributing to billions of dollars in backlogged work, according to the report.

Private contractors completed just 36% of nonnuclear surface-ship repair periods on time in fiscal 2022, according to Navy data cited by GAO. The GAO warned that workforce limitations could cause planned repair demand to exceed capacity in several major fleet concentration areas through fiscal 2031.

Benfold has since returned to normal operations with its engineering, combat and crew-support systems functioning normally, 7th Fleet public affairs told CBS News.

The Navy is also pulling its only forward-deployed aircraft carrier out of the Indo-Pacific to support operations against Iran.

The Japan-based USS George Washington, the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the Pacific, is heading to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for 270 days, according to Stars and Stripes.

The George Washington Carrier Strike Group was spotted passing through the Strait of Malacca last week as it left the western Pacific for the Indian Ocean, USNI News reported.

The redeployment will temporarily leave the western Pacific without a U.S. aircraft carrier, further stretching American naval forces in a region the Pentagon has long identified as critical to deterring China.