National Defense

US Warship Collides With Other Navy Ship, Crews Scramble To Deal With Injuries

PH2 Petty, U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A U.S. Navy warship and a supply ship collided into each other in Southern Command territory during at-sea refueling Wednesday causing minor injuries to two personnel.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) spokesperson Steven McLoud said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Truxtun and Supply-class fast combat support vessel U.S. Naval Ship (USNS) Supply collided during replenishment-at-sea according to The Hill. The incident is now currently under investigation, per the outlet.

“Yesterday afternoon, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG103) and the Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE-6) collided during a replenishment-at-sea,” another SOUTHCOM spokesperson told the DCNF in a statement. “Two personnel reported minor injuries and are in stable condition. Both ships have reported sailing safely. The incident is currently under investigation.”

SOUTHCOM, a unified combatant command of the Department of War, deployed the Truxtun from a Virginia naval station to concentrate surface combatants to support SOUTHCOM and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), according to Newsweek.

Supplies and fuel are transferred between two ships when they are closely sailing by each other, the outlet reported. Supply ships, such as the one involved in the collision, are operated by civilians though the ships themselves belong to the U.S. Navy.

The Navy relieved Captain Dave Snowden in 2025 after a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, under Snowden’s command crashed into a merchant ship which caused damage to the carrier. Snowden took command of the Truman in 2023 under the Biden administration.

The Areligh-Burke class destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided into a Philippine cargo ship, causing the destroyer to sustain major damages in 2017. The collision resulted in the death of 7 U.S. Navy sailors and the investigation revealed the U.S. Navy was at fault.

Following the USS Fitzgerald collision, the USS John McCain collided with a Liberian oil tanker 3 times its size leading to the several U.S. sailors losing their lives in August 2017. A 71-page U.S. Navy report found that performance and training mistakes by the officers and sailors on board led to the deadly crash and the collision was avoidable, according to The Hill.