Forward Deployed Naval Force

NTSB 2020 Digest of Maritime Accident Investigations

The following is the National Transportation Safety Board recently released Safer Seas Digest 2020 that summarizes major maritime accidents and lessons learned including the 2017 collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) off Japan and the collision of then-under construction USS Delbert Black (DDG-119).

From the report

The 42 marine accidents included in Safer Seas Digest 2020 involved contact with fixed objects, sinkings, collisions, fires, explosions, floodings, groundings, and capsizings. The...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/25/ntsb-2020-digest-of-maritime-accident-investigations

NTSB: ‘Unexplained’ Course Change Was ‘A Critical Error’ in Fatal USS Fitzgerald Collision

Undated photo of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) pierside in Japan shortly after accident. US Navy Photo

Federal investigators highlighted an “unexplained course change” by a U.S. guided-missile destroyer as “a critical error” that put the warship on the path to the fatal 2017 collision that would kill seven sailors, according to a new report released Thursday.

Eight minutes before the collision with the merchant ship ACX Crystal in a busy shipping lane off the coast of Japan, USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) –...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/03/ntsb-unexplained-course-change-was-a-critical-error-in-fatal-uss-fitzgerald-collision

NATO Anti-Submarine Exercise Dynamic Mongoose Kicks Off With U.S. Destroyer, SSN

USS Roosevelt (DDG-80) and Spanish frigate ESPS Reina Sofia came together for a formation and photo exercise, as Roosevelt transited from its homeport in Rota, Spain, to Iceland for NATO Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2020. US Navy photo via Facebook.

An advanced U.S. attack submarine and guided-missile destroyer are among the forces participating in the NATO anti-submarine warfare exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2020, which kicked off this week off Iceland.

Virginia-class attack submarine USS Indiana...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/30/nato-anti-submarine-exercise-dynamic-mongoose-kicks-off-with-u-s-destroyer-ssn

USS Carney Departs Rota, Returns to Florida After 5 Years In Forward-Deployed DDG Fleet

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departs Naval Station Rota for the last time as part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force-Europe fleet, on June 27, 2020. Carney will return to Naval Station Mayport, Fla. US Navy photo.

Destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) is on its way back to Florida after serving for five years as part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force-Europe (FDNF-E) out of Naval Station Rota, Spain.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer left Rota on June 27 and will return to its...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/29/uss-carney-departs-rota-returns-to-florida-after-5-years-in-forward-deployed-ddg-fleet

USS Fitzgerald Returns to Sea After Repairs Caused by Fatal 2017 Collision

USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) at Huntington Ingalls Industries Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard on April 16, 2019. US Navy Photo

After more than two years of repairs, guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) left the Mississippi coast for sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, Navy officials announced on Monday.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer departed the pier at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., at about 7:30 a.m. on Monday. It’s the first time Fitzgerald has been underway on its own power...

https://news.usni.org/2020/02/03/uss-fitzgerald-returns-to-sea-after-repairs-caused-by-fatal-2017-collision

Top Stories 2019: Law, Policy and the Navy

This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.

The Gallagher Case, Aftermath

Arguably no criminal case has changed the Navy more than the service’s troubled prosecution of Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher.

After an investigation sparked from complaints from fellow SEALs, the service charged Gallagher “with murder, attempted murder and a string of other alleged war crimes,” as part of a deployment in 2017 with SEAL Team 7, reported Navy...

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/02/top-stories-2019-law-policy-and-the-navy

USS Wasp Heading to U.S. in Homeport Shift; USS America Goes to Japan Later This Year

USS Wasp (LHD-1) transits the Coral Sea. Wasp, flagship of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit on Aug. 1, 2019. US Navy Photo

After less than two years forward-deployed, big deck amphib USS Wasp (LHD-1) has left Japan.

Wasp and its crew departed U.S. 7th Fleet on Wednesday bound for Naval Station Norfolk, Va. The ship and its crew arrived in Jan. 2018 to serve as the flagship for U.S. forward-deployed amphibious forces in Sasebo, Japan.

The amphibious...

https://news.usni.org/2019/09/04/uss-wasp-heading-to-u-s-in-homeport-shift-uss-america-goes-to-japan-later-this-year

USS Fitzgerald Leaves Mississippi Drydock After More Than a Year of Repairs

USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) sits inside a dry-dock in preparation for launch at Huntington Ingalls Industries Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard on April 16, 2019. US Navy Photo

After more than a year of repairs, the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) left a dry dock at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., Naval Sea Systems Command announced late Tuesday.

The destroyer was heavily damaged after a June 17, 2017 collision with a merchant ship off the coast of Japan that killed seven...

https://news.usni.org/2019/04/16/uss-fitzgerald-leaves-mississippi-drydock-after-more-than-a-year-of-repairs

Navy Set to Drop All Criminal Charges Against Fitzgerald CO, Junior Officer; SECNAV Will Issue Letters of Censure

USS Fitzgerald pierside at the U.S. naval base at Yokosuka, Japan in June 2017.

The Navy plans to drop all criminal charges against two officers for their roles in the 2017 fatal collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USNI News has learned.

Former Fitzgerald commander Cmdr. Bryce Benson and tactical action officer Lt. Natalie Combs will no longer face criminal negligence charges for their roles and will instead be issued career-ending letters of censure from Secretary of the Navy Richard V....

https://news.usni.org/2019/04/10/navy-set-to-drop-all-criminal-charges-against-fitzgerald-co-junior-officer-secnav-will-issue-letters-of-censure

Board Finds ‘No Basis’ to Remove Officer Involved in USS Fitzgerald Collision from Navy

The guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) arrives at the port of Pascagoula, Miss. on Jan. 19, 2018 aboard the heavy lift transport vessel M/V Transshelf. US Navy Photo

A board of inquiry moved not to separate from service a sailor who the Navy had previously charged with negligent homicide for his role in the 2017 fatal collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USNI News has learned.

On Friday, a board found “no basis” to separate Lt. Irian Woodley from the Navy for cause, Woodley’s...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/11/board-finds-no-basis-remove-officer-involved-uss-fitzgerald-collision-navy

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