Fox News: 3 Senior Officers on Board the USS Fitzgerald Including the Captain Are Relived of Duty

The actions are being taken by Rear Adm. Joseph Aucoin, commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet, based at Yokosuka, Japan, because he lost confidence in the three

Senior officer on damaged ship to be relieved of command (Fox News

The captain of a Navy warship that lost seven sailors in a collision with a commercial container ship in June will be relieved of command and nearly a dozen others face punishment, the Navy's second-ranking admiral said Thursday.

Adm. William Moran, the vice chief of naval operations, told reporters that the top three leaders aboard the USS Fitzgerald, which was badly damaged in the collision off the coast of Japan, will be removed from duty aboard the ship. They are the commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson; the executive officer, Cmrd. Sean Babbitt; and Master Chief Petty Officer Brice Baldwin, who as the ship's command master chief is its most senior enlisted sailor.

 

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