Greeted by sailors and flag-waving residents, a US Navy destroyer damaged in a June collision that killed seven sailors arrived Friday for two years of repairs at a Mississippi shipyard.
The transport vessel Transshelf sailed up the Pascagoula River on Friday morning carrying the USS Fitzgerald.
The June 17 collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship off Japan caved in parts of the Fitzgerald above and below the waterline.
Water gushed into berthing compartments, killing the sailors.
Its hull was punctured twice more in November as it was loaded aboard the Transshelf.
Greeted by sailors and flag-waving residents, a US Navy destroyer damaged in a June collision that killed seven sailors arrived Friday for two years of repairs at a Mississippi shipyard
The transport vessel Transshelf sailed up the Pascagoula River on Friday morning carrying the USS Fitzgerald
The June 17 collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship off Japan caved in parts of the Fitzgerald above and below the waterline
Its hull was punctured twice more in November as it was loaded aboard the Transshelf
The Navy said Friday that it will take several days for the Transshelf to unload the Fitzgerald, which will be repaired by the 11,600 employees of Ingalls Shipbuilding
Cmdr. Garrett Miller (center), the new captain of the USS Fitzgerald, watches with his men as the transport vessel Transshelf carries the damaged destroyer
Once it is placed in a repair berth, the remainder of the repairs, overhaul and modernization will take place
Ingalls was chosen by the Navy to repair the ship in August and awarded an initial $63million contract in December to rip out damaged areas
The Navy said Friday that it will take several days for the Transshelf to unload the Fitzgerald, which will be repaired by the 11,600 employees of Ingalls Shipbuilding, a unit of Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries.
‘She’s actually here and we’re starting the long process of rebuilding her and getting her back to the fleet,’ said Cmdr. Garrett Miller, the ship’s commanding officer.
The Fitzgerald’s 58-member crew, including some who were aboard during the collision, will be based in Pascagoula for the next two years, overseeing the ship’s repair and modernization.
Ingalls was chosen by the Navy to repair the ship in August and awarded an initial $63million contract in December to rip out damaged areas.
The USS Fitzgerald suffered two more punctures to its hull in November as it was being loaded onto the heavy lift vessel Transshelf (the Fitzgerald pictured on the Transshelf on November 27 in Yokosuka, Japan)
The Fitzgerald was taken back to Yokosuka after the incident so that it could undergo more temporary repairs
The destroyer was significantly damaged in a fatal collision with a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan last summer. Above, the USS Fitzgerald in port at Yokosuka, Japan on July 11, about a month after the incident
Seven sailors died and three others were injured when the Fitzgerald was struck by a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan on June 17 (above the damage seen on June 18)
Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said in September that it could cost $600million combined to repair the Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain, another destroyer that was damaged in August. The total cost of repairing the Fitzgerald could be between $250million and $500million
The John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided near Singapore in August, killing 10 US sailors.
It cost $250million for 16 months of repairs for the USS Cole, a destroyer damaged by a bombing in Yemen in 2000.
Repairs at Ingalls to the USS Stark, a frigate hit by Iraqi missiles in 1987, cost $90million over 10 months.
The Navy says shipbuilders will have to repair or rebuild components including the ship’s electronic warfare system, radar, switchboard, gas turbine generate and air conditioning system.
The Navy says that it will use the opportunity to update the Fitzgerald, which had previously been scheduled for 2019.
That will involve more work to the hull, mechanical and electrical systems, weapons and computers of the ship, which was built in 1995.
A combination photo of the dead sailors identified by the U.S. Navy in the collision incident between U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald and Philippine-flagged merchant vessel south of Tokyo Bay on June 17, 2017. Top row (L-R) Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, CA; Gunner’s Mate Seaman Dakota Kyle Rigsby, 19, from Palmyra, VA; Sonar Technician 3rd Class Ngoc T Truong Huynh, 25, from Oakville, CT; and Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass, 25, from San Diego, CA. Bottom row (L-R) Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., from Elyria, OH; Personnel Specialist 1st Class Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, MD; and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, TX
The collision between the Fitzgerald and the Philippine vessel happened early in the morning on June 17
The collision happened off the coast of Japan’s Izu Penninsula, as seen in the map above
Seen above is the minimal damage sustained by the ACX Crystal in the collision with the Fitzgerald
Work is expected to last into mid-2019, followed by months more of testing and trials.
The Navy announced Tuesday that it’s seeking negligent homicide charges against four officers of the Fitzgerald at the time of the collision, including the then-commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson.
That decision followed a series of investigations and reviews into the collisions involving the Fitzgerald and the John S. McCain.
Those reviews concluded that the incidents resulted from poor judgment, bad decision-making and widespread training and leadership failures by the commanders and crew who didn’t quickly recognize and respond to unfolding emergencies.
The Navy also seeks charges against the commanding officer of the John S. McCain.