US sailor who went missing ‘showed signs of paranoia’

A combination of poor morale, mental health problems, personal failures, and a broken chain of command led to a massive US Navy search for a sailor who was found to have hidden below deck on a cruiser in Southeast Asia last June.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Mims, 23, from Interlachen, Florida, was thought to have been lost at sea on June 8 while his guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh was operating in the Philippine Sea.

After a six day search of the open ocean, he was discovered on-board and to have been hiding in the own ship’s engine room.

Forces from the US and Japanese navies conducted a 50-hour search over 5,500 square-miles before the rescue was reluctantly called off at midnight on June 11.

However, four days later, the gas turbine systems technician was located alive and well – though he was covered in urine and feces.

New details emerged on Tuesday about the circumstances of how he survived undetected for seven days.

Mims apparently suffered from mental health problems that went untreated by counselling professionals on board, according to the Navy Times.

Before his disappearance on June 8, he sought help following a series of setbacks in his personal life, including a failed marriage and financial problems.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Mims, 23, from Interlachen, Florida , was thought to have been lost at sea on June 8 while his guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh was operating in the Philippine Sea

When he disappeared, he managed to stay out of sight for a total of seven days thanks to his diminutive height as well as his intimate knowledge of the engineering space on board the Shiloh.

The US Navy conducted an investigation into Mims’ disappearance. It found that his superiors did not provide him timely mental health counselling despite evidence he was in need of it.

The investigation also found that the sailor on board the Shiloh were suffering from low morale brought on by being overworked.

It cites the then-skipper of the Shiloh, Captain Adam Aycock, who is said to have established a culture on board that placed ‘a significant amount of stress’ on sailors who got by on as little as three hours of sleep per night.

Sailors who served alongside Mims said that they were forced to work ‘extreme hours’, leading to depression and fatigue.

The investigation found that Mims’ superiors failed to see the warning signs that they were dealing with a troubled sailor.

In 2016, two years after he enlisted, Mims was found to have gotten drunk and fallen asleep on a bench near a US military base in Yokosuka, Japan.

This led the Navy to ban him from drinking alcohol.

Later that year, Mims filed for divorce, which he neglected to tell the Navy about. This led to him receiving more money for housing than he was entitled to.

Mims ended up owing the Navy $7,000.

The Navy investigation also revealed disturbing patterns of behaviour by Mims, including a penchant for unrealistic bragging that called into question his judgment and fitness to serve.

After a six day search of the open ocean, he was discovered on-board and to have been hiding in the own ship's engine room. The ship, the USS cruiser Shiloh, is seen in the above stock image

After a six day search of the open ocean, he was discovered on-board and to have been hiding in the own ship’s engine room. The ship, the USS cruiser Shiloh, is seen in the above stock image

‘Mims was known for outlandish claims, such as he could stop running engineering department engines by pulsating electricity with his body, that he could shoot fireballs out of his hands, that he had a friend who had a motorcycle with the same engine as the ship, that he had been to space, and that before the Navy he was going to work for NASA because he had reached the pinnacle of how strong a human could be,’ the investigation states.

‘To those who heard it, it sounded like he believed his claims,’ sailors recalled.

A day before he disappeared on June 8, sailors reported Mims was ‘looking anxious and timid.’

‘GSM3 Mims had seemed “off” the last couple of weeks, in a different way than during his divorce,’ a Shiloh sailor told investigators.

Sailors reported Mims was growing more paranoid and delusional. 

He told investigators he believed ‘that people had been ordered to follow him and that they were observing him in berthing and around the ship.’

The strange behavior continued on the morning of his disappearance – June 8.

He was seen raiding a snack station in the dining area – only to retreat when others saw him.

Mims also told his superiors that he believed another sailor ‘had a poisoning scheme against him that involved injecting him with a needle’ – only to later admit that he made it up because ‘he was just trying to get attention.’

He then told his commanding officers he wanted to leave the Navy because his mother was sick with cancer – a claim that he would later retract after he was found.

Just before 6pm, Mims reported for watch duty as scheduled. But when he failed to check in at 8pm, the engineering officer on watch waited 30 minutes before listing him as missing.

Given his erratic behaviour, there was genuine concern among the sailors that Mims had thrown himself overboard.

Aycock, believing that Mims was still aboard, initially rejected his officers’ recommendation that they initiate a man overboard search.

‘The CO stated GSM3 Mims, “didn’t kill himself. He’s still on the ship”,’ the investigation states.

When sailors were unable to find Mims aboard the ship, Aycock gave the go-ahead for a massive man overboard search.

The search of 5,500 square miles of ocean was conducted by the Shiloh, aircraft from the USS Reagan, the destroyers McCampbell and John S. McCain, and Japanese ships.

By 1am, Shiloh sailors said they had looked throughout the ship and there were no signs of Mims.

Mims apparently suffered from mental health problems that went untreated by counselling professionals on board

Mims apparently suffered from mental health problems that went untreated by counselling professionals on board

At 2am, Aycock suspended the rescue effort to give crew time to rest.

By midnight on June 11, the Navy suspended the search altogether believing that Mims had died.

The next day, a sailor reported seeing Mims at 4am walking through a lounge area.

While in hiding, he had snuck out and used his cash card to buy a soda from a vending machine near the engine room’s main entrance.

The sailor reported seeing Mims covered in rust. He began to fill a 34-gallon plastic bag with water.

The two spoke for 10 minutes, according to investigators.

‘Mims stated he believed people were trying to kill him, that he had not defecated since going into hiding,’ the investigation states.

When Mims and the sailor parted ways, the sailor went back to sleep for about 90 minutes.

At 6am, he woke up and told his superiors that he saw Mims.

But the superiors did not believe him because he was being disciplined for an unrelated matter.

Sailors also found a bag of food in the trash room that had apparently been left behind by Mims.

This led the command master chief to conduct another search, though he did not seek help from other officers or notify his superiors.

On June 13, a team of sailors from the carrier Reagan came on board to assist in the search, which by this time was focused on the ship’s catacombs.

The sailor was reported missing 180-miles east of Okinawa on June 8 and the search extended for thousands of square miles until June 11 before it was called off

The sailor was reported missing 180-miles east of Okinawa on June 8 and the search extended for thousands of square miles until June 11 before it was called off

These tiny spaces were located beneath the ship’s engine modules, though the officers thought the area would be too hot for anyone to hid in for an extended period of time.

They searched engine room one, which turned up nothing. But engine room two was not searched because of ‘overwhelming smells, assumed at the time to be fuel and oil, but later assessed to be urine and feces,’ according to the investigation.

A few days before the search ended, the ship was heading to port in Singapore.

‘Everyone started to think if he was still on the ship he would try and leave in Singapore,’ one sailor said.

Aycock was concerned that continuing the search would put more sailors in harm’s way.

‘Based on the small size of the space and the unknown state of GSM3 Mims’ state of mind, fearing the safety of their personnel, they did not complete the catacomb search, which requires crawling through a series of small compartments,’ the investigation states.

Mims was perceived to be a threat by the sailors.

‘Though GSM3 Mims is small he is strong,’ they were told.

Sailors were armed with batons and flexicuffs and sent to engine room two’s catacombs.

At 2pm on June 15, a sailor opened an exit passage from engine room two and felt resistance.

The sailor saw Mims and thought he was dead.

‘That is when I bumped him with the door again,’ according to the sailor.

A combination of poor morale, mental health problems, personal failures, and a broken chain of command led to Mims' disappearance, according to a naval investigation

A combination of poor morale, mental health problems, personal failures, and a broken chain of command led to Mims’ disappearance, according to a naval investigation

‘This is when he woke up.’

The sailor was shocked to discover Mims and left the area. When he eventually came up moments later, the two had a ‘substantive conversation.’

‘What’s with all the noises in Main two?’ Mims asked.

‘Everybody’s been looking for you for a week,’ the sailor told him.

Mims was persuaded by the sailor to turn himself in. His coveralls were ‘heavily soaked in urine and feces,’ according to the investigation.

On June 16, after the ship moored in Singapore, Mims was handcuffed and taken off the ship for transfer to the Reagan.

Mims was able to stay hidden for a week because he was small enough to hide in the engine room, which was very dark.

He could also tell ahead of time when the sailors were coming to search for him because he could hear foot traffic.

‘The hallways are very dark and would lend themselves easily to someone who wanted to remain hidden,’ the investigator remarked. 

‘After taps foot traffic was very light and the only personnel who transited the engineering spaces were watchstanders who were focused on taking logs.’

‘Given GSM3 Mims’ knowledge of the spaces,’ the investigation found, ‘it is highly likely he could have easily evaded the ship’s force search efforts.’

After his arrest, Mims told his superiors that he hid because ‘he was concerned for his own safety.’

‘As evidence of what GSM3 Mims believed to be a threat to his safety, he recommended the (crew) surveys be looked at,’ the summary states. 

‘Mims seemed paranoid and appeared to be holding back some information.’

The naval investigation faults Mims’ superiors for failing to see the warning signs of his erratic behavior which exhibited ‘clear instability.’

‘The SHILOH chain of command did not aggressively intervene to correct these deficiencies,’ the investigation found.

‘GSM3 Mims is a below average sailor who tended to be unreliable and untruthful outside of basic duties,’ the investigation states. 



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