USS Fitzgerald damaged again during transport

The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald is towed back to the pier at Fleet Activities in Yokosuka, Japan, on Sunday. Photo by Leonard Adams/U.S. Navy

Nov. 28 (UPI) — The USS Fitzgerald, heavily damaged in a deadly crash this summer, sustained damage again while it was being prepared for transport from Japan to the United States, the U.S. Navy said.

The Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer sustained two punctures in its hull while it was being loaded aboard a heavy lift transport vessel, the Transshelf, on Sunday. The Fitzgerald returned to the Navy’s port in Yokosuka, Japan. The Transshelf was preparing to transport it to Pascagoula, Miss., for repairs.

“In the months prior to her departure from Yokosuka, technicians and shipbuilders at Ship Repair Facility Yokosuka made significant progress in preparing the ship for the journey, including dewatering, defueling, hull and superstructure repairs, and placing key systems in layup maintenance,” the Navy said in a statement.

The Navy expects the additional damage will delay the USS Fitzgerald’s transport by a “few days.”

The USS Fitzgerald was heavily damaged June 17 when it collided with a container ship in the Philippine Sea off the coast of Japan. Seven U.S. sailors died in the crash.

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