YOKOSUKA, Japan (Reuters) — The United States Navy will in the coming hours relieve the three-star admiral Joseph Aucoin who commands its seventh fleet following a series of collisions in Asia, a US official told Reuters late on Tuesday (August 22), speaking on condition of anonymity.
US Navy and Marine Corps divers are still trying to find 10 missing sailors from the US guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain, which collided with a merchant vessel near Singapore. About two months ago, the John S. McCain’s sister ship, the Fitzgerald, almost sank off the coast of Japan after a collision with a Philippine container ship that killed seven US sailors.
Those accidents have already prompted a fleet-wide investigation and plans for temporary halts in operations.
The Navy declined comment on any plans to relieve Aucoin, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
