US Navy Fires Captain Over Steering Issues That Led To Serious Accident In Middle East
Last month, the US Navy fired the captain of a warship due to unresolved steering issues that led to a serious accident in the Middle East.
Commander Cameron Astor, commander of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS John S. McCain, was relieved because he lost confidence in his command ability.
The investigation highlighted that he was fired after the destroyer lost direction and damaged a Navy tanker while refueling.
The investigation showed Astor and other crew members made mistakes, including poor maintenance and protocol non-compliance, which led to the accident. He also pointed out that the Navy had not resolved the recurring steering problems on the destroyer that occurred a month before the incident.
The steering problems occurred so frequently that the ship’s crew ignored their severity and malfunctioned when the McCain was connected to a supply ship for refueling.
The McCain left its home port in March and arrived in the Middle East in April to patrol the region with other US warships to protect commercial ships from attacks by Houthi rebels.
Astor was McCain’s executive officer and assumed the position in 2023, about five months before deployment.
On July 20, McCain approached the USS Great Horn replenishment tanker in the North Arabian Sea and began replenishing at sea, receiving fuel via a cable between the two ships less than 200 feet apart.
While refueling, one of the hydraulic power units controlling the starboard rudder sprayed oil, and engineers scrambled to fix the problem.
Sometime later, when the system failed, and controls failed due to a hydraulic oil leak, they decided to switch to a replacement HPU.
Engineers tried to refuel the HPU, but it ran out of oil and shut down, and the other HPU could not take over.
A crew member on the bridge realized the starboard rudder was stuck, so the commander ordered an emergency separation. The separation damaged Great Horn’s equipment and a refueling platform, but no crew members on board were injured.
The command’s investigation in August revealed that the destroyer’s crew did not properly follow course procedures or communicate between control stations.
The investigation blamed Astor for handling the refueling. He spent 10 minutes near the tanker to fix the steering problem before running away. The executive officer and chief engineer were also held accountable.
The findings highlighted that McCain faced challenges before refueling, and then they worked on the damaged ship for several months.
Ten days after the incident, the destroyer arrived in the United Arab Emirates and was issued a CASREP again for the steering problem. Technical officials went to the port to review the situation and found several other issues that needed to be addressed.
The Navy did not disclose what happened to the destroyer or admit that it had steering problems during its deployment.
