Commander of US Navy’s Seventh Fleet replaced

August 24, 2017

WASHINGTON- The commander of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, was relieved of his duties on Wednesday following a series of fatal warship collisions, the Pacific Fleet said.

Aucoin was removed "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command," the Pacific Fleet said.

He was replaced by Rear Adm. Phil Sawyer. The Seventh Fleet is based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.

In June, the USS Fitzgerald, a guided-missile destroyer from the Seventh Fleet, collided with a cargo ship off the Izu Peninsula in the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka, leaving seven US sailors dead.

On Monday, the USS John S. McCain, another Seventh Fleet guided-missile destroyer, collided with an oil tanker near Singapore. Some of the 10 US sailors missing after the collision have been found dead.

All sailors assigned to the US Navy's Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, participated in an operational pause on Wednesday following a series of collision accidents involving ships belonging to the fleet.

The operational pause is intended to have sailors thoroughly review basic techniques of fleet operations for preventing accidents caused by human errors.

At the Navy's Yokosuka base, commanding officers and others went over the basics of bridge resource management, operations of radar equipment, communications and risk management. They also conducted analyses of previous maritime incidents.

"In the Pacific, every aspect of our training and operations support our preparedness for winning a challenging high end fight," said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

He also said: "Our mission ultimately is to decisively prevail in all contingencies from war to peace. We cannot complete this mission without first mastering and continually re-mastering the basics of our profession."

In June, the USS Fitzgerald, an Aegis-class guided-missile destroyer from the Seventh Fleet, collided with a cargo ship off the Izu Peninsula in the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka, leaving seven crew members dead. Jiji Press