According to USNI News, a missile destroyer of the U.S. Navy experienced a 'serious engineering malfunction' in the South China Sea last month. It lost power for up to 4 days and was eventually towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines for repairs.
The spokesman for the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy, Matthew Corum, confirmed that on July 24, the Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyer USS Bunker Fortress (DDG-65) experienced a generator failure while conducting routine operations in the Indo-Pacific region, resulting in the loss of power to the ship. No personnel were injured in the accident.
U.S. Navy Destroyer "Benford"
However, the power outage had a significant impact on the lives of the crew aboard the ship. Comer revealed that after losing electricity, the kitchen, toilets, and air conditioning on the ‘Benford’ were unable to function properly, and the supply of drinking water was also affected. The US side did not provide any explanations regarding how the crew dealt with waste materials during the power outage.
At the time of the incident, the Bennford was operating with the George Washington aircraft carrier strike group. After the malfunction occurred, the aircraft carrier strike group provided support to the Bennford. Among them, the cruiser Robert Sulls was responsible for providing meals to the crew of the Bennford.
On July 28th, the “Binford” was towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines by a commercial tug boat. Personnel from the Japanese regional maintenance center arrived shortly thereafter, and the crew was scheduled to be moved off the ship for accommodation the next day. The ship did not resume power generation until July 30th. All maintenance work was completed on August 7th, and the ship departed Subic Bay the following day.
It is noteworthy that the ‘Benford’ did not subsequently pass through the Strait of Malacca with other ships of the ‘George Washington’ aircraft carrier strike group. The latter is believed to be headed towards the Middle East. The ‘Benford’ returned to its home port, Yokosuka in Japan, and remains there currently.
The US Navy has not yet announced the specific cause of the generator failure, and an investigation is still underway.
