After Japan collision, USS Fitzgerald back in fighting shape

Seven sailors drowned in crash with Philippine-flagged container ship

After two years of repairs, guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald prepares to depart a shipyard in the U.S. state of Mississippi on June 13 to return to its home port in California. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asian Review chief desk editor

June 14, 2020 06:50 JST

NEW YORK -- The U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald, which collided with a container ship off Japan in 2017, concluded a two-year repair and left Pascagoula shipyard in the state of Mississippi Saturday.

The collision with the Philippine-flagged ship killed seven sailors and resulted in the dismissal of the commander of 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, as well as the commanding officer, executive officer and command master chief of the Fitzgerald, which was based in Yokosuka, Japan, at the time.