Fil-Am sailor among 7 killed in U.S. destroyer collision

The Japanese coast guard suggested Monday that there was an hour-long delay between the collision of the ACX Crystal and the USS Fitzgerald and the mayday call that reported it.

The navy destroyer was badly damaged in the collision with a Philippine-flagged cargo ship off the Japanese coast early Saturday. The incident happened early Saturday morning as numerous crew slept. Authorities have declined to speculate on a cause while the crash remains under investigation.

Initially, the Japanese Coast Guard said that the distress call from the ACX Crystal came at 2:25 a.m. on Saturday - five minutes after it crashed into the USS Fitzgerald at 2:20 a.m. After interviewing Filipino crewmembers, the coast guard has changed the collision time to 1:30 a.m.

Tanaka said officials are planning to get ahold of a device with communications records to examine the details of the crash.

Three investigators for Japan's Transport Safety Board had inspected the container ship inside and out, said spokeswoman Yuko Watanabe.

Numerous crew on the USA ship were asleep when the collision tore a gash under the waterline on the warship's starboard side, flooding two crew compartments, the radio room and the auxiliary machine room.

The U.S. Navy did not immediately respond when asked if it would release tracking data to the Japan Coast Guard.

Nanami Meguro, a spokeswoman for NYK Line, the ship's operator, agreed with the earlier timing. Numerous ship's 300 sailors went up to the guns thinking the ship was under attack, she said. He said the case is being investigated as possible professional negligence but that no criminal charges have been made so far.

A plane carrying the bodies of the seven sailors left Yokota Air Base outside Tokyo for the United States on Tuesday morning, according to postings on USA 7th Fleet social media.

Their bodies were found a day later when the ship returned to port and divers scoured damaged areas of the 154-meter (500-foot) USS Fitzgerald, which was commissioned in 1995 and deployed in the Iraq war in 2003.

The family of a San Diego sailor who died in the collision between a Navy destroyer and a container ship off the coast of Japan said Monday he was an "adventurous young man" proud to be a part of his crew and of service to his country.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government was investigating with the cooperation of the US side and every effort would be made to maintain regional deterrence in the face of North Korea, which has recently conducted a series of missile tests.

He said in a statement that "we are all deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our fellow shipmates".

"Because of the tireless damage control efforts of a resolute and courageous team, the ship was able to make its way back to port safely on its own power last evening". It isn't clear yet what caused the collision between the destroyer and the container ship four times its size.

Connecticut's governor has ordered flags to fly at half-staff in Huynh's honor.

Huynh's sister, Lan Huynh, told WVIT-TV that the family is coping as best they can.

The Navy announced that "the missing Sailors were located in the flooded berthing compartments". "He's okay. Thank you all for the prayers", Rita Schrimsher of Athens, Alabama, tweeted after speaking with her 23-year-old grandson, Jackson Schrimsher, via Facetime. "You have to realize majority are 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds living with guilt", Sykes explained, adding, "But I told him, 'there's a reason you're still here and make that count'".