Among the seven U.S. Navy sailors who died in the Saturday collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged container ship off Japan were an OH man expecting to retire soon, a Maryland man who was his father's best friend, and a former volunteer firefighter in his Virginia hometown.
Early Saturday morning a Philippine-flagged merchant ship collided into the side of a USA warship off the coast of Japan.
The U.S. Navy's USS Fitzgerald following a collision with a merchant vessel while operating southwest of Yokosuka, Japan. Bottom row (L-R) Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., from Elyria, OH; Personnel Specialist 1st Class Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, MD; and Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, TX.
Their bodies were being flown back to the US on Tuesday morning, according to the Commander US Naval Forces Japan.
A coast guard official said Monday that investigators are looking into what the crew of the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal was doing before reporting the collision off Japan's coast.
"Navy officials say they're notifying the families of the deceased and will officially release names of the dead sailors at a later date", John Matthews reports from Tokyo for our Newscast unit.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation by the Japanese coast guard and U.S. Navy.
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Japanese authorities initially said the collision occurred at 2:20 a.m. because the Philippine ship had reported it at 2:25 a.m. and said it just happened.
"There is nearly no mistake the container was behind the destroyer, though it is still premature to decide which ship bumped into the other", said Tetsuo Kotani, a maritime security expert at the Japan Institute of International Affairs. Jennifer Adkison of Granbury, Texas, whose 20-year-old son, Bruce Adkison, a fifth-generation sailor, survived the collision, said in a Facebook message that families are grieving for those who died and trying to get clothing and other items to survivors who lost all their possessions.
He thanked "our Japanese allies" for their swift assistance, and said the Navy will full investigate the cause. The seven sailors were found in flooded berthing compartments after the ship was taken to port.
All were killed when their warship, the USS Fitzgerald, collided with a merchant vessel Saturday in the crowded waters off Japan's Izu Peninsula. The USS Fitzgerald ended up with a massive gash and a crumpled side area, damage that resulted in water flooding an area crew members were sleeping. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard also opened an investigation.
Right after being notified of he accident by the container vessel, the Japanese coastguard made contact with the US ship and confirmed it, Aikawa said.
The navy and coastguard are conducting separate investigations, but the Japanese side will ask for U.S. cooperation in its inquiries, a spokesman for Japan's transport safety board told Agence France-Presse.
Sibayan, whose father retired after 21 years in the Navy, was remembered by friends and family as a leader and "sweet".
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