The US Navy has paid tribute to seven sailors who were killed when the USS Fitzgerald guided-missile destroyer collided with a merchant ship off Japan.
More than 2,000 sailors and their families attended the Monday ceremony in Yokosuka, Japan, where they lined the streets waving flags in memory of the victims and filled an auditorium to pay respects.
The solemn memorial gathering was closed to media. Pictures supplied by the Navy showed sailors folding US flags with photographs of the seven dead hanging above them.
Wreaths with red, white and blue flowers, representing the colors of the US flag, lay on a stage below their pictures.
‘It´s stunning, absolutely stunning, while we mourn the loss of the seven sailors, that more were not lost, and it was the heroism of the entire crew that ensured that was the case,’ US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said in a statement.
‘There was no understanding of what had happened at the moment of impact. But there was complete understanding of what needed to be done.
‘Every time we go to sea, the ship is our sanctuary and all sailors have to come together as a crew and fight their ship, and that is exactly what Fitzgerald did.’
The 7th Fleet said its 650-seat theater was filled to capacity for the ceremony honoring the sailors.
Supporters packed the road leading to the memorial service to form a line of honor for the families of the fallen sailors as they passed.
‘I wanted to show my support to military families in this time of need,’ Karen Sobba, whose husband is on USS Ronald Reagan, said as she joined the line of honor, according to the Navy.
‘This hits close to home, it could happen to any one of us,’ added Sobba.
The USS Fitzgerald, carrying nearly 300 crewmembers, collided with the Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal in waters off Yokosuka in the pre-dawn hours of June 17.
Severe damage to the right side and bottom of the guided-missile destroyer flooded the berths of 116 sailors. Navy divers found the bodies of the seven in the ship after it returned to Yokosuka.
The container ship has left Yokohama, where it was investigated by Japanese authorities, for repairs of its damaged bow at an unspecified shipyard in Japan, its owner, Dainichi-Invest Corp, said.
The company said the ship’s captain and several other crewmembers stayed behind for further questioning by the Japanese coast guard.
The collision occurred in an accident-prone area known for congestion with ships trying to reach Tokyo by daybreak.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Japanese coast guard officials say they are eyeing possible professional negligence, but so far their interviews of the container ship’s captain and crewmembers – all Filipinos – have been on a voluntary basis.
The US Navy is investigating what happened aboard the warship, while Japanese authorities are investigating the container ship and its crew.
Ordinarily, Japan has the right to investigate maritime collisions in its territorial waters, but in the case of US warships, the US Navy has the primary right to do so under a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, making it uncertain whether Japan will have access to the US probe.
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