The ship’s captain, Commander Bryce Benson, was asleep when the accident happened and his cabin was destroyed by the impact at 2.30am on Saturday.The USS Fitzgerald's captain, Benson, was airlifted early Saturday to the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition with a head injury, the Navy said.
According to a report from the Navy Times, Executive Officer Commander Sean Babbitt has assumed command after the collision.
According to the Navy, the collision occurred 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, home to the 7th Fleet.
The Philippine-flagged container ship was berthed at Tokyo's Oi wharf, where officials questioned crew members about the cause of the crash.
The Fitzgerald completed $21 million in upgrades and repairs in February, and recently made a port call to the US Navy's Subic Bay base in the Philippines and conducted patrols in the South China Sea.
The ship's crew used the stop to conduct some minor repairs with the assistance of Philippine companies.
Whatever you do keep this foreign containment ships away from U.S. NAVY Small Boys! Most of these foreign Captains of these foreign ship were garbage truck drivers the month before. I remember one time when I was on-board the U.S.S. Independence CV-62 off the Coast of Korea and this South Korean Fishing Boat cuts us off with less than 1/4 between us, in a feat that still amazes me to this day, the Captain had the ship go from 1/2 speed forward, to full reverse and then dead stop in all that space with a nearly 100,000 displacement! Sir? I was an enlisted Man and actually worked for a living.