An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that was damaged in a 2017 collision with a container ship off the coast of Japan, killing seven sailors, has returned to sea.
The USS Fitzgerald is underway in the Gulf of Mexico to test repairs and new equipment before it rejoins the fleet, according to multiple reports.
The Fitzgerald collided with the ACX Crystal — which was three times the destroyer’s size — in the early morning hours of June 17, 2017, ripping a large hole that flooded the ship with seawater.
The ship was taken back to the United States aboard the ship carrier M/V Transshelf, and it was put in drydock at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Pascagoula shipyard in Mississippi for repairs.
Workers repaired the hull as well as mechanical, computer, and electrical components. The seawater, not the initial collision, likely did most of the damage.
The Navy spent $523 million to repair the ship, according to USNI.
