U.S. Navy to charge commanders of crashed warship with homicide

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Navy said Tuesday it is filing negligent homicide charges against the commanders of two crashed guided missile destroyers last year.

The filings will be heard and the military justice system will decide whether the two commanders will be tried by martial court.

The two commanders were in charge of the U.S. Ship Fitzgerald, which hit a container ship near Japan in June, killing seven sailors, and of the USS John S. McCain, which collided with an oil tanker in August near Singapore, killing 10.

A Navy report said the incidents could have been preventable, yet turned out as a result of "multiple failures."

After the incident, many high-level navy officers of the seventh fleet have been relieved of duty, including Bryce Benson, the then commander of USS Fitzgerald, as well as Alfredo Sanchez, who commanded the USS John S. McCain, and Joseph Aucoin, the former seventh fleet commander.

The seventh fleet went through a series of mishaps last year. A U.S. government report attributed these incidents to the lack of training and the lack of maintenance of the fleet's personnel and hardware. Enditem