Remains of a number of USS John S. McCain Sailors located

CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Republic Of Singapore

Remains belonging to some of the 10 missing Sailors aboard the USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) have been discovered, Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday. Adm. Swift said that Sailors were discovered today by divers performing recovery operations inside the Yokosuka-based guided-missile destroyer, which is part of the Navy’s 7th Fleet.

#USSJohnSMcCain Update: Pacific Fleet Commander updates reporters on search and recovery ops @USSJohnSMcCain https://t.co/IE41y9Cqg0

— 7th Fleet (@US7thFleet) August 22, 2017

Adm. Swift also stated that the Royal Malaysian Navy has reported the discovery of potential remains of another missing Sailor, located while providing search and rescue assistance east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

The search has been ongoing since early Aug. 21 following the collision of the McCain and the merchant vessel Alnic MC, about 4-1/2 miles off Malaysia’s coast as the destroyer was making its way through the heavily trafficked Singapore Strait.

Five crew members were also wounded during the collision, four of whom were medevacked to a hospital.

“While the search and rescue efforts continue, I sincerely thank our Singapore partners, our Malaysian partners and everyone who has responded with urgency, compassion and tireless commitment,” Adm. Swift said.

Adm. Swift said that early investigation doesn’t show that a cyber attack may have caused the McCain to collide with the Alnic MC, but it hasn’t been ruled out. Swift added that, “One tragedy like this is one too many. And while each of these four events is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation.” The admiral referred to the recent collision in June of USS Fitzgerald with a Philippine cargo ship off the coast of Japan where seven sailors died, USS Antietam running aground near Yokosuka in January, and the May collision of USS Lake Champlain with a South Korean fishing vessel.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with families of those Sailors and families of our Sailors who were injured. https://t.co/vWXkTWg2rI

— U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) August 22, 2017

President Trump released a statement offering his condolences to the families of the Sailors and said the Defense Department will conduct an investigation into the collision.

We pray for our fallen heroes who died while serving our country in the @USNavy aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain, and their families. pic.twitter.com/t3kD8qj9Mt

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2017

[Main image: Roslan Rahman / AFP]

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