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U.S. Navy holds memorial for sailors killed in ship crash in Japan

Associated Press

In this photo released by U.S. Navy, Adm. Scott Swift, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, delivers remarks during a memorial ceremony at Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Tuesday, June 27, 2017, for seven sailors assigned to USS Fitzgerald who were killed in the June 17 collision at sea.

TOKYO - The U.S. Navy has paid tribute to the seven sailors killed when their warship collided with a merchant ship off Japan.

The Japan-based 7th Fleet says more than 2,000 sailors and their families attended Tuesday’s ceremony in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. They lined the streets waving flags in memory of the seven sailors who died.

The USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged container ship collided in the waters off Yokosuka in the pre-dawn hours of June 17. Severe damage to the destroyer’s right side and bottom flooded the berths of 116 sailors. Navy divers found the bodies of the seven in the ship after it returned to Yokosuka.

The Navy is investigating what went wrong with the warship, while Japanese authorities are investigating the container ship and its crew members.

Navy collisions rare but provide lessons in their wake