US Navy destroyer adrift in South China Sea for four days after losing power

USS Benfold lost power after ‘engineering casualty’ leaving sailors without galley services, toilets and air conditioning

A US guided-missile destroyer reportedly spent four days adrift and without power in the South China Sea in July, furthering concerns about strain being placed on deployed military members.

The USS Benfold, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer which had been sailing with the George Washington carrier strike group, was reported to have been towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines, according to the US Naval Institute News, an independent military publication.

The 10,000-ton destroyer lost power after what a spokesperson with the US seventh fleet called “an engineering casualty involving its generators”, resulting in a loss of power.

That loss of power meant sailors were without galley services, toilets and air conditioning, Commander Matthew Comer told USNI News in a statement. Another vessel, USS Robert Smalls, the cruiser attached to the strike group, had to help provide meals for the crew.

Comer said that the Benfield lost power on 24 July and was towed on 28 July. Power was restored two days later.

“There were no injuries to the crew, who demonstrated resilience, grit, professionalism and unwavering steadiness in their response,” Comer’s statement to USNI News said.

The Guardian has reached out to theseventh fleet for comment.

Separately, the Pentagon was ordered to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea as his war against Iran stretches the limits of US aircraft carriers. Trump said on Sunday that he had instructed Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, to “substantially reduce” the joint military exercises with South Korea.

The USS George Washington strike group on Monday was headed to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, a carrier that in recent days was subject to reports by the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes of multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard after more than 200 days without a port call.

Trump told reporters on Monday the carrier had been at sea for a “good period of time” and said he had spoken with a retired admiral over the weekend who recounted being on ships for “much longer”. Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of”.

Reports of poor morale prompted Democratic lawmakers and military families to demand that the Trump administration answer questions about low morale, mental health challenges and living conditions for crew members.

Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and retired marine, said on ABC News on Sunday that the problems arose from the Iran war that the Trump administration started in February but has not been able to resolve. The Lincoln originally deployed to the Indo-Pacific before being ordered to sail to the Middle East in January.

“The deep, deep, deep problem here is that this administration did not plan for this war, did not plan how to get out of this war, and did not really understand how this war was going to escalate,” he said.

Hegseth has rejected the accounts, calling them “completely misrepresented”.

“We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” he told Newsmax, adding that sailors in “austere conditions with less port calls” were doing “incredible” work.

The navy, meanwhile, has said: “Based on information available to the command, we have not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship.”

Navy officials said in a statement obtained by Task & Purpose : “We know that extended deployments place a significant strain on our service members and their families, and we are grateful for the resilience and sacrifices they make in support of our nation’s security.”

In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Adm Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said he had been onboard the Lincoln in the Arabian Gulf a day earlier and addressed the sailors.

Cooper said he had made the trip to “see how its 4,000-plus service members are doing and thank them for their extraordinary resilience in the face of constant pressure” and called it “an amazing visit”.

He acknowledged the media reports on the ships “operational tempo, crew morale and the realities facing our deployed forces” and said what he found “is that many elements of those stories are old news”.

“The crew is tired, but they continue to fire on all cylinders,” he wrote. “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.”

In a post on X Monday, Cooper said that of the navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers, the Lincoln has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health.

“This doesn’t mean all is perfect,” he wrote. “Find any of the nearly 4 million Navy veterans today and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods isn’t for everyone. It’s uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.”

The Guardian on Sunday reported on families who have had loved ones deployed for months on US warships amid the Iran war and were furious with the Trump administration’s dismissal of their concerns about the pressures and conditions at issue.

“It’s a feeling of betrayal,” the sister of a Lincoln crew member said in that report. “These are frustrating, false and careless comments, and they are going to have a lot of consequences for my brother.”