Two U.S. Navy vessels collided during a routine operation in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday (February 11), resulting in minor injuries to two personnel, according to U.S. Southern Command officials.
The USS Truxtun, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, and the USNS Supply, a Supply-class fast combat support ship, made contact “during a replenishment-at-sea” operation, according to Col. Emmanuel Ortiz, a U.S. Southern Command spokesman.
“Two personnel reported minor injuries and are in stable condition,” Ortiz confirmed. Both ships have reported sailing safely following the incident, which remains under investigation.
The collision occurred while the vessels were conducting a replenishment-at-sea maneuver, a delicate operation where ships sail side-by-side at close distance to transfer supplies via cable systems. It’s unclear whether the injured personnel were aboard the destroyer, the supply ship, or both vessels.
A damage assessment is underway to determine whether the ships can continue their deployments or will need to return to port for repairs, according to a U.S. official. The USS Truxtun had only recently departed from its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, on February 6 to begin its deployment to the Caribbean.
The vessels were part of a significant U.S. naval presence established in the region by President Donald Trump in recent months. Currently, 11 U.S. Navy ships are operating in the Caribbean, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.
Ship collisions are rare for the U.S. Navy. The most recent incident before Wednesday’s collision occurred on February 12, 2025, when the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a merchant ship in the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt, requiring repairs.
More serious incidents occurred in 2017, when 17 sailors died in separate collisions involving Navy ships in the Pacific – incidents later determined to be avoidable and caused by “multiple failures” by officers and sailors.
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