{"id":221008,"date":"2026-08-18T00:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-navy-destroyer-adrift-in-south-china-sea-for-four-days-after-losing-power-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T00:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:20:10","slug":"us-navy-destroyer-adrift-in-south-china-sea-for-four-days-after-losing-power-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-navy-destroyer-adrift-in-south-china-sea-for-four-days-after-losing-power-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US Navy destroyer adrift in South China Sea for four days after losing power – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

USS Benfold lost power after \u2018engineering casualty\u2019 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<\/a> 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,<\/a> an independent military publication.
The 10,000-ton destroyer lost power after what a spokesperson with the US seventh fleet called \u201can engineering casualty involving its generators\u201d, 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.
\u201cThere were no injuries to the crew, who demonstrated resilience, grit, professionalism and unwavering steadiness in their response,\u201d Comer\u2019s 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 \u201csubstantially reduce\u201d 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<\/a> and Stars and Stripes<\/a> of multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard<\/a> after more than 200 days without a port call.
Trump told reporters on Monday the carrier had been at sea for a \u201cgood period of time\u201d and said he had spoken with a retired admiral over the weekend who recounted being on ships for \u201cmuch longer\u201d. Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is \u201cbeautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of\u201d.
Reports of poor morale prompted Democratic lawmakers and military families to demand that the Trump administration<\/a> 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<\/a> 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.
\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said.
Hegseth has rejected the accounts, calling them \u201ccompletely misrepresented\u201d.
\u201cWe make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,\u201d he told Newsmax, adding that sailors in \u201caustere conditions with less port calls\u201d were doing \u201cincredible\u201d work.
The navy, meanwhile, has said: \u201cBased on information available to the command, we have not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship.\u201d
Navy officials said in a statement obtained by Task & Purpose<\/a>: \u201cWe 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\u2019s security.\u201d
In an opinion piece<\/a> 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 \u201csee how its 4,000-plus service members are doing and thank them for their extraordinary resilience in the face of constant pressure\u201d and called it \u201can amazing visit\u201d.
He acknowledged the media reports on the ships \u201coperational tempo, crew morale and the realities facing our deployed forces\u201d and said what he found \u201cis that many elements of those stories are old news\u201d.
\u201cThe crew is tired, but they continue to fire on all cylinders,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHistory will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.\u201d
In a post on X Monday, <\/a>Cooper said that of the navy\u2019s 11 active aircraft carriers, the Lincoln has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health.
\u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean all is perfect,\u201d he wrote. \u201cFind any of the nearly 4 million Navy veterans today and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods isn\u2019t for everyone. It\u2019s uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.\u201d
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\u2019s dismissal of their concerns about the pressures and conditions at issue.
\u201cIt\u2019s a feeling of betrayal,\u201d the sister of a Lincoln crew member said<\/a> in that report. \u201cThese are frustrating, false and careless comments, and they are going to have a lot of consequences for my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

USS Benfold lost power after \u2018engineering casualty\u2019 leaving sailors without galley services, toilets and air conditioningA 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}