Capt. Geoffry Patterson speaks to his sailors after taking command of the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia's blue crew in Souda Bay, Crete, May 28, 2022. (Ashley Berum/U.S. Navy)
A Navy captain fired last week from command of a guided-missile submarine was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol near Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base just days before his dismissal, local jail records show.
Capt. Geoffry Patterson was arrested by local police in St. Marys, Ga., and booked into the Cumberland County jail just after midnight Jan. 8, according to local jail records. He faces charges of DUI, improper lane change and no insurance, according to the jail records. St. Marys in Cumberland County is a southeast Georgia town just outside the gates of the Navy’s submarine base, where Patterson was assigned as a commander of the Ohio-Class USS Georgia.
Patterson, 53, was dismissed as the sub’s commander Jan. 12 by Rear Adm. Thomas “T.R.” Buchanan, commander of Submarine Group 10 who cited a “loss of confidence in his ability to command.”
A Navy statement issued Monday provided no specific details about Patterson’s dismissal, nor did it mention he had been arrested.
A Navy spokesman on Thursday declined to comment on Patterson’s arrest or whether his dismissal was linked to the incident, citing an ongoing investigation.
Patterson had commanded the boat’s blue crew — one of two crews assigned to the submarine — since May 2022, according to the Navy.
Two crews alternate aboard U.S. submarines — one crew takes the boat on patrol, and the other typically remains at its homeport. Capt. Christopher Osborn, the USS Georgia’s gold crew commander, is now in charge of the submarine, Navy officials said.
The Georgia is one of four ballistic-missile submarines converted to carry conventional land-attack Tomahawk cruise missiles and carry special operations forces. The Georgia was converted in 2007, according to the Navy. The guided-missile subs can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and up to 66 special operations personnel, according to the Navy.
