Navy
2 US Navy ships collide during replenishment-at-sea, SOUTHCOM says
Staff and wire reports
February 12, 2026
The guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun approaches the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush during a 2022 refueling-at-sea. (Bryan Valek/U.S. Navy)
Two people reported minor injuries after a U.S. Navy destroyer and a supply vessel collided as the warship was getting a new load of supplies, according to U.S. Southern Command.
The destroyer USS Truxtun and supply ship USNS Supply collided Thursday, said Steven McLoud, a spokesman for SOUTHCOM.
The USS Truxtun is a recent addition to the large naval presence in the Caribbean. It left its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, on Feb. 3. The destroyer had to return to port for several days to conduct “an emergent equipment repair” and it ultimately set sail for the Caribbean on Feb. 6, according to a Navy official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operational details.
U.S. Southern Command announced that the USS Truxtun and USNS Supply collided during a replenishment-at-sea. The maneuver typically has the vessels sailing parallel, usually within hundreds of feet, while fuel and supplies are transferred across the gap via hoses and cables.
The collision occurred when the supply ship was refueling the cruiser USS Gettysburg on one side and the Truxtun approached from the other side, according to a U.S. official familiar with the collision, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a mishap that is under investigation.
Southern Command said two personnel reported minor injuries and that both were in stable condition. The two ships now are sailing safely, the military statement said.
The Navy’s most recent collision occurred in February 2025 when the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a merchant vessel just outside the Suez Canal near Port Said, Egypt. That resulted in minor damage to the Truman but no injuries.
An investigation released in December revealed that as the aircraft carrier was running behind schedule, the officer navigating the ship drove it at an unsafely high speed.
As a merchant ship moved into a collision path with the carrier, the officer in charge did not take enough action to move out of danger and the ship also was traveling so fast that it would have needed almost a mile and a half to come to a stop after halting the engines, the report found.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.