An electrical malfunction disabled power and propulsion aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins, seen here in Tokyo Bay in February 2025, while the ship was operating in the Indo-Pacific on April 28, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
An electrical malfunction aboard a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer operating in the Indo-Pacific led to a temporary loss of power and propulsion on Tuesday, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.
The USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer homeported at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, was on routine operations in the Indo-Pacific when the ship reported an issue with its electrical distribution system, 7th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Matthew Comer told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.
“Higgins experienced a loss of power throughout the ship, resulting in the loss of propulsion,” he wrote. “Power and propulsion have been restored.”
There were no injuries, he said. He declined to specify where the Higgins was at the time of the incident.
The cause of the problem is still under investigation, but Comer said initial reports indicated an “electrical malfunction, which may have produced sparking or smoke that ceased once power was removed.”
He described the malfunction as an “engineering casualty,” a term that can refer to a shipboard equipment or systems failure rather than personal injury.
Comer did not use the term “fire” in his response. He did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
CBS News, citing unnamed U.S. officials on Thursday, described the situation as a fire limited to one piece of equipment that “knocked out electricity and propulsion on the destroyer” but did not spread flames.
The Higgins malfunction follows a rash of fires aboard Navy ships this year.
Most recently, a fire aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt on April 19 injured three sailors before the crew extinguished it. The destroyer was pierside at a naval shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., at the time.
On April 14, a fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower injured three sailors while the ship was undergoing maintenance at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va. The small fire was immediately contained, and the injured sailors were treated and returned to full duty.
Another blaze started March 12 in the laundry area of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford while the ship was in the Red Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury. Three sailors were treated for injuries related to the fire, according to the Navy.
