SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Citing a loss of confidence, Rear Adm. Victor Guillory, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet commander, removed from command Lt. Cmdr. Mike Little, skipper of the mine countermeasure ship USS Patriot.

Little also received a punitive letter of reprimand from Guillory as part of the nonjudicial punishment administered in Sasebo, 7th Fleet officials stated in a release.

The lieutenant commander’s punishment follows a Judge Advocate General’s investigation into the grounding of the Patriot on March 19 near Chinhae Bay, South Korea. The incident, in which no injuries were reported, caused serious damage to the wooden hull and underwater sonar, the release said.

The Patriot, a 224-foot ship with a crew of 86 sailors, is still in dry dock receiving repairs. It and the mine countermeasure ship USS Guardian constitute Mine Countermeasures Division Eleven. Cmdr. Kurt E. Hedberg, the division’s commander, assumed the duties as Patriot’s commanding officer.

Little was reassigned to the Sasebo shore command’s headquarters staff.