MAYPORT, Fla. – Two United States Navy ships that collided on Tuesday afternoon off the coast of Florida during a replenishment at sea arrived Wednesday at Naval Station Mayport, where U.S. Fleet Forces and Military Sealift Command will conduct a full assessment.
The U.S. Navy said no injuries were reported but the collision caused minor damage to the USS Leyte Gulf, a guided missile cruiser, and the USNS Robert Peary, a dry cargo ship.
Both ships were transferring supplies off the East Coast when the sterns touched around 4 p.m. Tuesday. USNI News quoted anonymous sources saying the Peary suffered an 8-inch gash above the waterline while the cruiser reported minor damage to its flight deck netting and two dislodged lifeboats.
The vessels were able to safely operate after the collision and there were no reports of flooding, according to a release from the U.S. Navy.
"They’ll assign an officer ... in the chain of command above the commanding officers of the two ships and they’ll do a full investigation -- find out what went wrong," retired Adm. Robert Natter told News4Jax.
The ships were participating in a training exercise with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group when Tuesday's collision occurred.
The Leyte Gulf was involved in a collision with an aircraft carrier in 1996, but Natter doesn’t suspect that crash had any connection to this one.