2 US Navy ships collide in the Caribbean, leaving 2 sailors with minor injuries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Navy ships deployed as part of the Trump administration’s massive military buildup in the Caribbean Sea have collided, leaving two troops with minor injuries, U.S. Southern Command said Thursday.

The destroyer USS Truxtun and the supply ship USNS Supply collided on Wednesday as the warship was getting a new load of supplies. 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 military statement said two personnel reported minor injuries after the collision and that both were in stable condition. The two ships now are sailing safely, according to Southern Command.

The USS Truxtun is a recent addition to the large naval presence in the Caribbean that stands at 12 ships, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and several amphibious assault ships carrying thousands of Marines.

The Republican administration built up the largest military presence in the region in generations before carrying out a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug boats since September, surprise raid that captured Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolás Maduro.

The USS Truxtun 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 on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operational details.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the collision, which is rare for warships. 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.