Two US Navy SEALs drowned while trying to board a ship carrying illegal Iranian weapons to Yemen. An apparent failure in training and a lack of understanding of what to do after falling into deep, turbulent waters were to blame, a military investigation said. Number of deaths in January.
The investigation concluded that the drownings of Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher Chambers and Naval Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram could have been prevented.
However, both ships quickly sank in international waters off the coast of Somalia, unaware or ignoring concerns that their flotation devices would not be able to compensate for the additional weight due to the weight of the heavy equipment they were carrying. Both were lost at sea.
The highly critical and heavily redacted report, written by naval officers outside Naval Special Warfare Command, which oversees the SEALs, found “deficiencies, gaps and inconsistencies” in training, policies, tactics and procedures. It also concluded that there was “conflicting guidance.” How and when to use emergency flotation devices and additional flotation materials. The Associated Press obtained the report upon request before publication.
The mission was aimed at Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis, who have carried out missile and drone attacks on merchant ships and U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza a year ago. It was to intercept the weapons against the enemy. before. US retaliatory strikes have so far failed to deter them.
Chambers and Ingram, members of SEAL Team 3, were killed during a night mission aboard an unflagged ship in the Arabian Sea. Although their names are redacted in the report, officials said Mr. Chambers slipped and fell while climbing onto the ship’s deck, and that Mr. Ingram jumped off to save him. Confirmed.
“Handled by the weight of each individual’s equipment, neither their physical strength nor their emergency auxiliary buoyancy devices were sufficient to keep them on the surface, even if activated,” Adm. Michael DeVore wrote in his report. There is.
The report said Chambers was “intermittently” on the surface for 26 seconds after the fall, and Ingram was on the surface for about 32 seconds.
“The entire tragic event lasted just 47 seconds and left two New South Wales warfighters swept overboard,” DeBoer wrote, referring to Naval Special Warfare Command.
The report said if the flotation device had been properly maintained, in good working order and used correctly, it would have been able to remain afloat until rescued. Other team members told investigators they were aware of the importance of the tactical buoyancy system, which includes two inflatable floats that attach to a belt and a foam insert that can be added, but that no one had ever operated it in training. He said there were very few people and little instructions on how to do so. Please wear it.
The report said the team was operating in waters between 1.8 and 2.4 meters deep, and although the boat they were on was rocking on waves, conditions were well within their capabilities.
However, as time passed, the rolling became more severe, and Chambers attempted to board by jumping from the fighter jet’s engine room onto the upper rail of the ship he was on, the report said. Some commandos used attachable ladders, but the waves forced others to jump onto the upper rails, which were within reach but slippery.
Chambers’ hand slipped off the rail and he fell 9 feet (2.7 meters) into the water. He was able to grab onto the bottom rung of the ladder, but was swept away by the waves as he turned to return to the jet, according to video of the mission.
Eleven seconds after falling, Ingram jumped off. Video shows they were in the water intermittently for at least 10 seconds and at times were able to grab an extension of the submerged ladder. However, both were swept away by the waves and sank.
