Key Points and Summary – A pair of mishaps in 2025 — back-to-back accidents with a Sea Hawk and Super Hornet from USS Nimitz in the South China Sea and the USS Harry S. Truman’s collision with a merchant ship near the Suez Canal — highlight a troubling pattern across the aircraft carrier fleet.
-Truman’s commanding officer was fired, damage lingered for months, and yet the ship stayed on mission.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA (Feb. 13, 2025) Exterior damage of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) viewed from a ship’s rigid-hull inflatable boat following a collision with merchant vessel Besiktas-M, Feb. 12, while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt. USS Harry S. Truman, the flagship of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG), is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations supporting U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa to defend U.S., Allied and partner interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Cody Beam)
-These incidents underscore how exhausted crews, deferred maintenance, and nonstop deployments are eroding safety margins. A NAVSEA report now warns the Navy is “stretched dangerously thin,” and without relief, the next accident may not end so fortunately.
Collisions, Crashes and Crew Fatigue: The Aircraft Carrier Pattern the U.S. Navy Can’t Ignore
On October 26, 2025, two aircraft – an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Hornet – plunged into the South China Sea within half an hour of each other.
Both aircraft were operating from the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and although all crew members were ultimately rescued, the incident still shocked the world. The accidents – obviously – prompted urgent questions about carrier safety and the readiness of the U.S. fleet.
“At approximately 2:45 p.m. local time, a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the ‘Battle Cats’ of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier,” a statement from the U.S. Pacific Fleet read at the time, adding, “Search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group II safely recovered all three crew members.”
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman conducts high-speed turns during a rudder check. Truman is conducting carrier qualifications in the Atlantic Ocean.
The incidents were part of what seems to be a broad pattern of problems: for example, the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) has suffered its own string of mishaps in recent years. Most notable, in February 2025, the Truman collided with another ship – an incident that, in hindsight, should have been an early warning sign of problems to come.
What Happened In February
Late on the evening of February 12, 2025, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with the Panamanian bulk carrier MV Besiktas-M in the Mediterranean Sea, near the Egyptian port of Port Said – just outside the entrance to the Suez Canal.
According to a statement issued by U.S. Sixth Fleet, the collision occurred at approximately 11:46 pm local time. The Navy confirmed that, surprisingly, there were no injuries aboard the Truman and no flooding reported. Its nuclear propulsion systems also remained safe and stable.
But the crash was dramatic; there was a significant size and tonnage difference between the 333-meter supercarrier and the 188-meter bulk freighter.
At the time of the collision, the Truman was operating as part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. The carrier had previously been active in the Red Sea and Middle East amid heightened maritime tensions, including missions intended to protect vital shipping lanes. The strike group had also recently made a port call to Souda Bay, Crete, on February 6, before it headed toward Port Said – presumably to re-enter the Suez Canal en route back to the Red Sea. And that’s when the collision occurred.
Marine Cpl. Rodger Lagrange cleans the canopy of a Marine F/A-18A+ Hornet onboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) while the aircraft carrier operates at sea on Feb. 14, 2005. The Truman Strike Group and Carrier Air Wing 3 are conducting close air support, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions over Iraq. Lagrange is attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 deployed from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.
(DoD photo by Airman Philip V. Morrill, U.S. Navy. (Released))
171030-N-EA818-367 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Oct. 30, 2017) The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Atlantic Ocean. Harry S. Truman has successfully completed tailored shipboard test availability and final evaluation problem and is underway preparing for future operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tommy Gooley/Released)
Following the crash, Truman diverted to a nearby allied port – Souda Bay – while it underwent temporary repairs. According to the Navy, bulkheads were installed inside to restore watertight integrity, and the ship retained its mission capability.
But the incident, of course, triggered a formal inquiry. The Navy clarified that propulsion and nuclear safety systems were unaffected, but more significantly, the carrier’s commanding officer at the time, Capt. Dave Snowden was relieved of his post in the weeks that followed. The Navy cited a loss of confidence in his ability to command.
But the story doesn’t end there. By late April 2025, it was reported that some of the damage from the February collision remained visible and wasn’t fully repaired.
The Navy had painted over affected areas to match the hull color, but structural repairs hadn’t yet taken place – they’d been deferred to the ship’s scheduled refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH).
The logic was sound, but it still didn’t look great. It was also a visible reminder of the mistake that was made.
The accident stood out because of how serious it was, yes, but also because of how collisions involving nuclear-powered supercarriers are so exceedingly rare.
(Sept. 23, 2025) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) conducts carrier qualifications in the Atlantic Ocean. Truman is currently underway carrying out routine operations that support the Navy’s commitment to readiness, innovation, and future fleet lethality. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mike Shen)
The fact that the Truman struck a merchant vessel of all things – and not in combat, but while operating in a congested maritime corridor – reflects the seriousness of today’s navigational hazards.
Busy shipping lanes are challenging to navigate, even for the U.S. Navy’s most advanced warships. That a carrier with thousands of sailors on board could collide with a merchant freighter and still avoid flooding or loss of power certainly speaks to the ship’s robust safety systems, but raises questions about risk management and, clearly, situational awareness.
Stretched Too Thin?
There is a pattern here. The accidents are not always the same, but they are frequent enough to warrant questions.
The real risk here, it seems, isn’t one catastrophic failure but an accumulation of smaller and compounding pressures. Between exhausted crews cycling through back-to-back deployments – something that is, to be fair, hard to avoid – and deferred maintenance that keeps aging carriers at sea, it’s clear something needs to be given.
The U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford–class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 4 June 2020, marking the first time a Gerald R. Ford–class and a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier operated together underway.
A recent Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) report warns of precisely this problem, noting that years of deferred maintenance, shipyard delays, and rising operational tempo have left the Navy “stretched dangerously thin.”
Without giving America’s carriers – and their crews – more time to rest, repair, and recover, the next accident may only be a matter of time away.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York who writes frequently for National Security Journal. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he analyzes and understands left-wing and right-wing radicalization and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
