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| Another deployed Navy warship, the USS Kidd, copes with a coronavirus outbreak | Another deployed Navy warship, the USS Kidd, copes with a coronavirus outbreak |
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| The Navy is coping with a new coronavirus outbreak on a warship at sea, with at least 18 cases emerging on the destroyer USS Kidd, defense officials said Friday. | The Navy is coping with a new coronavirus outbreak on a warship at sea, with at least 18 cases emerging on the destroyer USS Kidd, defense officials said Friday. |
| The outbreak became evident after a sailor aboard the vessel developed symptoms associated with the virus, and the Navy flew the individual to San Antonio for testing. After the sailor tested positive, the Navy dispatched a medical team to the Kidd to conduct more testing and other cases emerged, said chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. | The outbreak became evident after a sailor aboard the vessel developed symptoms associated with the virus, and the Navy flew the individual to San Antonio for testing. After the sailor tested positive, the Navy dispatched a medical team to the Kidd to conduct more testing and other cases emerged, said chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. |
| “They are preparing to return to port, where they will undertake efforts to clean the ship,” Hoffman told reporters on Friday. “They will remove a portion of the crew from the ship and work to get everybody back to health and get the ship back to sea.” | “They are preparing to return to port, where they will undertake efforts to clean the ship,” Hoffman told reporters on Friday. “They will remove a portion of the crew from the ship and work to get everybody back to health and get the ship back to sea.” |
| Post Reports: A coronavirus crisis in the Navy | |
| The destroyer, which typically deploys with a crew and aviation detachment of more than 160 people, had been deployed this month in the Pacific Ocean as part of a military task force that carries out drug interdiction, according to the ship’s Facebook page. Its home port is in San Diego. | The destroyer, which typically deploys with a crew and aviation detachment of more than 160 people, had been deployed this month in the Pacific Ocean as part of a military task force that carries out drug interdiction, according to the ship’s Facebook page. Its home port is in San Diego. |
| “Testing continues, and we expect additional cases,” the Navy said in a statement. “All measures are being taken to evaluate the extent of the COVID-19 transmission on the ship.” | “Testing continues, and we expect additional cases,” the Navy said in a statement. “All measures are being taken to evaluate the extent of the COVID-19 transmission on the ship.” |
| The disclosure came as the Navy prepares to announce the findings of an investigation into a much larger outbreak in the Pacific aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that has been crippled in Guam for weeks as testing and quarantining occurs. | The disclosure came as the Navy prepares to announce the findings of an investigation into a much larger outbreak in the Pacific aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that has been crippled in Guam for weeks as testing and quarantining occurs. |
| Sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter to track the outbreak. All stories linked in the newsletter are free to access. | Sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter to track the outbreak. All stories linked in the newsletter are free to access. |
| Hoffman said he expects the chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, to brief Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper on Friday about the Navy’s findings. The ship has been under a microscope for weeks, after hundreds of cases emerged and the ship’s commanding officer, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, sent a memo to three Navy admirals raising an alarm about the pace of the service’s response. | Hoffman said he expects the chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, to brief Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper on Friday about the Navy’s findings. The ship has been under a microscope for weeks, after hundreds of cases emerged and the ship’s commanding officer, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, sent a memo to three Navy admirals raising an alarm about the pace of the service’s response. |
| That memo leaked in the media late last month, prompting acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly to remove Crozier from command. Gilday is expected to decide whether Crozier gets his old job back, is assigned to another role that allows him to continue his career, or is effectively forced to retire. | That memo leaked in the media late last month, prompting acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly to remove Crozier from command. Gilday is expected to decide whether Crozier gets his old job back, is assigned to another role that allows him to continue his career, or is effectively forced to retire. |
| Crozier, as captain of the Theodore Roosevelt, was on a fast track to becoming an admiral as commanding officer of one of the Navy’s most powerful strategic weapons when he sent an email with the memo attached. | Crozier, as captain of the Theodore Roosevelt, was on a fast track to becoming an admiral as commanding officer of one of the Navy’s most powerful strategic weapons when he sent an email with the memo attached. |
| “I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff,” Crozier wrote in the email, later obtained by The Washington Post. “I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.” | “I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff,” Crozier wrote in the email, later obtained by The Washington Post. “I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.” |
| The memo was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. It detailed concerns that stopping the spread of the virus on the ship would be tough to do without evacuating all but a few hundred of the Theodore Roosevelt’s 4,800 sailors, with others coming to shore for testing and quarantining. | The memo was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. It detailed concerns that stopping the spread of the virus on the ship would be tough to do without evacuating all but a few hundred of the Theodore Roosevelt’s 4,800 sailors, with others coming to shore for testing and quarantining. |
| “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” the captain wrote in the March 30 memo. “If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.” | “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” the captain wrote in the March 30 memo. “If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.” |
| How an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt became a defining moment for the U.S. military | How an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt became a defining moment for the U.S. military |
| Modly resigned on April 7, one day after flying from Washington to Guam to visit the crew and delivering a speech in which he insulted Crozier and lectured sailors for supporting him. Crozier, Modly said, had either written the memo to be leaked to the media, or was “too naive or too stupid” to be commanding officer of the ship. | Modly resigned on April 7, one day after flying from Washington to Guam to visit the crew and delivering a speech in which he insulted Crozier and lectured sailors for supporting him. Crozier, Modly said, had either written the memo to be leaked to the media, or was “too naive or too stupid” to be commanding officer of the ship. |
| Modly apologized. | Modly apologized. |
| As of Thursday, 850 of 4,938 sailors from the Theodore Roosevelt — about 17 percent — had tested positive for the virus, the Navy said. Four sailors were still hospitalized at Naval Base Guam. | As of Thursday, 850 of 4,938 sailors from the Theodore Roosevelt — about 17 percent — had tested positive for the virus, the Navy said. Four sailors were still hospitalized at Naval Base Guam. |
| One Theodore Roosevelt sailor, Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, died on April 13 after testing positive for the coronavirus on March 30. | One Theodore Roosevelt sailor, Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, died on April 13 after testing positive for the coronavirus on March 30. |