Fire Disables U.S. Destroyer in Pacific — Warship Left ‘Dead in the Water’
USS Higgins loses power and propulsion after major onboard blaze, raising new questions over U.S. naval readiness
United States, PUREWILAYAH.COM — A U.S. Navy destroyer has been disabled in the Pacific Ocean following a major onboard fire, leaving the vessel without power and propulsion for a period of time.
American media reported that the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class warship, suffered a significant fire in a key technical section of the ship.
According to CBS News, the incident caused a complete power outage and knocked out the vessel’s propulsion system—placing it in what naval terminology describes as “dead in the water.”
Growing Questions Over U.S. Naval Readiness
The fire reportedly broke out in one of the ship’s main engineering compartments, directly impacting essential operational systems.
The loss of both electrical power and propulsion capability effectively rendered the destroyer immobile in open waters, raising concerns over onboard system resilience and emergency response effectiveness.
The incident comes amid increasing scrutiny over the operational readiness of the U.S. Navy, particularly regarding aging platforms and reliability challenges.
In recent months, multiple reports have highlighted concerns about maintenance backlogs and system failures across segments of the fleet.
Previous Issues With Advanced Warships
The development follows earlier criticism directed at the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which has faced repeated issues related to its advanced technology systems and reliability performance.
In a separate development reported earlier by Bloomberg, two U.S. Navy destroyers were forced to withdraw while attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following warnings issued by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to a regional intelligence source cited in the report, the two warships turned back after encountering direct warnings, with the IRGC also deploying a drone in the vicinity of the vessels.
The disabling of USS Higgins adds to a growing pattern of operational challenges facing the U.S. Navy, as incidents at sea and forced withdrawals from strategic waterways continue to raise questions about its ability to sustain extended maritime operations. (PW)
How on earth are they going to get this ship out? Not only that, do they even have a decent food supply to sustain the crew on board? This is a disaster, we need to end this now more than ever.