The US Navy announced late on Sunday that its divers have recovered the remains of all ten missing USS John S. McCain sailors from inside the ship.
The sailors were missing since an August 21 collision between the destroyer and a merchant vessel near the Strait of Malacca.
The US Navy previously identified the missing sailors as: Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley , Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez , Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell , Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake , Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr ., Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram , Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon , Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III , Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer , and Electronics Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth Aaron Smith .
On August 24, US Navy and Marine Corps divers recovered and identified the remains of Doyon and Smith.
McCain was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC in waters east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore August 21.
Significant damage to the McCain’s hull resulted in flooding to nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery and communications rooms. Damage control efforts by the crew halted further flooding.
Less than two months ago, seven US sailors lost their lives in another collision between a US destroyer and a merchant ship. USS Fitzgerald collided with Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan On July 17 and will have to be transported back to the US for repairs.
The two fatal incidents were the third and fourth incident involving US Navy ships. On January 31, cruiser USS Antietam, forward-deployed to the 7th Fleet, ran aground in waters near Yokosuka, while USS Champlain collided with a fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan on May 9.