US Navy destroyer stranded for four days in South China Sea without bathrooms or AC - report

A US Navy destroyer assigned to the 7th Fleet spent four days in July stranded in the South China Sea without functioning bathrooms, galley services, or air conditioning, CNN reported on Monday.

Due to an engineering failure on the guided-missile destroyer, the USS Benfold was forced to stop, Navy Cmdr. Matthew Comer, spokesperson for the 7th Fleet, told the network. An Arleigh Burke-class warship carrying hundreds of seamen, the destroyer normally accompanies the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which left Vietnam this month for the Middle East.

The engineering failure impacted the ship's galley services, bathrooms, air conditioning, and potable water, though the crew suffered no injuries, Comer told CNN.

During the incident, meals were provided to the vessel by another ship, the report cited the Navy as saying.

Former Navy cpt. says experience likely stressful for crew, commanders

Former Navy captain Charles Schuster gave his viewpoint on the incident, himself having been in the same situation for four hours in an incident near Puerto Rico.

“It would have been quite stressful," Schuster told CNN.

"Operations officers were worried about crew morale and operational concerns, the engineers were focused on how to solve it and the navigator was worried about the direction they were drifting and what weather was coming."

"The crew was worried about weather, food and what was next. The [commanding officer] and [executive officer] were worried about all of that and when help would arrive,” he said.

“I can assure you four hours in the waters southeast of Puerto Rico is not nearly as stressful as four days in the South China Sea,” he added.

USS Washington heading to Middle East as Iran conflict threatens to reignite

The Nimitz-class George Washington, one of the US Navy's newest aircraft carriers, is set to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is headed to port in San Diego after months in the Middle East. The move will mean that no US carrier will be present in the western Pacific area, a decision which some military analysts consider a security threat.

The Lincoln has spent over two hundred days at sea, and reports of worsening conditions aboard the vessel have made the rounds lately, including unhygienic bathrooms and a lack of food.

In a Saturday letter to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, several US lawmakers enumerated their concerns about the Lincoln crew's wellbeing.

"As the Secretary of Defense, you [Hegseth] are accountable to the men and women who serve our nation," the letter read.