"Claiming to Encounter 'Engineering Accident', US Destroyer 'Paralyzed' in South China Sea for 4 Days Sparks Speculation"

[Global Times Special Correspondent Wu Yan] Just as the U.S. aircraft carrier strike group "Washington" was passing through the Strait of Malacca en route to the Middle East, witnesses noticed that the "Burke" class destroyer "Benfold," which had been accompanying the strike group, quietly returned to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Japan. The U.S. newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on the 17th that U.S. Seventh Fleet spokesman Matthew Comer revealed that "Benfold" encountered an "engineering incident" in the South China Sea on July 24, resulting in a complete power loss due to a generator failure, causing the ship to drift for a full four days.

This news was first disclosed by the U.S. Naval Institute website on August 14. According to a statement from U.S. Seventh Fleet spokesman Matthew Comer, on July 24, while conducting routine patrols in the Indo-Pacific region, "Benfold" reported a generator failure, which led to a power interruption. However, no crew members were injured.

But the circumstances were clearly not as simple as that. Reports indicate that the destroyer losing power meant that all personnel on board could not use various service facilities on the ship, such as kitchen equipment, restrooms, and air conditioning systems. Considering the high temperature and humidity in the South China Sea, the actual situation was far worse than what the U.S. Navy publicly disclosed.

Comer also mentioned that the ship's drinking water was affected, but he did not answer questions about how the sailors on board dealt with waste.

Ultimately, with the assistance of a tugboat from a defense contractor, "Benfold" was towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines. On July 28, personnel from a maintenance center in Japan boarded the ship to begin emergency repairs, and by July 30, the destroyer's power system was finally restored.

Stars and Stripes reported that all maintenance work on "Benfold" was completed by August 7, and after refueling, the destroyer departed Subic Bay on August 8. However, witnesses stated that the ship did not continue to follow the "Washington" carrier strike group to the Middle East but instead returned to Yokosuka. Comer stated that the U.S. Navy is investigating the cause of the engineering failure on the ship.

Some retired U.S. Navy personnel commented on social media that "Burke" class destroyers are designed with redundancy to cope with wartime damage, equipped with three generators in three independent compartments, which should theoretically serve as backups, making it nearly impossible for the entire ship to lose power simultaneously. Therefore, the complete power loss and total loss of propulsion on "Benfold" is very strange, and there is a possibility of significant lapses in the U.S. military's management and maintenance procedures.

In recent years, the U.S. Navy has experienced similar incidents multiple times. For example, on April 28 of this year, another "Burke" class destroyer, "Higgins," lost power and propulsion capabilities due to an electrical failure that caused a fire while operating in the Indo-Pacific region, drifting at sea for several hours.

This series of incidents has also raised questions about the U.S. Navy's ship maintenance and management standards.