The US Navy sacked a destroyer captain after a steering problem led to a Middle East near-miss

A persistent steering problem

The McCain deployed from its homeport in March and arrived the following month in the Middle East, where it joined other US warships tasked with defending against Iranian-backed hostilities, including unrelenting Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.

Yates’ career had been building up to this mission. The career surface warfare officer had previously been the McCain’s executive officer and had taken command in late 2023, about five months before the deployment.

According to the investigation BI obtained, the McCain experienced steering loss multiple times. These losses were caused by the uncontrolled shifting of the hydraulic power units that direct one of its two rudders.

After the destroyer lost steering in April, the McCain sent out a casualty report, or CASREP, requesting technical experts to visit the ship. These experts tried to troubleshoot the warship while it was pier-side in Bahrain in June.

The crew brought attention to the steering issue through the multiple CASREPs it released, indicating that the matter was beyond the capabilities of the crew.

It’s not clear whether the crew ever received a response from the Navy that would effectively fix the ship’s problems.

Replenishment-gone-wrong

On July 20, the McCain pulled up alongside the replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn in the northern Arabian Sea and connected for a replenishment-at-sea, where the ship received fuel over a tensioned wire between two ships that are typically less than 200 feet apart.

During the refueling, the destroyer suffered a severe problem. One of the two hydraulic power units that controlled the starboard rudder began spewing oil, and engineers raced to fix it.

Minutes passed. The watch team decided to switch over to the alternate HPUs, but then the system glitched. Control was stuck with the unit “gushing” hydraulic oil, as a crewmember reported. Engineers tried refilling the HPU, but it ran out of oil and shut down. Still, the alternate HPU failed to take over.

The investigation’s findings also suggested that the McCain faced challenges well before the refueling. Specifically, it appears the captain and crew had been dealing with a broken ship for months, leaving them operating outside normal circumstances.

The command investigators concluded that the inability of technical experts to go to sea with the McCain prevented the steering issue from being properly resolved. It also said that on-board support at sea was the appropriate response and was warranted as early as July 3, the day after the destroyer left Bahrain.

Ten days after the July 20 near-miss incident, the McCain entered port in the United Arab Emirates for a brief fuel stop and issued another CASREP for the steering issues. Technical representatives who flew to the port to review the ship found multiple problems that needed to be fixed. The destroyer continued to experience steering issues into mid-August.

The Navy has not publicly disclosed what happened with the McCain or acknowledged the steering issues during the deployment.

The Navy released a brief statement on August 30 revealing that Yaste had been relieved of his duties as the commanding officer of the McCain “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command the guided-missile destroyer.” The sea service said that “there is no impact to the ship’s mission or schedule due to the relief,” without offering further details.