Commander of US Navy’s aircraft carrier relieved of duty after collision with bulk carrier

Capt. Dave Snowden, commanding officer of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), was relieved on February 20 ‘due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command’, the US Navy announced.

Snowden was relieved by Rear Adm. Sean Bailey, commander of Carrier Strike Group 8, after serving as the aircraft carrier’s commanding officer since December 2023. Snowden will be temporarily assigned to Naval Air Forces Atlantic.

Capt. Christopher Hill, commanding officer of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), will temporarily serve as Harry S. Truman’s interim commanding officer.

Dwight D. Eisenhower is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard after completing a nine-month deployment to US Central Command and US European Command in July 2024.

The relief occurred after Truman was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M, while operating in the Mediterranean Sea in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt.

USS Harry S. Truman is the eighth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier of the US Navy and is named after the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. It is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.

Currently, the ship is at US Naval Support Activity (NSA) Souda Bay, Greece, conducting an emergent repair availability (ERAV) on the starboard quarter following the collision.

An assessment team will conduct a full survey of damaged areas and develop a repair plan to be executed immediately following the completion of the assessment.