The commanding officer of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was relieved due to a “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” the Navy announced Thursday.
The dismissal of Capt. Dave Snowden, the carrier’s CO, comes a little more than a week after a collision between the Truman and the merchant vessel Besiktas-M near Port Said, Egypt on Feb. 12.
According to a Feb. 16 statement from the U.S. 6th Fleet, damage to the Truman included “the exterior wall of two storage rooms and a maintenance space. External to the ship, damage assessed includes a line handling space, the fantail and the platform above one of the storage spaces.”
The commander of Carrier Strike Group 8, Rear Adm. Sean Bailey relieved Snowden, who will be temporarily assigned to Naval Air Forces Atlantic.
“The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standard and takes action to hold them accountable when those standards are not met,” the Navy said in a statement. “Naval leaders are entrusted with significant responsibilities to their sailors and their ships.”
The role of interim commanding officer of the Truman will fall to Capt. Christopher Hill, the commanding officer of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to the Navy statement. The Eisenhower is undergoing scheduled maintenance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia following a deployment to U.S. Central Command and U.S. European Command in July 2024.
On Feb. 16, Snowden issued a statement as the vessel headed to port in Souda Bay, Greece for repairs:
“While the ship is fully mission capable and the ship conducted flight operations following the collision, pulling into port for emergent repairs will enable the ship to continue deployment as scheduled.”
According to the Navy, Snowden’s relief will not impact the Truman’s ongoing deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.
Last year, the USS Harry S. Truman was in the spotlight, albeit under different circumstances. In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg accidentally shot down one of the Truman’s F/A-18 fighters in the Red Sea. The F/A-18’s two aviators ejected and were safely recovered.
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