In early April 2004, Navy officials announced plans to deploy
Fitzgerald,
14 other destroyers, and three
cruisers
to counter ballistic missile threats worldwide. The next month, she took part in a personnel exchange known as "Super Swap", taking aboard 141 sailors from the destroyer
O'Brien
and transferring 95 to join the soon-to-be-decommissioned ship's decommissioning unit.
[5]
Fitzgerald
sailed to
Yokosuka Naval Base
in
Yokosuka
, Japan, arriving on 30 September 2004, and joining the
U.S. 7th Fleet
's
Destroyer Squadron 15
.
In March 2011, in company with the
aircraft carrier
Ronald Reagan
,
Fitzgerald
was deployed off northeastern
Honshu
, Japan, to assist with relief efforts after the
2011 T?hoku earthquake and tsunami
.
[6]
[7]
[8]
On 16 November 2011, while docked in
Manila
, Philippines,
Fitzgerald
hosted
US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
and Philippine
Foreign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario
to sign the Manila Declaration, which called for multilateral talks to resolve maritime disputes and to mark the 60th anniversary of the
American?Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty
.
[9]
[10]
On 1 June 2017,
Fitzgerald
, operating out of Yokosuka Naval Base, was noted for participating in routine
exercises
with Japan that were described in the media as a show of force to North Korea. She sailed with the aircraft carrier
Ronald Reagan
, the
cruiser
Shiloh
, and the destroyers
Barry
,
McCampbell
, and
Mustin
, joined by the aircraft carrier
Carl Vinson
, cruiser
Lake Champlain
, and destroyers
Wayne E. Meyer
and
Michael Murphy
, and Japanese ships
Hy?ga
and
Ashigara
.
In May 2022,
Fitzgerald
was homeported at
Naval Station San Diego
and a part of
Destroyer Squadron 2
, along with
Carrier Strike Group 3
led by
USS?
Abraham Lincoln
.
[11]
Fitzgerald
participated in
RIMPAC
2022.
[12]
About 1:30?a.m. on 17 June 2017,
Fitzgerald
collided with
ACX Crystal
, a Philippine-flagged container ship
[13]
measured at 29,060
gross tons
and almost 40,000 tons
deadweight
. Most of
Fitzgerald
'
s crew of about 300
[14]
were asleep at the time.
[15]
The collision occurred about 56
nautical miles
(104
kilometres
; 64
miles
) southwest of her homeport of
Yokosuka
, Japan.
[13]
The starboard side of
Fitzgerald
was seriously damaged. The container ship's
bulbous bow
penetrated the destroyer's hull below the
waterline
, flooding a
machinery space
, the radio room, and two crew
berthing spaces
.
[16]
The
captain's cabin
was crushed.
[17]
Seven crewmen were reported missing after the collision, but their bodies were found the next day after rescue workers gained access to flooded compartments.
[16]
[18]
The injured include the ship's commanding officer and two sailors.
[19]
Within a day of the collision, investigations were begun by the United States Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Japanese Coast Guard,
Japan Transport Safety Board
, and the insurers of the
Crystal
. The U.S. Navy's Manual of the Judge Advocate General (JAGMAN) investigation concerns the crew's operations, and is led by Rear Adm. Brian Fort, a former commander of
USS
Gonzalez
, who now commands
Navy Region Hawaii
and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific.
[20]
[21]
[22]
The U.S. and Japanese coast guards are investigating the cause of the accident.
[23]
Steffan Watkins, a Canada-based security analyst,
[24]
[25]
created a
Google Maps
overlay for the broadcast
AIS
data points.
[26]
Including costs for planned service life extension and other upgrades, repairs for the damage to
Fitzgerald
are expected to run about $368.7 million,
[27]
and will take over a year. Repairs on the ship will overlap with planned service life extension and electronics upgrade, but despite the need to replace portions of the ship's AEGIS system the ship will remain in "a legacy configuration instead of upgrading to Baseline 9".
[28]
[29]
On 17 August 2017, the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor in charge of the naval vessel were relieved of their duties.
[30]
The Navy planned to discipline up to a dozen sailors, including the commanding officer, for watchstanding failures that allowed the fatal collision.
[31]
In late August 2017, it was reported that the destroyer will be transported by the
Dockwise
heavy-lift ship
MV
Transshelf
to
Huntington Ingalls Industries
’
shipyard
in Pascagoula.
[32]
[33]
[34]
It was announced in October that the vessel would not be upgraded to the latest version of the Aegis system.
[35]
On 28 November 2017, the destroyer was further damaged by two punctures to her hull during the loading process to MV
Transshelf
, compelling her to return to Yokosuka for the punctures to be repaired.
[36]
[37]
Fitzgerald
arrived at the Port of Pascagoula in Mississippi on 19 January 2018, aboard the heavy-lift transport MV
Transshelf
, after a two-month journey from Japan. She was expected to spend a few days in the port, being lifted off the transport and readied for her trip to the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard, where she was expected to commence an estimated two year repair.
[38]
In August 2019, the
Japan Transport Safety Board
's final report concluded distraction and incomplete radar information aboard the US Navy vessel caused the accident.
[39]
On 3 February 2020, USS
Fitzgerald
exited the Pascagoula shipyard for sea trials aimed at testing all shipboard systems. Following these sea trials,
Fitzgerald
plans to return to the shipyard to correct any remaining issues and then commence crew training in preparation for its return to active duty.
[40]
On 13 June 2020 she departed Pascagoula to return to her home port in San Diego.
[41]