With the help of tug boats, the USS Fitzgerald, with its damaged starboard side, makes its way toward the US Navel base, Yokosuka, after colliding with a Philippines based container ship off the coast of Shimoda, Japan on June 17. Seven U.S. Navy crew members are missing and three, including captain, were injured.
Officials probe cause of Navy ship crash
02:03 - Source: CNN

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The 10,000-ton USS Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal collided last month

The Navy is carrying out an investigation into what happened

Washington CNN  — 

The US Navy released new photos showing the damage caused to the USS Fitzgerald after it collided with a cargo ship on June 17, causing the death of seven US sailors.

The 10,000-ton USS Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal, a 29,000-ton container ship flagged in the Philippines, collided off Japan’s Izu Peninsula.

Five of the seven Navy sailors who died may have been almost instantly “incapacitated” and died quickly, according to a preliminary Navy analysis released last month, a defense official told CNN.

The two ships collided on the Fitzgerald’s starboard side directly next to the berthing area, where sailors sleep. The impact ripped the Fitzgerald open and caused water to pour in.

YOKOSUKA, Japan -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) sits in Dry Dock 4 at Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka to continue repairs and assess damage sustained from its June 17 collision with a merchant vessel.

The official also noted the Navy is trying to corroborate accounts which suggest that the two sailors who weren’t almost instantly “incapacitated” attempted to help the other five escape the incoming water.

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“But at some point the ship somehow lost communication,” with the two sailors and they also died, according to the official. All seven were found dead in the flooded area.

The Navy is still conducting an investigation into how the collision happened.

CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed to this report.