The USS Benfold, a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, suffered a generator engineering failure on July 24, 2026, causing it to lose power for four days while operating in the South China Sea[citation needed] [1, 2, 3, 4]. Approximately 300 sailors were aboard the ship during the incident [2, 4]. The destroyer was part of the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group, which was operating in the Indo-Pacific and preparing to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East[citation needed] [1, 3, 4].
The loss of power forced the crew to endure several days without drinking water, meals, functioning toilets, or air conditioning [2, 3, 4]. Despite these hardships, no injuries to the crew were reported during the incident. Commander Matthew Comer, spokesperson for the US Seventh Fleet, said, "There were no injuries to the crew, who demonstrated resilience, grit, professionalism and unwavering steadiness in their response" [3]. Comer also described the event as "an engineering casualty involving its generators, causing a loss of power" and praised the crew's response as showing "resilience, courage, professionalism, and steadiness" [2, 4].
During the outage, support and meals to the Benfold's crew were provided by the USS Robert Smalls cruiser and the USS George Washington strike group [3, 4]. On July 28, four days after the power loss began, the USS Benfold was towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines for repairs [3, 4]. Power was fully restored by August 2, and the ship left Subic Bay on August 8 with all engineering, operational, and crew support systems functioning properly [4].
The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier, which the George Washington strike group was set to relieve, had been deployed continuously for more than 250 days, including 200 days in a combat zone, facing supply shortages and crew stress [2, 3, 4]. The Navy has not publicly detailed whether the power loss on the Benfold affected propulsion, navigation, communications, sensors, weapons systems, or emergency power [3]. The incident has raised concerns about ship maintenance and strain from prolonged deployments [1, 2].
