A Navy Destroyer Drifted Four Days Without Power in the South China Sea — and the Navy Said Nothing for Nearly a Month

The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold lost power on July 24, 2026 after what the Navy's 7th Fleet called an engineering casualty, and spent four days adrift in the South China Sea. Cmdr. Matthew Comer, the fleet spokesperson, said there were no injuries. The outage knocked out plumbing, toilets, air conditioning and galley service; the cruiser USS Robert Smalls delivered meals. Contracted tugs towed the Benfold to Subic Bay in the Philippines on July 28, the crew moved to contracted lodging ashore the next day, and power was restored July 30. Repairs finished Aug. 7 and the ship sailed Aug. 8.

The Navy did not disclose the incident for nearly a month, and did so only after USNI News reported it. The location matters: a warship without power in contested waters is a readiness and force-protection question, not only a maintenance one. Officials told CBS News other assets protected the ship and that they would not leave it vulnerable 'like a sitting duck.'

The Navy says the cause is under investigation. It landed amid separate scrutiny of conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, now nine months deployed. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican, said Congress should take testimony from senior Navy officials.