US Navy confirms USS Benfold suffered 4-day power failure in South China Sea
The U.S. 7th Fleet disclosed that the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Benfold was rendered immobile for four days in the South China Sea following a total power blackout. The "engineering casualty" involving the ship's generators occurred on July 24 but was only formally reported this week. During the outage, the crew lacked air conditioning and potable water in extreme heat before being towed to Subic Bay. The disclosure has prompted new scrutiny of the maintenance strain on U.S. naval assets in the Indo-Pacific.