The US Navy sacked a destroyer captain after a persistent steering problem led to a Middle East near-miss
By Jake Epstein
September 6, 2024
The US Navy sacked the captain of a deployed warship after an unresolved steering problem resulted in a near-miss incident in the Middle East, according to a command investigation reviewed by Business Insider.
The commander of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group relieved Cmdr. Cameron Yaste, the commanding officer of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS John S. McCain, last week over what the Navy called "a loss of confidence" in his ability to lead.
Earlier reports of Yaste's removal referenced a viral photo showing the captain holding a rifle with the scope mounted backward. But the command investigation said Yaste was relieved after the McCain lost steering during a July fuel replenishment that damaged a Navy oiler.
The August investigation into the steering loss said Yaste and his crew made mistakes that may have contributed to the incident, such as poor maintenance and failure to follow established procedures.
The investigation also showed, however, that the Navy failed to fix an ongoing steering problem that had stymied its own technical experts a month before the incident. The steering problems happened so regularly that the ship's crew seemed to eventually overlook the potential severity, the investigation indicated.
This steering issue glitched at a dangerous moment — while the McCain was hooked up to a replenishment ship to refuel.
A Navy spokesperson declined to comment on the investigation, saying that it's still ongoing. BI was unable to get comment from Yaste for this article.
A persistent steering problem
The McCain deployed from its homeport in March and arrived the following month in the Middle East, where it joined other US warships tasked with defending against Iranian-backed hostilities, including unrelenting Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.
Yaste's career had been building up to this mission. The career surface warfare officer had previously been the McCain's executive officer and had taken command in late 2023, about five months before the deployment.
According to the investigation BI obtained, the McCain experienced steering loss multiple times. These losses were caused by the uncontrolled shifting of the hydraulic power units that direct one of its two rudders.
After the destroyer lost steering in April, the McCain sent out a casualty report, or CASREP, requesting technical experts to visit the ship. These experts tried to troubleshoot the warship while it was pier-side in Bahrain in June.
The McCain's leadership requested to go to sea to address these issues properly, but the technical personnel were not funded or authorized to set sail with the destroyer. The warship left Bahrain in early July and immediately experienced the same problems.
The McCain released another CASREP over the recurring problems. Steering problems can become particularly serious if they involve the stuck or unresponsive rudder near another ship or in shallow water. The ship received remote support over the following days, but the results of those efforts were ultimately inconclusive, the investigation said.
The troubled destroyer remained at sea, and the command investigation said there was no evidence any notable troubleshooting efforts occurred after July 9.
The investigation said the McCain experienced a total of 18 problematic incidents with the steering system between May 17 and July 20, when the destroyer refueled at sea.
The command investigation attributed the recurring steering issues to improper maintenance practices by the crew, though it acknowledged no single issue could be identified as the source of the problem.
The crew brought attention to the steering issue through the multiple CASREPs it released, indicating that the matter was beyond the capabilities of the crew.
It's not clear whether the crew ever received a response from the Navy that would effectively fix the ship's problems.
Replenishment-gone-wrong
On July 20, the McCain pulled up alongside the replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn in the northern Arabian Sea and connected for a replenishment-at-sea, where the ship received fuel over a tensioned wire between two ships that are typically less than 200 feet apart.
During the refueling, the destroyer suffered a severe problem. One of the two hydraulic power units that controlled the starboard rudder began spewing oil, and engineers raced to fix it.
Minutes passed. The watch team decided to switch over to the alternate HPUs, but then the system glitched. Control was stuck with the unit "gushing" hydraulic oil, as a crewmember reported. Engineers tried refilling the HPU, but it ran out of oil and shut down. Still, the alternate HPU failed to take over.
On the bridge, where watchstanders were steering to stay alongside the oiler, a crewmember noticed an alarming sign: the starboard rudder was stuck.
In response, the commanding officer ordered an emergency breakaway, which damaged some of the equipment on the Big Horn and temporarily rendered one of its refueling rigs inoperable. No personnel were injured on either vessel.
The August command investigation found that McCain crewmembers made a variety of mistakes, including failing to follow loss-of-steering procedures or communicating sufficiently between controlling stations.
The investigation blamed Yaste for his handling of the refueling, in part because he spent 10 minutes alongside the replenishment oiler trying to fix the steering problems before breaking away. The investigation sharply criticized other senior officers as well, including the executive officer and chief engineer.
The investigation's findings also suggested that the McCain faced challenges well before the refueling. Specifically, it appears the captain and crew had been dealing with a broken ship for months, leaving them operating outside normal circumstances.
The command investigators concluded that the inability of technical experts to go to sea with the McCain prevented the steering issue from being properly resolved. It also said that on-board support at sea was the appropriate response and was warranted as early as July 3, the day after the destroyer left Bahrain.
Ten days after the July 20 near-miss incident, the McCain entered port in the United Arab Emirates for a brief fuel stop and issued another CASREP for the steering issues. Technical representatives who flew to the port to review the ship found multiple problems that needed to be fixed. The destroyer continued to experience steering issues into mid-August.
The Navy has not publicly disclosed what happened with the McCain or acknowledged the steering issues during the deployment.
The Navy released a brief statement on August 30 revealing that Yaste had been relieved of his duties as the commanding officer of the McCain "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command the guided-missile destroyer." The sea service said that "there is no impact to the ship's mission or schedule due to the relief," without offering further details.
