USS Harry S. Truman Commander Fired After Collision near Egypt

Capt. Dave Snowden, commanding officer of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), was relieved on Feb. 20 due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command, following the aircraft carrier’s collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M near Port Said, Egypt, on Feb. 12.

Rear Adm. Sean Bailey, commander of Carrier Strike Group 8, removed Snowden from his position after he had served as Truman’s commanding officer since December 2023. Snowden will be temporarily assigned to Naval Air Forces Atlantic.

The collision occurred while Truman was operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The Besiktas-M, a bulk carrier over 550 feet long with a deadweight of 53,000 tons, had just transited the Suez Canal and was en route to Constanta, Romania. Details on the cause of the incident remain under investigation.

Capt. Christopher Hill, currently the commanding officer of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), will temporarily assume command of Truman. Eisenhower is undergoing scheduled maintenance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard after a nine-month deployment to U.S. Central Command and U.S. European Command.

Following the collision, Truman arrived at U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece, on Feb. 16 for emergent repairs to its starboard quarter. The damage includes impacts to storage rooms, a maintenance space, a line handling area, and the fantail. Despite the incident, the U.S. Navy confirmed there is no impact on Truman’s mission or deployment schedule.

The aircraft carrier, which deployed from Naval Station Norfolk in September 2024, has been operating in the Mediterranean and Red Sea, conducting missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. It remains unclear whether the ship was returning to Red Sea operations at the time of the collision.

The last recorded collision between a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and a merchant vessel occurred in 2004 when USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) struck a small dhow in the Persian Gulf. The commanding officer was relieved after an investigation.