Here’s what actually happened.
On the evening of February 12, the USS Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was involved in a collision with the merchant ship Besiktas-M near Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea. The incident took place around 11:46 p.m. local time, according to the Navy’s Sixth Fleet Public Affairs. Fortunately, no crew members were injured, and there was no flooding reported aboard the carrier. The Navy confirmed that the ship’s propulsion systems remained unaffected and stable after the event.
While the collision did not result in any immediate danger to the USS Harry S. Truman, an investigation into the cause of the incident is now underway. As of now, details on how the collision occurred are scarce. The ship had recently completed a port call in Souda Bay, Greece, and had been deployed to the Mediterranean and Middle East since September.
The USS Harry S. Truman is based out of Norfolk, Virginia, and is a key asset to the U.S. Navy’s global presence. Its operations support a wide range of critical missions, including maritime security, counter-terrorism, crisis response, and deterrence. The ship’s air wing, capable of projecting power both over the sea and inland, also provides vital air, surface, and subsurface defense capabilities. This makes the USS Harry S. Truman an essential instrument of U.S. naval strength in the region.
This collision follows another incident in December when two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down in what appeared to be an accidental case of friendly fire. Both pilots were rescued, with one sustaining only minor injuries. While the causes of these events are still under investigation, they highlight the high-risk nature of military operations, particularly in sensitive regions like the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where American forces are working tirelessly to maintain security and stability. The USS Harry S. Truman remains an invaluable asset in fulfilling these critical missions.