USS Benfold Suffers Four-Day Power Outage in South China Sea
The USS Benfold, a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, experienced a four-day loss of power in the South China Sea due to an engineering failure involving its generators. This incident resulted in the loss of essential services like toilets, galley operations,…
Cleveland Akron, OH, August 17, 2026 —
The USS Benfold, a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, suffered a significant engineering failure resulting in a four-day loss of power while operating in the South China Sea. The incident, attributed to an issue with the ship’s generators, left the crew without essential services.
During the four-day period of lost power, the USS Benfold’s crew faced disruptions to critical onboard functions. Essential services, including the operation of toilets, galley facilities for food preparation, and the air conditioning system, were non-operational. The failure occurred during the warship’s operations in the strategically important South China Sea.
Following the prolonged power outage, the USS Benfold required towing to the Philippines for necessary repairs. The specifics of the generator failure and the subsequent repair process have not been detailed. After repairs were completed, the guided-missile destroyer has since returned to its operational duties.
The U.S. Navy has not provided further details regarding the exact cause of the engineering failure or the timeline of the repairs beyond the ship’s return to duty.
Story summarized from the original created by Brad Lendon, CNN on www.news5cleveland.com, see more information here.
