The U.S. Navy is scrambling for answers after the guided‑missile destroyer USS Truxtun and fast combat support ship USNS Supply collided during an underway operation in the Caribbean on February 11, 2026, in a mishap already being called the service’s most serious peacetime accident in years.

According to early incident reports, the two ships were conducting a routine replenishment at sea when a sudden combination of sea state, steering inputs and communication errors brought their hulls into violent contact. Photos taken by crew and leaked online show Truxtun’s bow crumpled inward and Supply’s starboard side gashed above the waterline. Several sailors were injured, at least two seriously, but the Navy says all are in stable condition.

Damage‑control teams fought through the night to contain minor flooding and a fuel spill threat, as helicopters evacuated the wounded to shore facilities. Both vessels have been forced to break off deployment and limp toward a regional port for emergency assessment — a major blow to a fleet already stretched thin by simultaneous demands in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are demanding a full accounting, questioning whether relentless operational tempo, crew fatigue and training shortfalls set the stage for the crash. For Navy families watching grainy images of twisted steel and fire hoses on deck, the incident is more than a headline — it’s a fresh reminder of how quickly “routine” operations at sea can turn catastrophic when even a single link in the safety chain fails.