Navy officials said Tuesday that an investigation continues into a fire that broke out on board the mine countermeasures ship Devastator last week.
The blaze began about 8 p.m. local time Thursday while the vessel was tied up at the Naval Support Activity Bahrain’s pier but no one was injured, according to a U.S. Naval Forces Central Command release.
Crew members from the ships Sentry, Gladiator, Dextrous and Whirlwind joined Devastor’s sailors to battle the flames, as did members of the base fire department, and it was extinguished about an hour later, officials said.
The Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center and the ship’s superior command — Naval Surface Squadron 5 — continue to assess the damage, spokeswoman Lt. Chloe Morgan told Navy Times.
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The Devastator is one of 21 ships deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet, an area that encompasses 2.5 million square miles of water, including the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Red Sea.
The vessels also patrol key choke points for the free flow of global commerce such as the Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of Yemen.
Launched nearly 31 years ago, Devastator is the sixth of 14 Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
