The Big Story

More From This Investigation

How We Reconstructed the Flawed Navigation Controls Behind the Navy’s Worst Maritime Accident in 40 Years

To see the complex navigation system aboard the USS John S. McCain is to wonder how any amount of training would have been enough for sailors to have been confident using it.

Blame Over Justice: The Human Toll of the Navy’s Relentless Push to Punish One of Its Own

Navy Cmdr. Bryce Benson accepted responsibility for the deadly crash of the USS Fitzgerald and was told, “That’s done now.” But when another ship crashed, the Navy decided it wasn’t through with him. Its pursuit nearly destroyed him and his family.

Iran Has Hundreds of Naval Mines. U.S. Navy Minesweepers Find Old Dishwashers and Car Parts.

As tensions heat up in the Persian Gulf, the Navy’s minesweeping fleet may once again be called into action, but its sailors say the ships are too old and broken to do the job. “We are essentially the ships that the Navy forgot.”

Trump Keeps Talking About the Last Military Standoff With Iran — Here’s What Really Happened

In 2016, 10 sailors were captured by Iran. Trump is making it a political issue. Our investigation shows that it was a Navy failure, and the problems run deep.

Sailors Report Enduring Concerns About Navy Readiness and Leadership

Sailors from every active fleet responded to a ProPublica callout, noting a continued lack of training, widespread exhaustion and an acute sense of vulnerability.

How the Navy’s Top Commander Botched the Highest-Profile Investigation in Years

On Wednesday, the Navy said it was abandoning all remaining criminal charges against sailors involved in fatal accidents in the Pacific. Here’s how the actions of the chief of naval operations helped doom the cases.

Navy Promised Changes After Deadly Accidents, but Many Within Doubt It’s Delivering on Them

Interviews and an examination of the Navy’s publicly announced reforms raise uncertainty over whether senior leaders have fully followed through on them after the 7th Fleet disasters in 2017.

In Navy Disasters, Neglect, Mistakes, and 17 Lost Sailors

Snapshots of the sailors who perished in a pair of collisions in the Pacific in 2017.

Years of Warnings, Then Death and Disaster

How the Navy failed its sailors

How We Investigated the Navy’s Twin Disasters in the Pacific

Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by its Own Navy

Investigation finds officials ignored warnings for years before one of the deadliest crashes in decades.