Navy hands penalties on collision, both ships made errors

WASHINGTON/TOKYO - The US Navy has removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on a US warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship, the Navy said on Friday.

Multiple investigations have yet to apportion blame for the accident that killed seven US sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer the USS Fitzgerald.

However, the punishments are the first public admission by the US Navy that mistakes by the crew contributed to the deadliest incident on a US warship since extremists bombed the USS Cole in Yemen's Aden harbor in 2000.