WASHINGTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Navy said Wednesday that two officers who were involved in a deadly ship clash in 2017 will not face criminal charges, but a letter of reprimand that carried no legal weight.
"At the recommendation of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer will issue a secretarial letter of censure to U.S.S. Fitzgerald former commanding officer Bryce Benson and former crew member Natalie Combs," the Navy statement said.
"Richardson will also withdraw and dismiss charges in the general courts-martial against the two officers," the statement said, "Both officers were previously dismissed from their jobs and received non-judicial punishment."
The Navy said the decision was "in the best interest of the Navy, the families of the Fitzgerald Sailors, and the procedural rights of the accused officers."
Secretarial letters of censure are used to publicly shame service members and can be career-ending, but carry no legal weight.
On June 17, 2017, destroyer U.S.S. Fitzgerald was rammed by a Philippine-flagged container ship near Yokosuka. The incident took place in the middle of the night, when the crew were mostly asleep, causing seven deaths and considerable damage to the destroyer.
