Navy ships plagued by overworked, undertrained crews, GAO finds

A review by the Government Accountability Office has found widespread, systemic problems in the U.S. Navy ships that are based in foreign ports, which it says has resulted in “declining ship conditions and a worsening trend in overall readiness.”

The report was prepared ahead of Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing looking into a series of four ship-handling accidents in the U.S. 7th fleet this year, including separate at-sea collisions of the guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain that killed a combined 17 U.S. sailors.