TheCOVID-19 pandemic spread to many military ships. The nature of these ships, which includes working with others in small enclosed areas and a lack of private quarters for the vast majority of crew, contributed to the rapid spread of the disease, even more so thanon cruise ships.[1][2]
Due to the nature ofoperations security, national militaries may have policies in place that prevent or restrict reporting of SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 deaths, so although the cases listed below may have been widely reported in reliable sources, confirmation by official spokespeople of the respective militaries is not systematic.[3]
Charles de Gaulle on 24 April 2019Chevalier Paul on 15 July 2017
Because about 40 crew members were beginning to show symptoms, the French aircraft carrierCharles de Gaulle returned to its home port inToulon earlier than planned, as reported on 8 April 2020 by theMinistry of Armed Forces.[54][55] Other ships that were part of the carrier battle group also began to return to their home ports.[34]
After 66 sailors aboardCharles de Gaulle were tested, the ministry announced on 10 April that 50 tests had returned positive.[56] Three sailors were evacuated by air toSaint Anne Army Teaching Hospital [fr].[56][57]
The carrier had been on a months-long mission leading acarrier battle group when its first coronavirus case was reported.[53][16] Another ship participating in the mission, Belgium'sLeopold I, had broken off to return to port weeks earlier due to a case of coronavirus being found on board.[16]
On 15 April, the Ministry of Armed Forces reported that, out of the 1,767 tests that had been conducted on the members of the carrier battle group so far, 668 had returned positive.[27][non-primary source needed][ab] The vast majority of these cases were aboardCharles de Gaulle, and the remainder of the cases were reported to be aboardChevalier Paul.[27][28][29][34]
In total, 545 sailors had shown symptoms and 24 had been hospitalized at the Saint Anne Army Teaching Hospital, including 2 admitted to theICU.[32][30]
On 29 April 2020, the Navy stated that 19 sailors aboardChevalier Paul had tested positive upon arrival at Toulon.[58]
On 11 May 2020, Florence Parly reported to the National Assembly the conclusions of two investigations[ad] into the outbreak on board the carrier, stating that the virus had first arrived before a stopover made in Brest, and that although the command and medical team aboard the carrier had "excessive confidence"[ae] in their ability to deal with the virus, the investigations did not consider them at fault.[59][60]
Parly further explained that the introduction of the virus on board the carrier happened sometime between when it leftLimassol,Cyprus, on 26 February 2020, and when it arrived at Brest on 13 March 2020.[60] During this time, personnel had been brought on board via air from either Cyprus,Sicily, theBalearic Islands, Spain, orPortugal.[60] The spread of the virus, however, was exacerbated by the stopover at Brest.[60] Social distancing and other measures were taken after the stopover, but they weighed heavily on crew morale, so after enforcing the strict measures for a fortnight, they were relaxed, and a concert on board was authorized for 30 March.[59]
Parly also noted that all soldiers aboardCharles de Gaulle have since recovered from the disease except for one sailor, who was still hospitalized after leaving the ICU.[59]
On 30 March 2020, theMinistry of Defence reported that eight crew members of the Dutch submarineHNLMS Dolfijn had tested positive.[20] Out of 58 crew members, 15 sailors with mild symptoms were tested.[20] The submarine changed course near Scotland to return to the Netherlands two weeks early, arriving inDen Helder on 3 April.[20][61]
On16 June 2020,Navy ChiefVice admiralGiovanni Bacordo announced that one of the 65 crew members of thePhilippine Navy missile frigateBRP Jose Rizal tested positive for COVID-19, causing the postponement of the ship's commissioning.[af][47] The frigate had sailed fromHyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard inUlsan,South Korea with its crew on 18 May. It had arrived at theSubic Bay anchorage area on 23 May and remained there to fulfill mandatory quarantine and swab testing requirements.[47] The ship docked at thePort of Subic Bay inZambales on15 June but the whole crew had to undergo 14 days of additional quarantine from the time the ship's sole case tested positive.[47] The ship was eventually commissioned on10 July in a ceremony that was remotely attended by PresidentRodrigo Duterte.[62]
On19 July 2020, thePhilippine News Agency reported that, following the commissioning ceremony, two crew members of BRPJose Rizal had tested positive for the virus and had been evacuated to a quarantine facility on shore.[48]
On 18 April 2020,Minister of Health and WelfareChen Shih-chung reported that threeRepublic of China Navy cadets, interning on one of the ships of theDunmu fleet [zh], had tested positive for coronavirus.[ag][36] All three cadets were in their 20s, with one case showing symptoms as early as 12 April before seeking medical attention on 15 April, when the ship returned to Taiwan.[36] There were 337 people aboard the same ship as the cadets.[36] Over 700 sailors serving in the three-ship fleet have been placed in quarantine.[64]
A Dunmu fleet is formed annually, and this iteration of the Dunmu fleet was formed on 20 February 2020 consisting of the following three ships:
The three cadets had boarded the ship on 21 February, and the fleet leftZuoying Naval Base [zh] on 5 March 2020 for a goodwill visit with Palau.[36][38][63] The fleet stayed at Palau from 12 to 15 March 2020, although the size restrictions at the port in Palau meant that onlyKang Ding entered the port.[38] After departing Palau, the fleet remained at sea for roughly a month before returning to Zuoying Naval Base on 15 April.[v][63][38]
On 19 April, Taiwan announced that a further 21 sailors of the Dunmu fleet had tested positive.[37] More cases fromPan Shi continued to be identified,[65][66][67][68][69][70] eventually reaching a total of 36.[71] On 26 May,Chang Shan-chwen, an adviser to theCentral Epidemic Command Center, stated that the index case on thePan Shi was likely to have been infected in Taiwan.[72]
The goodwill mission has been criticized for pictures of sailors not wearing masks appearing on social media.[73] Vice AdmiralMei Chia-shu,Navy Deputy Commander, stated that as Palau had no reported cases of coronavirus at the time, such a decision was made after consulting with Taiwan's embassy in Palau.[73]
On 23 April 2020, theUnited States Navy reported that at least one coronavirus case had been found on 26 of its battle force ships.[17] In addition, on 28 April 2020, the Navy reported that "[o]f the more than 90 U.S. Navy ships at sea around the world today, none have active COVID-19 cases".[ah][12]
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the American amphibious assault shipUSS Boxer when its first presumptive positive case was reported on 15 March 2020.[5] This was reported as the first case for a sailor aboard aUnited States Navy ship.[5] The sailor subsequently quarantined at home.[5] A second sailor tested positive on 17 March 2020 and also quarantined at home.[4]
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the crew of the Americanlanding helicopter dockUSS Essex when its first case was reported on 17 March.[6] The sailor had been attending a course atNaval Base San Diego since 6 February 2020 when the test returned positive on 14 March.[6] The student subsequently self-isolated at home.[6]
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the crew of the American aircraft carrierUSS Carl Vinson when its first case was reported on 23 March 2020.[10] At the time, the ship was in dry dock atPuget Sound Naval Shipyard, and it was reported that "the sailor did not board the vessel and had no contact with any shipyard personnel".[10]
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the American aircraft carrierUSS Theodore Roosevelt when its first three cases were reported on 24 March 2020.[76] As of 5 May 2020, 1,156 crewmembers have tested positive, with one fatality.[77][12] The Navy has said they will no longer report public tallies of coronavirus cases on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Initial testing was completed by 27 April 2020, at which point, 969 crew members had tested positive, and 14 of those 969 had recovered.[12] By 29 April 2020, the bulk of the ship had been cleaned, and sailors that were previously quarantined on Guam began moving back to the ship.[74]
This was the first instance of coronavirus being found aboard an American naval ship that had been deployed.[17]
USSRonald Reagan (foreground), USSNimitz (midground), and USSCarl Vinson (background) in 2010
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the American aircraft carrierUSS Ronald Reagan when its first two cases were reported on 27 March 2020.[78][79] The positive cases forced the closure of the naval base outside Tokyo where the carrier is based, with all personnel on base told to stay indoors for 48 hours.[78] By 23 April 2020, 16 sailors had tested positive.[17]
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the American hospital shipUSNS Comfort when its first case was reported on 7 April 2020.[80] The ship had arrived inManhattan on 20 March with the intention of treating patients for ailments other than coronavirus so that local hospitals could concentrate on coronavirus cases. However, officials announced on 7 April that the ship's mission had changed and 500 of the ship's 1,000 beds would be allocated for severe coronavirus cases.[22] In addition, as all crew members had tested negative before the ship set sail from Virginia and no crew had left the ship since arriving in New York, it was unclear how the crew member, who is not a medical worker and had no contact with patients, got infected.[80]
It was later revealed that two civil service mariners aboard USNSComfort had been infected, but both have since recovered.[21][81]
Comfort departed on 30 April, having treated 179 patients.[82]
The coronavirus pandemic was reported to have spread to the American aircraft carrierUSS Nimitz when its first case was reported on 7 April 2020.[23][83] One sailor received a positive result the previous week after exhibiting symptoms, and was subsequently placed in isolation and removed from the ship.[23] Another crew member has also tested positive, but is reported to have not been working on the ship.[83]
On 27 April, USSNimitz completed a 27-day quarantine and beganCOMPTUEX training.[84]
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to the US navy hospital shipUSNS Mercy when its first case was reported on 8 April 2020.[25] It is unclear how the crew member became infected, as the crew member had not interacted with any patients, all crew members had been screened before boarding the ship inSan Diego and had not been allowed to leave the ship since, and the ship was only treating patients for ailments other than COVID-19, requiring a negative SARS-CoV-2 test result before any patient was allowed to board the ship.[25][85][86]
As of 14 April 2020, 7 medical staff members had tested positive, and the Navy had removed 116 medical staff members from the ship in response.[86]
On 17 April 2020,The Wall Street Journal reported that Navy officials had stated that at least 9 sailors assigned to Americanamphibious assault shipUSS Tripoli had tested positive for the virus.[35] At the time, USSTripoli was docked inPascagoula, Mississippi, where it had been built byIngalls Shipbuilding.[87][ai] About 630 sailors were moved off the ship as a preventative measure, which resulted in the outbreak spreading to only "around a couple dozen sailors".[7]
On 24 April 2020, theUnited States Navy reported that a sailor assigned to AmericandestroyerUSS Kidd had tested positive for the virus after being medically evacuated the previous day from operations at sea.[88] After the sailor's test returned positive, the Navy sent a medical team to the ship to conductcontact tracing and test sailors for the virus on board.[88] By the morning of 24 April 2020, 17 additional sailors had tested positive, with additional cases expected as testing continued.[88]
At the time the first sailor was medically evacuated from the ship, USSKidd had been part of an operation to prevent drug trafficking near South America.[90] It had been at sea since January.[90] A second sailor was later medically evacuated to the states as well.[40]
On 25 April 2020, the Navy reported that 33 positive cases had been found.[12] By 27 April 2020, 45% of the crew members had been tested, with 47 total positive cases reported, and 15 sailors transferred to USSMakin Island for additional monitoring.[12] By 28 April 2020, 64 had tested positive, and USSKidd had docked in San Diego that afternoon to be disinfected, a process that might take up to two weeks.[12][90] It is expected that eventually, all sailors on board will be tested for the virus.[90]
This was the second instance of coronavirus being found aboard an American naval ship that had been deployed.[17]
By 5 May 18 sailors had tested positive, including the ship's medic.[41] About 50 people were on board and all were placed under quarantine.[41]
On 19 May 2020, theProject On Government Oversight andThe Daily Beast reported that 22 crew members and 30 contractors had tested positive for the virus, and that a 60-year-old contractor who worked in the engine room had died of the virus.[42][91] In addition, it was reported that mariners had complained about how MSC was "being reactive rather than proactive", and that, despite the issuance of a gangway up order that required all civilian mariners on leave to return to the ship and prevented all mariners from leaving the ship, contractors and other personnel were allowed to embark and disembark with virtually no restrictions, except for random temperature checks and a self-report questionnaire.[42] The ship was eventually vacated on 8 May for seven days.[42]
On 21 May 2020, a civilian mariner was declared dead due to complications of the virus.[aj][43] He was hospitalized on 30 April 2020, and was placed on a ventilator in anICU on 4 May 2020.[43] The deceased was the first civilian mariner to die of the virus on an MSC ship.[42]
On1 June 2020,Navy Times reported that a Navy spokesperson confirmed that "[s]everal crew members" assigned to Americandock landing shipUSS Carter Hall had tested positive for the virus on23 May.[46] The spokesperson declined to provide an exact number of sailors, citing Defense Department policy, but added that those infected were "being checked on each day by their leadership [and] receiving deliveries of food and essential items".[46]
On17 July 2020,The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that sailors of the Americanamphibious transport dockUSS San Diego had stated, on condition of anonymity, that at least five sailors from their ship had tested positive for the virus during the preceding few days.[49] The sailors had been interviewed by theUnion-Tribune presumably regarding a fire aboard American amphibious assault shipUSS Bonhomme Richard.[49] In response, a spokesperson for the US Navy confirmed that two sailors who were part of the firefighting effort had tested positive for the virus.[ak][49]
The two sailors had shown symptoms of the disease.[49] One was part of a crew fighting the fire, and the other had been acting as support.[92] One sailor who fought in the fire stated that the fire had destroyed much of USSBonhomme Richard's firefighting gear, so the gear of nearby ships, including that of USSSan Diego, was being used, and sailors fighting the fire often swapped gear with each other.[49] In addition, 27 close contacts had been identified and placed in quarantine.[49]
On30 July 2020,Navy Times reported that a spokesperson forNaval Air Force Atlantic confirmed that a "small number" of sailors assigned to American aircraft carrierUSS George H.W. Bush had tested positive for the virus during the summer.[51] The spokesperson declined to provide an exact number of sailors or a more precise date regarding when the virus was detected, citing Defense Department policy, but added that the carrier was not deployed at the time, and that those infected "remain[ed] in isolation at their private residences in Virginia and receive[d] daily medical supportive care".[51][93] USSGeorge H.W. Bush had been docked atNorfolk Naval Shipyard for maintenance since 2019.[51]
One quarter of the 300-member crew of USSMichael Murphy have been infected with COVID-19. The majority are asymptomatic, but remain in isolation. USSMichael Murphy was in port in Hawaii, as of 4 November 2020.[94]
^As reports may not be clear on whether crew members who tested positive had been on the ship while sick, this number includes all crew members assigned to the ship regardless of whether they had been on the ship while sick, and a footnote is added if one or more crew members were reported to not have been on the ship at the time.
^The first reported case was a sailor who had been attending a course atNaval Base San Diego since 6 February 2020 when the test returned positive on 14 March.[6] It was later acknowledged that there were also coronavirus cases on board.[7]
^As of 30 April 2020[update], 1102 crew members had active cases, 53 had recovered, and 1 had died.[12] All results of initial testing is complete.[12] In addition, the Navy had reported 840 positive cases on 23 April 2020 and 856 positive cases on 24 April 2020, but 833 positive cases on 25 April 2020.[12]
^The crew member had been evacuated via air on 20 March after he began showing symptoms, and was quarantined at home when the test returned positive on 24 March.[14][15][16]
^These two ships were reported to have positive cases, but it is unclear if any other ships of the carrier battle group also had positive cases, or if any of the soldiers assigned to thecarrier air wing are counted separately from the carrier itself.[26][27][28][29][30]
^One government source states 2,010 while another states 2,300.[32][26]
^Initially, the carrier group was reported to have 1081 positive cases with some results inconclusive, but it was later reported that 1046 positive cases is the final number for those on boardCharles de Gaulle.[32][30]
^A source stated that "the outbreak was limited to around a couple dozen sailors."[7]
^Ship was already docked at shipyard where it was built.
^abOne source mentions that the fleet actually returned to the base on 9 April 2020, and the soldiers were placed in isolation for six days before they were allowed to disembark on 15 April.[38] It is unclear whether the ship docked before, during, or after the isolation period.
^This includes 22 crew members and 30 contractors.[42]
^This includes one civilian mariner and one contractor.[43][42]
^One case was reported on16 June 2020 and two cases were reported on19 July 2020, while there was no mention of either of the latter cases belonging to the same person as that of the former case.[47][48]
^Testing conducted prior to its docking date. Ship stayed at the anchorage area inSubic Bay from 23 May to 15 June.[47]
^30% of the tests were still inconclusive at the time.[27]
^Her exact words were "Sur les 2300 marins du groupe aéronaval autour du porte-avions Charles de Gaulle, tous testés à leur retour à Toulon, 940 ont été testés positifs, 645 négatifs, les autres résultats de tests n'étant pas encore connus".[26]
^One investigation was epidemiological, while the other was of command.[59]
^The original words were "confiance excessive".[60]
^Taiwan has numbered them Cases 396, 397, and 398.[63]
^Although, at the time of the statement, USSTheodore Roosevelt and USSKidd had active cases, neither were at sea, with the former docked at Guam, and the latter at San Diego.[74][40]
^The ship was delivered to the Navy on 28 February 2020, but it is unclear whether the sailors had tested positive before or after delivery of the ship, with one source stating that "the ship was set to be delivered ... and hundreds of sailors moved aboard in mid-March".[87][7]
^One source reported that the mariner died on 2020.05.22, while the Navy stated that the mariner was "pronounced deceased" on 2020.05.21, but first reported it on its page for coronavirus updates on 2020.05.22.[42][43]
^The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the two sailors were from USSSan Diego, whileNavy Times reported that the spokesperson "declined to identify the local commands of the afflicted sailors, citing Defense Department policy for not naming units that suffer COVID-19 outbreaks".[49][92]
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