Drownings of 2 Navy SEALs knocked overboard in raid of ship with Iranian weapons were preventable: probe

Two US Navy SEALs drowned as they tried to climb aboard a ship carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to Yemen because of glaring training failures and a lack of understanding about what to do after falling into deep, turbulent waters, according to a military investigation into the January deaths.The review concluded that the drownings of Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher J.Chambers and Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram could have been prevented.But both sank quickly in the high seas off the coast of Somalia, weighed down by heavy equipment they were carrying and not knowing or disregarding concerns that their flotation devices could not compensate for the additional weight.

Both were lost at sea.The highly critical and heavily redacted report — written by a Navy officer from outside Naval Special Warfare Command, which oversees the SEALs — concluded there were “deficiencies, gaps and inconsistencies” in training, policies, tactics and procedures as well as “conflicting guidance” on when and how to use emergency flotation devices and extra buoyancy material that could have kept them alive.The Associated Press obtained the report upon request before its public release.The mission’s goal was to intercept weapons headed to the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and US Navy ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began a year ago.US retaliatory strikes have so far not deterred their assaults.Chambers and Ingram, members of SEAL Team 3, died during a nighttime mission to board an unflagged ship in the Arabian Sea.Their names were redacted in the report, but officials have confirmed Chambers slipped and fell as he was climbing onto the ship’s deck and Ingram jumped in to try to save him.“Encumbered by the weight of each individual’s gear, neither their physical capability nor emergency supplemental flotations devi...