The drowning of 2 Navy SEALS could have been prevented, a military investigation found

washington – Early one morning last January, off the coast of Somalia, Special Forces Officer Christopher Chambers reached a Houthi cruiser from his battle group. The sea moved and he lost his grip, falling into the water. Within seconds, Naval Special Warfare Officer 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram jumped in to save his fellow Navy SEAL. Both men sank beneath the waves of the Arabian Sea within 47 seconds.

A new report by the US Navy concluded that the deaths of the two men were avoidable, but certainly why i the death of two Elite Navy SEALs they were not hindered by the murky surface.

The Navy’s report on its eight-month investigation, obtained by CBS News, cites a catalog of errors, from a lack of proper training and equipment malfunction or misuse, to a failure to compensate for the extra weight the men were carrying. But their deaths came down to the fact that the two SEALs working on the small battleship were too heavy, loaded with equipment, to stay afloat long enough to be rescued.

Chambers, 37, of Maryland, and Ingram, 27, of Texas were promoted by the Navy. The men were part of SEAL Team Three/Task Force Three, and they were on a mission to intercept Houthi ships suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons to Yemen. Those weapons have been used by Iranian rebels in Yemen to attack US Naval ships and commercial vessels in key Red Sea straits for more than a year, since Israel-Hamas war in Gaza he started in Gaza.

The redacted report details the chain of events that led to their deaths.

Environmental conditions were “near or borderline” for this campaign, the report written by Rear Admiral Michael Devore says – “not the cause of this terrible disaster, but a contributing factor.”

According to the report, classified and unreleased photos of the two men show that they were both equipped with flotation devices called Tactical Flotation Support Systems (TFSS) prior to the operation to board the suspected Houthi ship on January 11. While trying to board the Houthi boat from the SEAL combat craft, Chambers slipped and fell. nine meters in the water.

“Seeing his colleague struggling, (Ingram) jumped into the water to help (Chambers),” the report said. “Weighed down by the weight of each person’s gear, their cable (sic) or emergency flotation devices, if activated, are sufficient to keep them afloat.”

It is not clear whether their flotation devices were sufficient to keep them afloat even if they were activated. Chambers was packed with nearly 50 pieces of gear. Ingram, carrying an extra backpack with a team radio, was 30 pounds heavier or heavier.

The SEALs had placed a tracking ladder on the boat, but Chambers, like other SEALs already aboard the Yemeni vessel, chose to reach the rail. In a video shot by a United States helicopter flying 200 meters above the ground, he was seen “slowly coming into view in the 26 seconds that followed his fall.” The whole ordeal was over in 47 seconds, two NSW heroes were lost at sea.”

It happened too quickly for some SEALs to mount a rescue effort. A 10-day search and rescue operation turned up nothing but the missing SEAL flotation devices. The report notes that the sea is about 12,000 meters deep in the area.

The flotation devices may fail to inflate, slip out of the manhole, or become jammed with other gears from being fully inflated, the investigation report said.

“Marines respect the sanctity of human remains and see the sea as an appropriate resting place,” according to the report.

The report highlights the following issues related to the incident:

• Failure to recognize the risks of leakage and the role that sand flotation emergencies have to play in achieving leakage.
• Failure to complete a buoyancy test once deployed.
• Inadequate training in Tactical Flotation support system
• Contradictory guidance and lack of application of buoyancy requirements
• TFSS maintenance did not meet Navy standards

A SEAL team recovered weapons from a Houthi ship, a US military official has since confirmed.

“Our condolences go out to the families, friends and colleagues of Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher J. Chambers and Special Warfare Operator Class 1st Nathan Gage Ingram,” said US Army Commander Timothy Hawkins. “Chambers and Ingram were part of a team that prevented the illegal shipment of ballistic-missile and cruise-missile components supplied by Iran, preventing them from reaching Yemen. During this operation, the Navy lost two honorable heroes at sea. We mourn their loss and remember them as heroes who died protecting our nation.”

The report makes several recommendations, including a review of training and tactics, risk management that specifies the direction of development, and the legalization of “buddy checks.”

“This incident, with systemic problems, was avoidable,” said General Michael Kurilla, commander of the US military’s Central Command in a report.

A SEAL team’s ride between ships at sea is considered one of the most dangerous stages of the mission.

“However, limited personal liability protection, well-maintained and functional equipment, and processes and procedures prevent such risk,” according to the report.

Whether it was a lack of those processes and procedures, or a combination of failures that led to the deaths of the two SEALs will never be fully known. The evidence is under the Arabian Sea.