Houston Area Sailor Among 10 Reported Missing After Collision In Pacific

CLEVELAND, TX — A Liberty County man is among the 10 sailors aboard the U.S.S John McCain reported missing during a collision with a merchant ship off the Singapore coast on Monday.

John “C.J.” Hoagland, 20, has served aboard the ship since October 2016 as an electronics technician, and was among those personnel reported missing after a collision with an oil tanker.

The collision caused a significant amount of damage to the port, or left side of the hull, and flooding some crew sleeping compartments, and communications areas of the vessel.

RELATED: USS John McCain Collision: Sailors' Remains Found Aboard Ship

At least five sailors were injured in the collision, with four of those being taken by MedEvac helicopter to inton Singapore, and the fifth taken ashore when the ship docked for repairs, KHOU reported.

On Tuesday, divers searching flooded sections of the U.S. Destroyer, found human remains in the flooded compartments, but have not confirmed the identities of those found.

Hoagland’s mother, Cynthia Kimball of Fort Benning, Ga., told KTRK that the Navy had contacted her and said her son was among the missing, but she hasn’t received any other word since.

The collision Monday was the second involving a U.S. Navy ship this summer.

In June, the USS Fitzgerald was badly damaged in a collision off the Japanese coast, which killed seven sailors

Patch National Staff Colin Miner contributed to this report.

Image: Getty Images

Send your news tips to bryan.kirk@patch.com