National News

USS George Washington (Mainichi file)

WASHINGTON -- Dozens of crewmembers aboard the carrier USS George Washington were injured after the vessel -- due to be stationed at the Yokosuka base in Japan in August -- caught fire while navigating in the Pacific earlier this week, the U.S. Navy said.

One sailor sustained minor burns and 23 others suffered heat stress after the fire broke out at around 7:50 a.m. on Thursday, the U.S. Navy announced on Friday. There was no damage done to the vessel's nuclear reactor.

The incident occurred as the warship was sailing off South America on its way to San Diego, California, before heading for Japan to be deployed at the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture in mid-August. It will be the first time that Japan will host a nuclear aircraft carrier.

According to the U.S. Navy, the fire started near an air-conditioning and refrigeration room and the auxiliary boiler room at the vessel's stern, and spread to adjacent rooms until it was extinguished several hours later.

Crewmembers aboard the USS George Washington after the blaze. (Mainichi)

The fire, which occurred during a refueling operation with the frigate USS Crommelin, did not affect the nuclear vessel's navigation system, the Navy said. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage caused are now being investigated.

The George Washington left its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, in April and is slated to call at Hawaii for a ceremony to mark its replacement with the USS Kitty Hawk, which is currently deployed at the Yokosuka base and is due to retire, before heading to Yokosuka.