Death Of Two Navy SEALs Trying To Intercept Houthi Weapons Was Preventable, Probe Finds

The deaths of two U.S. Navy SEALs who drowned while trying to intercept Houthi weapons in January were preventable, a new investigation reviewed by The Associated Press found.

The two SEALs — Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher Chambers and Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram — were on a mission to board and raid a seafaring vessel carrying weapons for the Iranian-backed Houthis near Yemen, but the operation went awry and ended with the servicemembers tragically drowning. The results of a military investigation, as reviewed by the AP, show that Chambers and Ingram died because of serious training failures and misguided operational decisions. 

Specifically, Chambers and Ingram drowned because they were weighed down by their equipment and apparently did not realize that their emergency flotation devices weren’t equipped to keep them buoyant with the additional weight, according to the AP.