MILWAUKEE (AP/TMJ4) — The U.S. Navy warship USS Milwaukee remains in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, with about two dozen sailors — or nearly a quarter of its crew — testing positive for COVID-19, according to U.S. defense officials.
The USS Milwaukee has a crew of a bit more than 100, and it was forced to pause its deployment late last week because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The defense officials, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the outbreak, say the number of infected sailors is staying relatively constant at this point.
The Navy littoral combat ship is not only named after our city, but it was also made in Wisconsin - at the shipyards in Marinette.
Half of the sailors on board have been deployed for the first time, TMJ4's Charles Benson reported for a story about the ship earlier this year.
That's when dozens of Navy-blue boxes were packed with Wisconsin products for the USS Milwaukee crew. This was before the recent COVID outbreak aboard the ship.