His mission didn't get derailed by Iran's mines, but by a monkey in Thailand. A sailor aboard the USS Chief, a Navy minesweeper headed to help clear the tense Strait of Hormuz, was flown back to the ship's home port in Japan after being scratched by a monkey during shore leave in Phuket, officials say. The sailor, an electronics technician who hasn't been named, received medical treatment and is OK, according to the Navy, which emphasized there were no delays to the Avenger-class ship's deployment, Axios reports.
"Weird stuff happens," a military official tells Axios. "This was definitely an unknown unknown." The monkey run-in has become a talking point in the Navy's small minesweeping community, where the work is usually described as slow and risky for far more conventional reasons. Long-tailed macaques, common and sometimes aggressive in Phuket's tourist areas, can carry diseases including Herpes B, per the CDC, making immediate treatment standard.
The USS Chief and sister ship USS Pioneer, which have a total of around 84 sailors, are part of a broader effort—joined by helicopters, drones, aircraft, and destroyers—to address Iranian mines and attacks that have largely shut the vital oil chokepoint. On Thursday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that US mine countermeasures are already underway and ordered them "tripled up." He said he has ordered the Navy to "shoot and kill" any boats laying mines in the strait.
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