Navy ousts CO of Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams amid soft grounding probe

The Navy has relieved the commanding officer of the expeditionary sea base Hershel “Woody” Williams, amid an investigation into a soft grounding the ship suffered in May.

The service announced Monday it removed Capt. Lenard Mitchell, who has led the ship’s the Gold Crew since November 2022, due to a “loss of confidence.”

Unlike most reliefs, the Navy said his ouster occurred due to an investigation into the May 9 soft grounding, which occurred just after getting underway from a port visit in Libreville, Gabon.

“While the investigation is still open, sufficient findings of fact emerged during the investigation to warrant the relief of the commanding officer,” the Navy said in a statement Monday.

USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams suffers soft grounding in West Africa

“The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standard and takes action to hold them accountable when those standards are not met,” the Navy said. “Naval leaders are entrusted with significant responsibilities to their Sailors and their ships.”

Mitchell, originally from Canton, Mississippi, first enlisted in the Navy in 1990 and served in the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard in Washington, DC. He then commissioned through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Southern University in 2000.

Previous assignments include serving as the weapons officer and combat systems officer aboard the cruiser Gettysburg, and as the pre-commissioning executive officer and then commanding officer of the littoral combat ship Little Rock.

The Navy has temporarily assigned Mitchell to Naval Surface Forces Atlantic. Mitchell’s relief has not affected the ship’s mission or schedule, the Navy said.

The expeditionary sea base is based out of Souda Bay, Greece. It is the first Navy ship assigned to U.S. Africa Command, according to the service.

The Hershel “Woody” Williams is among several ships that ran aground in the past year. The dry cargo ship Alan Shepard ran aground in Bahrain in July, and the guided-missile destroyer Howard suffered a soft grounding in August as it pulled into Bali, Indonesia, for a scheduled port visit.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information on Mitchell’s previous assignments.