Capt. Danielle DeFant was relieved of command of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (U.S. Navy)
The U.S. Navy has removed the commander of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie for unspecified performance issues.
Capt. Danielle DeFant was relieved by Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander, commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to command,” Naval Surface Force said Thursday in a news release.
“Navy commanding officers are held to high standards of personal and professional conduct,” the release said. “They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards.”
The U.S. military regularly uses “loss of confidence” as a catch-all term when publicly announcing a commander’s removal, but the precise circumstances are rarely disclosed due in part to federal privacy laws.
She is at least the eighth Navy officer relieved this year for “loss of confidence.”
The commander of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, seen here returning to San Diego in November 2019, was relieved of duty on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (Woody Paschall/U.S. Navy)
Naval Surface Force spokesman Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson said only that DeFant’s removal “was related to the performance of duties while serving” as the Lake Erie’s skipper.
“The relief of Capt. DeFant will not impact the ship’s readiness,” he told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.
The Lake Erie, homeported in San Diego, completed a nearly two-year maintenance period in September 2022. The ship is assigned to Carrier Strike Group 9 around the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
DeFant is being transferred to an unspecified position within Naval Surface Force, according to the news release.
Capt. Brandon Burkett, who commanded the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay, will fill in as the Lake Erie’s skipper until a permanent replacement is chosen. The Mobile Bay was decommissioned Aug. 10 after more than three decades of service.
The 30-year-old Lake Erie may be retired in 2025, according to the Navy’s proposed shipbuilding plan for fiscal year 2024.
DeFant, of Oceanside, Calif., enlisted in the Navy in 1991. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Old Dominion University; as an enlisted sailor, she served aboard the submarine tender USS Hunley and the destroyer tender USS Shenandoah.
She was commissioned in 1999 through the Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla. Since then, she has served in several roles, including as the executive officer and commander of the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton.
