Chief Petty Officer Caprice Pryor was medically evacuated from the destroyer USS Ramage on June 8, 2023, and died the same day, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement June 10. (Facebook)
A Navy sailor who had been in the service for almost 25 years died following an airlift off a destroyer that is part of a carrier strike group operating in the North Sea, officials announced over the weekend.
Chief Petty Officer Caprice Pryor was medevaced from the USS Ramage on Thursday and died the same day, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement Saturday.
The Navy did not give a cause of death or offer additional details, saying only an investigation was underway.
“Chief Pryor made a lasting impact on the sailors he led aboard Ramage, and his contributions to the U.S. Navy are immeasurable,” Rear Adm. Erik Eslich, commander of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, said in the statement.
Aleisia Pryor, who identified herself as a sister of the sailor, said in a public post on her Facebook page Saturday that she didn’t have many details about Pryor’s death but believed “it was from a broken heart.”
”We lost our mother almost 3 months ago to the day of his passing,” she said.
On his Facebook page, Pryor said he was from Chicago and was married.
A gunner’s mate, Pryor reported to the Ramage in July 2022. He enlisted in 1998 and had served aboard the destroyers USS Barry and USS William P. Lawrence, among other afloat assignments, according to his Navy biography.
Other duty stations included the Naval Surface Warfare Center White Sands Detachment in New Mexico and the Surface Combat Systems Training Command in San Diego.
He had earned numerous awards, including a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and a Meritorious Unit Commendation, according to the Navy.
Chief Petty Officer Caprice Pryor instructs Petty Officer 2nd Class David Ramirez on firing a .50-caliber machine gun during a live-fire exercise on the destroyer USS Ramage on Oct. 26, 2022. Pryor was medically evacuated from the destroyer on June 8, 2023, and died the same day, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement on June 10, 2023. (Sawyer Connally/U.S. Navy)
Pryor is at least the second sailor to die at sea in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility in the past year.
Seaman Recruit David Spearman, 19, went overboard the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke in the Baltic Sea on Aug. 1, 2022.
The Gerald R. Ford strike group departed from Norfolk, Va., in early May for a global deployment. Since then, the Ford became the first U.S. carrier to visit Norway in 65 years.
On Wednesday, the carrier strike group was under NATO command and sailing in the Norwegian Sea with British and Norwegian ships, according to the ship’s official Facebook page.
