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CO of minesweeper fired for poor readiness

The commanding officer of the mine countermeasures ship Devastator was relieved of command Tuesday for not “maintaining ship readiness standards,” the Navy announced.

Lt. Cmdr. Matt Tucker, who commanded the crew Persistent, was relieved by the commander of Mine Countermeasures Squadron 2, Capt. Robert Hospodar, just over three weeks after Naval Station Ingleside, Texas-based Devastator underwent a scheduled examination by the Board of Inspection and Survey.

The chief staff officer for the squadron, Cmdr. Angel Cruz, took command of the Devastator and will stay as CO until Friday. Then he is to yield command of the ship to Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Shear, the current executive officer of the mine countermeasures ship Chief, a sibling of the Devastator.

A spokesman for Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command did not have information about where Tucker had been assigned after his relief.

Tucker took command of the Devastator’s crew Persistent Nov. 25, after having served as executive officer of the mine countermeasure ship Scout in Bahrain.