The USS Stockdale joins seven Navy vessels stationed in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations.
Cmdr. Adam Ochs was relieved of his duties as commanding officer of the USS Santa Barbara due to a "loss of confidence," the Navy announced.
The "provocative move," as the DOD called it, comes several days after the U.S. said it struck a Venezuelan drug-carrying vessel, killing 11 on board.
The aircraft carrier, which has been on an Indo-Pacific patrol over the last three months, lost a sailor overboard in July.
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