The investigation was launched by the Navy’s 5th Fleet, which operates in the Middle East and has headquarters in Bahrain. Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said that Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, the senior admiral in the Middle East, has reviewed the findings and forwarded them to the office of Adm. John M. Richardson, chief of naval operations. Stephens declined additional comment, saying Navy officials will not speak about the case until the investigation is finalized.

A spokesman for Richardson’s office, Cmdr. Chris Servello, said the findings will next be reviewed by Adm. Philip S. Davidson, commander of Fleet Forces Command, and Adm. Scott Swift, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, before the investigation is reviewed more closely by Richardson and the service’s No. 2 officer, Adm. Michelle J. Howard. It’s likely the results could be shared with Congress by sometime in May, Servello said.

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Richardson told The Washington Post last month, after returning from a trip to the Middle East, that the investigation was in the review process and that he had seen the two boats involved while in Bahrain. The Pentagon has said that the only equipment apparently taken from them were two digital SIM cards from satellite phones.

“We’ve got to let the review process for the investigation play out,” Richardson said last month. “You know, it’s complicated. I think it was hundreds of interviews involved, and literally it got around the world, from San Diego to Bahrain and a lot of places in between. It’s a big effort, and it’s going to take some thoughtful review, and there will probably be some follow-up questions before we are ready to talk about it.”

It isn’t clear whether the sailors involved could face any kind of criminal charges or administrative discipline. They were using a well-traveled route in international waters from Kuwait to Bahrain when they ended up off-course. Defense officials have said it is believed they “mis-navigated” into Iranian territorial waters, and one of the boats experienced a mechanical problem as Iranian forces closed in.

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The sailors departed from Kuwait the day of the incident at 9:23 a.m. and were taken captive some time between 2:10 and 2:45 p.m. U.S. Naval Central Command (NAVCENT) launched an extensive search and rescue operation that included aircraft from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and the Air Force, and vessels from the Navy, Coast Guard and British navy.

Two Iranian craft carrying armed troops approached the Navy boats, followed by two more. No gunfire was exchanged, but some Iranians boarded the U.S. craft while others wielded machine guns, U.S. defense officials have said. The Iranians released the sailors and the boats the following morning, after Secretary of State John F. Kerry intervened on their behalf, U.S. officials said.