Story highlights After taking command in May, Benson praised "best ship and best crew"

Wisconsin native earned commission through Navy ROTC

(CNN) The USS Fitzgerald's captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, who was injured in the ship's deadly collision with a commercial vessel, took command of the guided-missile destroyer last month.

Cmdr. Bryce Benson

"I look forward to being with my Fitzgerald family in support of future missions and exercises," Benson said in a Navy statement at the time.

"This is the best ship and the best crew on the waterfront, hands down!" he said.

"I am proud to work alongside the Navy's best and brightest men and women who protect and support the Pacific region and our allies."

The 10,000-ton destroyer and the ACX Crystal, a 29,000-ton container ship flagged in the Philippines, collided early Saturday local time off Japan's Izu Peninsula, officials said. Benson was flown off the crippled ship by helicopter after the accident and was being treated at the naval hospital at the US naval base at Yosuka, Japan, said Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, 7th Fleet commander, as were two other sailors who were medevaced.

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