WASHINGTON—The U.S. Navy removed the commander of the fleet that has suffered four recent collisions in Asia and the deaths of several sailors, the Pacific Fleet said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Navy was planning to remove Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin—the three-star commander of U.S. Seventh Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan—though officials had declined to comment.

In a short statement Wednesday, the Navy said Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, had relieved him “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.”

Vice Adm. Aucoin was expected to retire in coming weeks, but under the Navy’s tradition of public accountability, commanders or ship captains are dismissed as soon as their superiors lose confidence in their leadership.

His removal doesn’t represent a specific finding of fault against Vice Adm. Aucoin. Navy officials are investigating the role that training, manning and other internal fleet processes may have played in the collisions.