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The Navy quietly relieved Cmdr. Caitlin Cunningham, skipper of the guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy, on Sept. 27 “due to a loss of confidence to command” a Navy official told Task & Purpose.

The relief came nine months into the ship’s 11-month deployment to the Middle East, where the USS Michael Murphy helped enforce a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, escort tankers, launch Tomahawk cruise missiles and defend against Iranian drone and missile attacks. The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which the Murphy was a part of, was later awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. 

USNI News first reported on Cunningham’s removal.

No reason was given for Cunningham’s firing. The Navy regularly uses the term “loss of confidence” as a catchall for the many reasons a commander can be relieved. The term is used for everything from mishaps onboard the vessel to personal misconduct by an officer. 

Cmdr. David Nicholas has helmed the destroyer since Cunningham was relieved.

The USS Michael Murphy left its homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 1, 2025, and returned on Nov. 12. It spent 346 days deployed, and stayed at sea even after the Abraham Lincoln returned to its homeport after an extended and trying deployment. Both the Michael Murphy and the USS Spruance — another destroyer in the strike group, which spent 357 days away before returning Friday — have conducted some of the longest destroyer deployments since World War II.

The USS Abraham Lincoln returned to San Diego in early October. The carrier and its strike group received the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award for valor that a unit can receive. The Lincoln strike group received it, the second to earn it for the Iran war after the USS George R. Ford strike group was given it in May. The honor has historically been given to units that took part in some of the most intense combat missions, such as major operations in World War II.

While Cunningham was relieved in September, the Navy did not announce the change until the U.S. Naval Institute News broke the story on Nov. 12. In October, the Navy fired the commanding officer, executive officer, and enlisted chief of the submarine USS South Dakota, also without public announcement until Connecticut newspaper The Day reported it.

The quiet removals break with the Navy’s tradition of announcing leadership changes, drawing the ire of members of the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, called the submarine omission “unacceptable,” in particular because they said the submarine leaders were removed because the boat struck the bottom of the ocean.

“As a result of the Navy’s failure to communicate, what should have been a standard exercise in information sharing has instead raised questions about the Navy’s commitment to transparency and its commitment to a productive working relationship with Congress,” Smith and Courtney wrote in a Nov. 12 letter to acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle. 

Rear admiral Brian Monahan, the attending physician for Congress and the Supreme Court, also resigned without announcement from the Navy amid a Defense Department inspector general investigation.

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David Roza is a senior reporter at Task & Purpose with extensive experience covering aviation, technology, military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and a range of other personnel matters.

Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs).