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Navy SEAL who died in raid off Somalia coast was former Mass. resident, UMass Amherst student
Christopher Chambers, who died trying to save another Navy SEAL, was a Westfield High School graduate.
A former Westfield resident and UMass Amherst student was one of two Navy SEALs who was declared dead after they fell into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia during a raid of a boat carrying Iranian-made weapons headed toward Yemen.
The Associated Press reports that Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers jumped in after Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, who slipped while climbing the ladder of the unflagged ship, falling into a gap the waves had created between the vessel and the SEALs’ combatant craft.
Weighed down by their body armor, weapons and heavy equipment, the two SEALs plunged into the depths of the Arabian Sea and died, said U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the Jan. 11 raid.
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The 11-day search and rescue mission to locate the two SEALs was called off on Sunday and became a recovery effort. And on Monday, the Navy released their names, after their families were notified.
Massachusetts officials confirmed that Chambers, of Maryland, had moved to Westfield with his family before his junior year of high school and graduated from Westfield High School in 2005. He was also a student at UMass Amherst his freshman year of college and was part of the swimming and diving team from 2005-06, a school spokesperson confirmed.
“On behalf of the Massachusetts swimming and diving program and the UMass Athletics Department, we are saddened to learn of the passing of former Minuteman swimmer Chris Chambers,” UMass swimming and diving head coach Sean Clark said in a statement. “From his Western Mass. roots, Chris grew into an impactful NCAA Division I student-athlete who went on to make an even greater impact on those around him. His loss is a big one for our community, and we join Chris’s family, friends, and those he served alongside in celebrating his life and honoring his sacrifice.”
He then transferred to the University of Maryland and joined their swim team. Chambers, 37, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2012 and graduated from SEAL training two years later.
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The Navy SEAL was called “heroic” by Gov. Maura Healey in a statement released following the news of his death.
“I’m keeping the Westfield community and all who knew Chris in my thoughts as Massachusetts mourns another tragic loss, and my heart goes out to all of our heroes who serve and our military families,” Healey said.
Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans Services and Army veteran Jon Santiago also put out a statement that said the state’s veteran community mourned Chambers’s loss.
“My heartfelt sympathies go out to his family, friends, and fellow sailors who are grappling with this tragic loss,” Santiago said. “To all who knew Chris, we can’t begin to understand the unimaginable pain you are facing, but we’re committed to honoring his legacy.”
The mission came as the interdiction of weapons to Yemen takes on new urgency. The Yemen-based Houthis have been conducting a campaign of missile and drone attacks against commercial and Navy ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And U.S. retaliatory strikes have so far not deterred their assaults.
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The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet is conducting an investigation into the incident. That probe is expected to examine whether the SEALs were properly equipped and trained for the mission, whether procedures were followed, and any decisions regarding the timing and approval of the raid, including the weather and the state of the seas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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