The damaged guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald; (right)âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088the container that collided with the US Navy ship. Pics/AFP/AP

Seven crew on a US destroyer were missing and their commander injured today after their Navy destroyer collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship off the coast of Japan, with the badly damaged US vessel partially flooded. Two others were hurt along with the USS Fitzgerald’s commanding officer Bryce Benson, the military said.