MUSCATINE, Iowa — A 1985 Muscatine High School graduate has been relieved from his duties as commander of the Hartford, a U.S. Navy submarine that collided March 20 with an amphibious ship  in the Strait of Hormuz.

Cmdr. Ryan Brookhart, 41, was removed from his duties Tuesday by Rear Adm. Michael Connor, commander of the Navy’s Submarine Group 7 and Task Force 54.

Brookhart, who is to celebrate his 20th anniversary in the Navy in August, is the son of Keith and Janet Brookhart of Muscatine. His wife, Melissa, is the daughter of Karl and Linda Reichert and the sister of Rep. Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine.

The Brookharts, who have two daughters, live in Mystic, Conn.

“He has had an absolutely wonderful record. Just one accident and they put him off the ship. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Linda Reichert said Wednesday.

Brookhart had been commander of the Hartford since 2006. It collided with the amphibious transport dock New Orleans at night at the entrance to the Persian Gulf off Iran’s coast.

Navy officials said the submarine was “submerged but near the surface” at the time of the accident. No one was reported seriously injured and both ships limped into Bahrain for damage assessments and repairs.

New Orleans has a 16-by-18-foot gash in its hull. Hartford’s sail is bent and partially torn from the hull.

Although the safety and mishap investigations into the accident are not concluded, “Connor determined that there was enough information to make the leadership change,” the Navy said in a news release.

Andrew Scutro of Navy News contributed to this story.