The Navy’s decision to move forward with possible criminal charges against officers who oversaw two destroyers involved in catastrophic collisions last year sets up a potential spectacle that has not occurred in a generation: The court-martial of a ship’s captain in the death of his own sailors.

Cmdr. Bryce Benson and Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez are among a handful of Navy officers who face charges of negligent homicide, dereliction of duty and hazarding a vessel in connection with the collisions of the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain, the service announced on Tuesday. Combined, the accidents killed 17 sailors, most of whom drowned as they faced an onslaught of water in ship compartments that were ripped open by other vessels.

Deadly collisions involving Navy vessels are rare, and often embarrassing and politically charged afterward, according to a review of past cases. In the handful that have occurred since World War II, captains have been convicted in some cases and acquitted in others. The service also has considered court-martialing captains, only to ultimately decide that was not warranted.

The new cases are expected to proceed with what the military calls an Article 32 hearing in or near Washington, D.C., though their timing is not yet clear, said Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Day, a Navy spokesman. An officer or officers will weigh the merits of the cases, and make a recommendation to a senior commander about whether to pursue criminal charges.

Bryan McGrath, a retired naval officer and former destroyer captain, said that he finds it unlikely that the Navy will be able to prove negligent homicide in the new cases, and ultimately may not even pursue the charge. But he said it is clear from the investigations that “gross professional negligence” was involved in both mishaps, and that the American public and the Navy have an interest in judicial proceedings going forward to test how the service sees the burdens of being a commander.

“I think that the concept of command and responsibility is incredibly important in the Navy,” said McGrath, who is now the deputy director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for American Seapower. “It is ultimately what gives crews the confidence that they need in their commanding officer to follow him or her without question when the stakes are high.”