A chair originally designed for use on U.S. Navy submarines remains the foundation of Pennsylvania furniture manufacturer Emeco.
Hegseth on Tuesday cited the "fog of war" in defending the follow-up strike.
The White House acknowledges that a second strike was ordered on a boat already hit by the military in the Caribbean Sea.
Members of the U.S. military have the legal right to refuse orders they believe are unlawful, but they risk violating military laws of obedience if the order is in fact lawful, experts in military law say.
All personnel were safe and in stable condition, after a Navy helicopter and a fighter jet both went down in the South China Sea, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said.
Navy and Coast Guard vessels that arrived last week set sail to return to their home ports.