A 21-year-old U.S. Navy sailor from Fairfield was killed on a submarine Sunday, after he got caught up in a rudder while cleaning it.

Machinest mate 3rd class Michael A. Gentile died from blunt-force trauma and excessive bleeding, said his mother Julie Gentile of Fairfield. Navy officials said he was given emergency treatment, but died in a helicopter en route to a hospital.

Julie Gentile said that her son, a 2005 graduate of Lawrence High School, joined the Navy soon after graduation.