Three guided-missile destroyers returned to Naval Station Norfolk Tuesday, ending a seven-month deployment while the flattop they escorted remains on an extended stay at sea.
The homecomings of Bainbridge, Mason and Nitze follows that of the destroyer Gonzalez, which returned to Norfolk Oct. 26.
Bainbridge, Nitze and Mason deployed April 1 alongside the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, which also was going to make a homeport shift to San Diego.
The strike group rushed to the Middle East in May “to send a clear and unmistakable message” to the Iranian regime amid spiraling tensions, then-National Security Advisor John Bolton said.
Lincoln remains on an extended deployment while its replacement, the Harry S. Truman, has been sidelined by repairs for an electrical issue.
The Norfolk-based guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf, which also deployed with Lincoln, remains at sea.
Surface ships from Truman’s strike group, Destroyer Squadron 28, deployed in September.
Speaking on Oct. 25 during the annual Military Reporters and Editors conference in Arlington, Virginia, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bob Burke estimated Truman will be fixed in “weeks, not months.”
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While deployed to the 5th Fleet, the destroyers assisted in Operation Sentinel, including escorting merchant ships through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz to help with freedom of navigation. In June, Bainbridge responded following a string of attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman that the U.S. blamed on Iran.
While operating in 6th Fleet, the destroyers conducted dual operations with Lincoln and John C. Stennis, plus the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, the Navy said.
They also trained with regional partners and allies.
“I’m incredibly proud of how our sailors performed during this rigorous deployment," Capt. Chris Follin, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 2 said in a news release. "They can return home knowing that they made a positive impact for maritime security in some of the most consequential waterways in the world.”
Courtney Mabeus-Brown is the senior reporter at Air Force Times. She is an award-winning journalist who previously covered the military for Navy Times and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., where she first set foot on an aircraft carrier. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and more.
