USS Donald Cook (DDG-75)
_conducts_a_close_quarters_exercise_while_underway_in_the_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg) Donald Cook underway | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
| |
| Name: | USS Donald Cook |
| Namesake: | Donald Cook |
| Ordered: | 19 January 1993 |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Laid down: | 9 July 1996 |
| Launched: | 3 May 1997 |
| Acquired: | 21 August 1998 |
| Commissioned: | 4 December 1998 |
| Homeport: | Naval Station Rota |
| Motto: | Faith Without Fear |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2016 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Arleigh Burke-class destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 505 ft (154 m) |
| Beam: | 66 ft (20 m) |
| Draft: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW) |
| Speed: | >30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: |
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| Complement: | |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 × SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter can be embarked |
USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy.
Named for Donald Cook, a Vietnam War prisoner of war who died in captivity, the destroyer was commissioned in 1998. It was one of the first U.S. warships to come to the aid of USS Cole after it was damaged by suicide bombers on 12 October 2000. In 2003, the ship fired Tomahawk missiles during Operation Iraqi Freedom.[1]
On 16 February 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Donald Cook will be one of four ships to be homeported at Naval Station Rota, Spain.[2] It was announced in January 2014 that the ship would arrive there in mid-February 2014.[3] In Rota she forms part of Destroyer Squadron 60.
Service history
On 24 February 2012, Donald Cook was awarded the 2011 Battle Efficiency "E" award.[4]
On 9 April 2014, U.S. military officials confirmed the deployment of Donald Cook to the Black Sea,[5] shortly after Russia′s annexation of Crimea and amid the pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The official statement claimed the vessel′s mission was "to reassure NATO allies and Black Sea partners of America’s commitment to strengthen and improve interoperability while working towards mutual goals in the region".[6] On 10 April 2014, the warship was reported to have entered the Black Sea.[7] On 12 April 2014, an unarmed Russian Su-24 "Fencer" fighter jet made twelve close-range passes of the USS Cook during a patrol of the western Black Sea.[8][9][10] According to an allegation by a Pentagon spokesman, "The aircraft did not respond to multiple queries and warnings from Donald Cook, and the event ended without incident after approximately 90 minutes. <...> The Donald Cook is more than capable of defending itself against two Su-24s."[11] In 2014, Russia′s state-run news media outlets, without citing any specific sources of information, ran a series of reports that claimed that during that incident the Su-24, equipped with the Khibiny electronic warfare system, disabled the ship's Aegis combat systems.[12][13][14] The jamming claims were ignored by Western mainstream media. They were dismissed in February 2015 as "nothing but a newspaper hoax" by the Khibiny jammer's Russian manufacturer KRET' website, which asserted that Khibiny was not installed on Su-24 but claimed it was "capable of completely neutralising the enemy radar".[15] One analyst described the incident as "about as tame a flyby as you can get."[10]
On 14 April 2014, Donald Cook visited Constanta, Romania. The President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, toured the ship during the visit. Donald Cook then conducted various exercises in concert with the Romanian Navy before departing the Black Sea on 24 April 2014.[16]
On 26 December 2014, for the second time, according to the US Navy, the destroyer entered the Black Sea in order to reassure and demonstrate US commitment to work closely with NATO allies.[17] Donald Cook participated in exercises with the Turkish Navy including an underway replenishment and other exercises with Yavuz-class frigate TCG Fatih on 28 December 2014. The ship visited Constanta, Romania on 30 December and Varna, Bulgaria on 8 January 2015. Donald Cook participated in exercises with Ukrainian Navy ship Hetman Sahaydachniy on 11 January 2015. Donald Cook departed the Black Sea on 14 January 2015.[18]
Upgrade
On 12 November 2009, the Missile Defense Agency announced that Donald Cook would be upgraded during fiscal 2012 to RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) capability in order to function as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.[19]
In popular culture
Donald Cook was featured in the "Super Fast Warship" episode of Build It Bigger.
References
- ↑ "Command History Report 2003 from Commander USS Donald Cook to Director of Naval History, Department of the Navy" (PDF). history.navy.mil. 2004.
- ↑ "Navy Names Forward Deployed Ships to Rota, Spain" (Press release). United States Navy. 16 February 2012.
- ↑ http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=78889
- ↑ Garcia, Rosalie (1 March 2012). "Naval Surface Forces Announces 2011 Battle E Awardees". United States Navy.
- ↑ Starr, Barbara (9 April 2014). "U.S. Navy ship to arrive in Black Sea by Thursday". CNN.
- ↑ Marshall, Tyrone C. (9 April 2014). "USS Donald Cook Heads for Reassurance Mission in Black Sea". American Forces Press Service. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
- ↑ "US destroyer Donald Cook enters Black Sea amid Ukraine tension". RT. 10 April 2014.
- ↑ Ryan, Missy (14 April 2014). "Russian jet's passes near U.S. ship in Black Sea 'provocative' -Pentagon". Reuters. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "Russian fighter jet ignored warnings and 'provocatively' passed U.S. Navy destroyer in Black Sea for 90 minutes, getting as close as 1,000 yards". Daily Mail. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- 1 2 Mulrine, Anna (15 April 2014). "Russian aircraft buzz US Navy destroyer: How big a deal?". Christian Science Monitor.
- ↑ Garamone, Jim (14 April 2014). "Russian Aircraft Flies Near U.S. Navy Ship in Black Sea". American Forces Press Service. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ Валагин, Антон (3 November 2015). "Почему НАТО боится русских учений". Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Retrieved 5 December 2015. (Russian)
- ↑ Валагин, Антон (30 April 2015). "Что напугало американский эсминец". Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Retrieved 5 December 2015. (Russian)
- ↑ "Russian Su-24 scores off against-the American USS Donald Cook". Voice of Russia (Sputnik). 21 April 2014.
- ↑ "Russian EW-technologies are among the most advanced in the world". kret.com. 27 February 2015.
- ↑ "USS Donald Cook Departs Black Sea". cne-cna-c6f.dodlive.mil. 24 April 2014.
- ↑ "US Naval Forces Europe – Africa/US 6th fleet: USS Donald Cook to enter Black Sea". KyivPost. 26 December 2014.
- ↑ Schumacher, Daniel (14 January 2015). "USS Donald Cook Departs Black Sea". cne-cna-c6f.dodlive.mil.
- ↑ Ewing, Philip (12 November 2009). "MDA announces next 6 BMD ships". Navy Times. (subscription required (help)).
Further reading
- Sanders, Michael S. (1999). The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-019246-1. (Describes the construction of Donald Cook at Bath Iron Works.)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Donald Cook (DDG-75). |
- "USS Donald Cook Official Web-Site"
- USS Donald Cook Command History Reports
- USS Donald Cook webpage
- Naval Vessel Register DDG-75
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