NORFOLK, Va. – The guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) returned to Naval Station Norfolk Sunday.
The ship completed seven months in the Navy’s 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation, and traveled more than 40,000 nautical miles during that time. It navigated the Straits of Gibraltar, the Straits of Sicily and the Bab al-Mandeb four times, and the Danish straits twice.
It conducted almost 20 underway replenishments, 26 sea and anchor details and 600 hours of helicopter operations.
According to a release by the Winston S. Churchill, the ship operated separately with the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) Amphibious Ready Group and with the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Carrier Strike Group. Besides supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the ship also conducted presence operations with other NATO maritime units from Canada, France, the Netherlands and Spain, and conducted a passing exercise with the Egyptian navy.
“I am extremely proud of everything the crew has accomplished during our time in 5th and 6th Fleet,” said Cmdr. Tom Van Scoten, Winston S. Churchill commanding officer. “Although tasking often shifted rapidly, we remained strategically dependable as well as operationally adaptable. The strength of this ship truly is the crew.”
