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After 25 years at Pearl Harbor, the cruiser USS Chosin pulled away from the dock Friday morning for a home-port shift to San Diego and modernization there.
The 567-foot ship will be considered on deployment until July 1, at which time it will officially change its home port to San Diego, the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Naval Surface Force said.
“This move supports the Navy’s plan to modernize select cruisers to extend their service lives to 40 years, as well as upgrade shipboard combat systems to address current and future war-fighting requirements,” the Navy said.
In 1992 the Chosin deployed for the first time to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch.
Sailors aboard the Chosin more than once rescued stranded fishermen at sea, including Iraqi and Yemeni seafarers.
In 2014 the Chosin led recovery efforts of the disabled Canadian navy oil replenishment ship HMCS Protecteur after an engine fire. The Chosin participated in humanitarian operations in the Pacific and dozens of international exercises, including Rim of the Pacific off the Hawaiian Islands.
“Thousands of men and women served aboard USS Chosin over the past 25 years that the ‘War Dragon’ was home-ported here at Pearl Harbor,” Rear Adm. John Fuller, commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific and Navy Region Hawaii, said in a Navy-produced news story. “Chosin sailors and their proud ship kept sea lanes open, built strong international partnerships and stood at the ready to defend our nation.”
Fuller said through modernization, the Chosin “is taking war-fighting readiness to the next level.”
“I join her commanding officer, Capt. Kevin Brand, and Chosin shipmates, past and present, who offer deep appreciation to the people of Hawaii for their strong support and aloha over many years,” he added.
The Chosin is the first Navy warship named in commemoration of the 1st Marine Division’s heroism at the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. The veterans are called the “Chosin Few.”
The Navy said it will maintain cruisers undergoing modernization in a commissioned status using a reduced crew size and transferring the administrative control of the ship to Naval Sea Systems Command at the start of the modernization period.
The Navy will restore the ship to full manning and transfer administrative control back to Naval Surface Force U.S. Pacific Fleet as the ship returns to operational status, it said.
Pearl Harbor’s only other cruiser, the USS Port Royal, hasn’t been on a major deployment in four years because it’s been caught up in a series of Navy plans over the years that at first sought to decommission the warship and later contemplated modernization.
But facing resistance to those plans from Congress, the Navy has kept the Port Royal in the lineup and said it plans to deploy the warship this summer.
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