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U.S. NAVY
Fire Controlman 1st Class David Andrews, assigned to the USS Chung Hoon, held his daughter Bailey for the first time during a homecoming ceremony Friday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
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The USS Chung-Hoon, including a detachment from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37 “Easyriders,” returned to its homeport of Pearl Harbor Friday, ending a deployment that covered 54,000 nautical miles.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer plied the waters of the U.S. 7th, 6th and 5th Fleet areas as part of the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, according to a Navy release. The USS Chung-Hoon participated in numerous operations during its deployment, which began last fall, including those with partner nations.
Noteworthy among them was Operation Noble Torch, during which the USS Chung-Hoon conducted three drug seizures, confiscating over $5 million worth of illegal drugs and 22,000 pounds of hashish being transported into Yemen, the release said.
The Hawaii-based ship also conducted 14 transits of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of
Yemen, many of them escorting merchant or other U.S. military vessels, and four transits of the Strait of Hormuz. During one of the latter transits, the Chung-Hoon was in tactical command of three U.S. ships and an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy.
The destroyer, christened in 2003, was named to honor Rear Adm. Gordon Pai‘ea Chung-Hoon of Honolulu, a recipient of the Navy Cross for his courageous leadership after a kamikaze attack in 1945 left several of his crew dead and his ship, the USS Sigsbee, severely crippled.