Stars and Stripes
May 2, 2022

Navy destroyer ‘bringing a lot of capability’ to US 6th Fleet

One of the Navy’s newest and most advanced destroyers is moving to Spain, where it will join four others based at Naval Station Rota.

The USS Paul Ignatius left its homeport in Mayport, Fla., on Wednesday for an inaugural patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility, which includes Europe and Africa, the Navy announced in a statement.

After its patrol, the Paul Ignatius will be homeported at Rota in Spain’s south, alongside USS Arleigh Burke, USS Roosevelt, USS Porter and USS Ross.

The move is one of several planned homeport shifts in a long-term strategy to rotate the Rota-based destroyers gradually, the Navy said.

The Paul Ignatius is the second of eight planned Flight IIA “technology insertion” ships, which contain planned elements of the next-generation Flight III ships.

The technology upgrade adds air and missile defense capability, enabling the ships to simultaneously perform anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defense….

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The Donald Cook was one of four destroyers hurriedly deployed in January after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group to remain in the Mediterranean Sea amid rising tensions in central and Eastern Europe.

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Officials have said that the increased Navy presence is meant as a sign of U.S. commitment to NATO defense and as reassurance to allies and partners.