US Navy USS Donald Cook Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer begins patrol.

According to information published by the U.S. Navy on October 30, 2020, the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) departed Naval Station Rota, Spain for its eleventh forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) patrol, October 30, 2020.
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U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook DDG 75. (Picture source U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Navy USS Donald Cook will be conducting naval operations and exercises in the Sixth Fleet area of operations. The ship typically operates independently, but also regularly works alongside NATO allies and partners in the region.

The ship recently completed multi-national exercise Joint Warrior 20-2, hosted by the United Kingdom. During Joint Warrior, Donald Cook successfully executed a Live Fire with a Purpose (LFWAP) missile exercise, launching a Standard Missile-2 at an exercise target.

This is the 11th patrol that Donald Cook has conducted in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa while being homeported in Naval Station Rota.

Donald Cook is one of four U.S. Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and assigned to Commander, Task Force 65 in support of NATO’s Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture. These Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe ships have the flexibility to operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

The U.S. Navy USS Donald Cook is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. was the 14th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, where construction began on 9 July 1996. She was launched and christened on 3 May 1997. On 4 December 1998 she was commissioned at Penn’s Landing Pier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are equipped with Aegis combat system that integrates the ship’s sensors and weapon systems to engage anti-ship missile threats. The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are powered by four General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, each rated at 33,600 hp with a power turbine speed of 3,600 rpm, driving two shafts with controllable pitch propellers. She can reach a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and has a cruising range of 4,400 nautical miles at 20 knots (8,100 km at 37 km/h). The ship has a crew of 281 people including 33 commissioned officers, 38 chief petty officers, and 210 sailors.