The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey returned to Naval Base San Diego today following a four-month deployment.
The 510-foot-long vessel departed March 31 along with the destroyer USS Sterett and detachments from Helicopter Maritime Squadrons 49 and 78, which are based at Naval Air Station North Island.
The crew members conducted routine patrols, and performed maritime and theater security missions in the western Pacific Ocean, according to the Navy. They also took part in several exercises with the Japanese military and assisted the destroyer USS Fitzgerald after the latter vessel collided with a container ship June 17 near Japan.
``I am proud to have led this crew through a very busy and challenging four-month deployment,'' said Commander Anthony Webber, the Dewey commanding officer. ``These women and men worked extremely hard day-in and day-out to accomplish every task and fulfill every mission we were assigned.
''On July 7, Commander Claudine Caluori, the Sterett's skipper, announced that her vessel's deployment was being extended for about one month. The ship recently completed an exercise with the Australian Navy.
The vessels are named after George Dewey, who fought in the Spanish-American War and was the only officer to hold the rank of Admiral of the Navy, and Andrew Sterett, who commanded the USS Enterprise in a battle off the Barbary Coast in 1801.
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