It’s A Friday Frigate Finale At Naval Station Everett

It was one of the first ships to arrive at Naval Station Everett. It will soon be among many who will never come back. The USS Rodney M. Davis is scheduled to arrive at Naval Station Everett today for the last time. Kristin Ching from Naval Station Everett provides the following update…

The U.S. Navy frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) is scheduled to return from its final deployment to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean to her homeport at Naval Station Everett Dec. 19.

During the six-month deployment, the ship conducted presence operations and theater security cooperation missions with partner nations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

“I am fortunate to serve with an awesome crew. Rodney M. Davis Sailors executed complex mission tasking at sea and performed superbly as fleet ambassadors ashore,” said Cmdr. Todd Whalen, the ship’s commanding officer.

After departing Everett June 12, the ship joined 48 ships from 22 countries for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. Following RIMPAC, the ship embarked a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Team and performed compliant boarding operations in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in support of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative.

The ship also supported theater security cooperation in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility that included Indian Ocean patrols and port visits to Japan, Singapore, the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei. Rodney M. Davis was the first U.S. warship to visit to the Maldives in four years and host the Maldives National Defense Force Chief of Defense (MNDF). The ship conducted boarding exercises with the MNDF Coast Guard and performed community service at a local orphanage. During a visit to Medan, Indonesia, Rodney M. Davis Sailors took part in cultural exchanges with over 800 students at Medan universities and high schools. In Brunei, the ship participated in the 20th year of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises that included training events with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

Over the course of deployment, Rodney M. Davis transited more than 37,000 nautical miles, conducted 13 underway replenishments, and completed nearly 300 hours of flight operations. The ship and crew of more than 200 Sailors is assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) Nine.

Rodney M. Davis is named for Marine Corps Sgt. Rodney Maxwell Davis, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam. The ship was built by Todd Pacific Shipyards in San Pedro, Calif. and commissioned on May 9, 1987. Following her return to Everett, the ship will prepare to decommission in March 2015.

For more information on USS Rodney M. Davis, visit the ship’s website at http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ffg60/Pages/default.aspx.