Pentagon Announces US Destroyer Will Enter Black Sea by Thursday
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GOGO LOBATO/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) will enter the Black Sea “on or about April 10,” or Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren announced Wednesday. The ship will transit the Strait of Bosporus on Thursday and head to the Black Sea for unspecified training with partner nations.
The likelihood that another U.S. Navy ship was headed to the Black Sea emerged last week, but the name of the ship wasn’t fully defined because of potential schedule conflicts.
“The Donald Cook’s mission is to reassure NATO allies and Black Sea partners of America’s commitment to strengthen and improve interoperability while working for mutual goals in the region,” said Warren.
He said the ship will participate in an exercise that “demonstrates our commitment to our allies and to enhance security readiness in the region.”
Which countries the U.S. Navy ship will be partnering with has yet to be worked out, and it’s unclear how long the ship will remain in the Black Sea. Details about the ship’s training exercise have been delayed because the decision to dispatch the ship was made before any firm exercises could be planned.
In March the destroyer USS Truxtun conducted exercises in the Black Sea for two weeks with Romanian and Bulgarian navy ships.
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