Politics & Government

Two Navy Ships Return in Time for July 4th

The USS McClusky and USS John Paul Jones end deployments Tuesday with more than 500 sailors coming home.

The guided-missile frigate USS McClusky and guided- missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones will pull into Naval Base San Diego Tuesday following separate deployments, base officials announced.

The McClusky combated drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, while the John Paul Jones executed ballistic missile defense and maritime security operations in the western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern regions, according to Naval Surface Forces public affairs office.

The McClusky is about 453 feet long and deployed from San Diego in January. With Cmdr. Murzban Morris at the helm, the McClusky and its crew of about 240 enlisted personnel and officers helped intercept 10,120 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $174 million.

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The McClusky is named after the late Rear Adm. Clarence Wade McClusky, who led successful dive bomber strikes on Japanese aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway, which changed the course of World War II in the Pacific in June 1942.

The 505-foot John Paul Jones touts a crew of about 280 enlisted personnel and officers, led by Cmdr. Jon Duffy. It last left San Diego in December.

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Earlier this year, the John Paul Jones responded to a distress call from a merchant ship on fire in the Arabian Gulf and rescued 24 Filipino mariners.

The John Paul Jones is named for American Revolutionary War Captain John Paul Jones. The ship was featured prominently this year in the film Battleship.

 

– City News Service


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