Mayport, Fla. (NNS) -- In order to swap out crews, USS Detroit (LCS 7) with embarked Gold crew, returned to her Mayport, Florida homeport Feb. 2.
The scheduled, pierside pause comes in the midst of the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship’s maiden deployment. While inport, the Gold crew will rotate off following turnover with the Blue crew. The visit will also include a short maintenance period.
Following this brief stop, Detroit will continue its deployment in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility.
After leaving for deployment Oct. 31, Detroit took part in several operations with partner nations in the region. Detroit departed with a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment and an aviation detachment operating an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and two MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Vehicles.
The ship’s deployment is the second by an LCS in support of Campaign MARTILLO. The campaign is an ongoing, multinational effort launched in January 2012 and targeting illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along Central America.
Fast, agile and mission-focused, littoral combat ships are designed to operate in near-shore environments and employ modular mission packages that can be configured for surface warfare, mine countermeasures, or anti-submarine warfare.
The ship and its crews honor Michigan’s largest city as the sixth U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. The most recent Detroit was a fast combat support ship, commissioned in 1969, which served a 35-year career as a support ship in the Vietnam War as well as the Persian Gulf during operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The first Detroit was launched in August 1813, which was engaged in the Battle of Lake Erie. With its long legacy, USS Detroit (LCS 7) trains and operates according to her motto of swift vigilance.