4 East Coast Destroyers Deploy to Europe Joining U.S. Naval Buildup - USNI News

The Navy sortied four East Coast guided-missile destroyers as the U.S. and NATO have massed naval forces in the region, USNI News has learned.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) USS Mitscher (DDG-57) USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) and USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) left the U.S. last month as independent deployers for U.S. 6th Fleet.

“Throughout their deployment, they will participate in a range of maritime activities in support of the U.S. 6th Fleet and our NATO allies,” Navy spokesman Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson told USNI News on Thursday.

Gonzalez and Mitscher, based at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., and Donald Cook and The Sullivans, based in Naval Mayport, Fla., departed from the East Coast in January, according to ship spotters.

All four ships are also configured for ballistic missile defense.