An Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer has departed Cyprus and was reported by some news outlets to be pushing towards Syria as Russian fighters buzzed its deck, but the Navy is saying those stories are false.
The destroyer Donald Cook departed Larnaca, Cyprus, Monday, after completing a scheduled port visit, according to a Navy statement. The service didn’t say where the ship was cruising to next, but reports by CNN’s Turkey service claimed the destroyer had moved out to Syrian territorial waters where it was harassed by Russian jets.
However, Pentagon officials are denying that narrative, according to Task & Purpose.
“There are elements of that story that are just simply not true,” Navy spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks told Task & Purpose. Speaks said the reports that the ship was being buzzed by Russian aircraft were “completely bogus.”
The Donald Cook has been harassed by Russian fighters before. In April 2016, Russian Su-24 attack aircraft buzzed the destroyer in the Baltic Sea near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. U.S. Navy officials condemned that incident as “unsafe and unprofessional,” and said that it could lead to miscalculations between the two states.
USS DONALD COOK (DDG-75)
CLASS - BURKE Flight II As Built.
Displacement 8373 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 504' 7" (oa) x 66' 11" x 20' (Max)
Armament 1 x 5"/54 RF, 2 Phalanx 20mm Guns, 90 VLS Cells,
8 Harpoon Missiles, 6 x 12.75" TT.
Machinery, 100,000 SHP; 4 GE LM-2500 Gas Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 30+ Knots, Range 4400 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 370.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Bath Iron Works, Bath ME on July 7 1996.
Launched May 3 1997.
Commissioned December 4 1998.
Active unit of the US Navy.
Homeported at Norfolk, VA.