USS Cole ( DDG - 67 ) The second USS " Cole " ( DDG - 67 ) is an " Arleigh Burke " - class Aegis - equipped guided missile destroyer homeported in Naval Station Norfolk , Virginia . " Cole " is named in honor of Marine Sergeant Darrell S . Cole , a machine - gunner killed in action on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945 , during World War II . " Cole " is one of 62 authorized " Arleigh Burke " - class guided missile destroyers , and one of 21 members of the Flight I - class that utilized the 5 " / 54 caliber gun mounts found on the earliest of the " Arleigh Burke " - class destroyers . The ship was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and was delivered to the Navy on 11 March 1996 . On 12 October 2000 , " Cole " was the target of attack carried out by Al - Qaeda in the Yemeni port of Aden ; 17 sailors were killed , 39 were injured , and the ship was heavily damaged . On 29 November 2003 , " Cole " deployed for her first overseas deployment after the bombing and subsequently returned to her homeport of Norfolk , Virginia , on 27 May 2004 without incident . Service history . " Cole " was launched on 10 February 1995 and commissioned on 8 June 1996 . " Cole " was in continual service for the United States Navy for several years after being commissioned . However , an al - Qaeda terrorist attack in 2000 , allegedly plotted by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , would heavily damage the ship , requiring extensive repairs , although still capable of eventually returning to service . The first seven months of 2000 were spent completing the Intermediate and Advanced portions of the Inter - Deployment Training Cycle ( IDTC ) . From 7 March to 7 April , USS " Cole " participated in Composite Training Unit Exercise ( COMPTUEX ) 00 - 2 as part of Cruiser - Destroyer Group 2 , led by " George Washington " , operating within the Gulf of Mexico operating areas . " Cole " was the only unit not ' damaged ' during the exercise . From 09 to 22 May , USS COLE participated in Joint Task Force Exercise 00 - 2 with the battle group , operating within the Cherry Point and Virginia Capes Operating Areas . On 8 August 2000 , " Cole " departed on deployment , spending much time in the Mediterranean and Adriatic . Al - Qaeda attack . On 12 October 2000 , while at anchor in Aden , " Cole " was attacked by Al - Qaeda suicide bombers , who sailed a small boat near the destroyer and detonated explosive charges . The blast created a hole in the port side of the ship about in diameter , killing 17 crewmembers and injuring 39 . The ship was under the command of Commander Kirk Lippold . Eleven seriously injured sailors ( 2 women and 9 men ) , were evacuated to various hospitals in Aden by French Air Force C - 160 Transall s from the French Forces of Djibouti ( FFDJ ) . French forces were mobilized to treat the wounded . They were evacuated by a USAF McDonnell Douglas C - 9 thereafter . " Cole " was returned to the United States aboard the Norwegian heavy - lift vessel MV " Blue Marlin " owned by Offshore Heavy Transport of Oslo , Norway . The ship was off - loaded 13 December 2000 from " Blue Marlin " in a pre - dredged deep - water facility at the Pascagoula , Mississippi , shipyard of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems , Ingalls Operations . On 14 January 2001 , " Cole " was moved from the floating dry dock at Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding to the land facility in order to fully begin its restoration process . " Cole " ' s movement over land was accomplished by a system of electrically - powered cars that traveled over rails . " Cole " was moved to a construction bay near where the ship was originally built five years before . On 1 July 2001 , still under repair , " Cole " was transferred to Carrier Group 2 , led by " Harry S . Truman " . On 14 September 2001 , " Cole " was moved from drydock into the water once again . The transfer , originally scheduled for 15 September , was done secretly the night of 14 September in order to avoid the large media event originally scheduled one month prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks . The process of moving the ship from the dry dock to the water took approximately eight hours . As part of the increased security surrounding the undocking , PCU " Bulkeley " provided weapons and a physical presence to deter the possibility of any type of militant activity during the move . After 14 months of repair , " Cole " departed on 19 April 2002 , and returned to her homeport of Norfolk , Virginia . On 3 December 2001 , " Cole " transitioned from Destroyer Squadron 22 , to COMDESRON 18 and the Enterprise Battle Group . The move to CDS 18 was followed by a visit to USS " Cole " by Commodore Daniel Holloway , Commander , Destroyer Squadron 18 , on 10 – 11 December 2001 . Three ships from the Japanese Maritime Self - Defence Force made a port call in Norfolk on 12 July 2002 , and " Cole " had the opportunity to host one of the ships . Members of " Cole " s wardroom attended lunch on the Japanese destroyer " Shimayuki " and toured the ship . The Commanding Officer of " Shimayuki " had lunch aboard " Cole " , and many JMSDF sailors also toured the ship . On 24 September 2002 , underway 40 miles off the coast of Currituck , North Carolina , " Cole " received a distress call . The call came from Mr . Richard Bartlett of Yorktown , Virginia , captain of the 35 - foot Bertram fishing boat that was taking on water . " Cole " increased speed and located the fishing boat while the SH - 60 helicopter , “ Charger 61 , ” refueled on the deck of . " Cole " and Charger 61 worked together to ensure Mr . Bartlett was returned safely to land . The U . S . government offered a reward of up to USD $ 5 million for information leading to the arrest of people who committed or aided in the attack on " Cole " . Al - Qaeda was suspected of targeting " Cole " because of the failure of a 3 January 2000 attack on , one of the 2000 millennium attack plots . On 4 November 2002 , Qaed Salim Sinan al - Harethi , a suspected al - Qaeda operative , who is believed to have planned the " Cole " attack , was killed by the CIA using an AGM - 114 Hellfire missile launched from an MQ - 1 Predator drone . Redeployment . On 20 August 2003 , " Cole " got underway with the Argentinian destroyer for a short group sail . Embarked onboard " Cole " was the Visit Board Search and Seizure ( VBSS ) Team from USS " Thorn " . Together with " Cole " s two VBSS teams they conducted a series of Maritime Interdiction Operation ( MIO ) Boarding ' s on both " Cole " and " Sarandi " to practice for the upcoming COMPTUEX . On 21 August , " Cole " fired CIWS and 5 " rounds during a Killer Tomato Exercise in addition to conducting a series of personnel transfers with " Sarandi " via " Sarandi " ' s helicopter . Three of " Cole " s officers had an opportunity to see what life is like aboard " Sarandi " for a few hours , while three of their officers had the same opportunity onboard " Cole " . USS Gonzalez joined the group to conduct their own MI0 boarding ' s and on the 22nd , all three ship ' s conducted an underway replenishment with USNS John Lenthall before heading back to Norfolk . The predeployment Composite Training Unit Exercise ( COMPTUEX ) tested " Cole " s crew and all of the Enterprise Strike Group from 10 September 2003 until the beginning of October , the first part which was a series of structured events . On the first day " Cole " s CIC teams participated in a jamming exercise , demonstrating for many new watchstanders the effects on " Cole " sensors while being jammed . The next day " Cole " was briefly called away from the exercises to help a distressed vessel , providing 75 gallons of fuel to Motor Vessel Kimberly L . , allowing her to get back to shore safely . Later that day " Cole " set up for two boardings of the USNS " Apache " , which were unfortunately canceled due to inclement weather . On 29 November 2003 " Cole " deployed for her first overseas deployment after the bombing . December began with " Cole " in company with fellow destroyers " Gonzalez " and " Thorn " , transiting the Atlantic Ocean for the deployment of Cruiser - Destroyer Group 12 , the " Enterprise " strike group . On December l , all three ships conducted an underway replenishment with USNS " Arctic " , the Surface Strike Group ' s last fuel stop until reaching Europe . She subsequently returned to her homeport of Norfolk , Virginia on 27 May 2004 , without incident . In 2005 Cole participated in Exercise BALTOPS 05 in the Baltic Sea . " Cole " returned to the U . S . in early July and was able to attend Fourth of July Celebrations in Philadelphia . The " Cole " deployed to the Middle East on 8 June 2006 , for the first time since the bombing . While passing the port city of Aden the crew manned the rails to honor the crewmembers killed in the bombing . She returned to her homeport of Norfolk on 6 December 2006 , again without incident . On 21 August 2006 , the Associated Press reported that the " Cole " ' s commanding officer at the time of the bombing , Commander Kirk Lippold , was denied promotion to the rank of Captain . On 28 February 2008 , " Cole " was sent to take station off Lebanon ' s coast , the first of an anticipated three - ship flotilla . Upgrade . On 12 November 2009 , the Missile Defense Agency announced that the " Cole " would be upgraded during fiscal year 2013 to RIM - 161 Standard Missile 3 ( SM - 3 ) capability in order to function as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System .