USS Porter

## USS Porter (DDG-78)

USS Porter

**USS *Porter* (DDG-78)** is an *Arleigh Burke*-class destroyer in the United States Navy. *Porter* is the fifth US Navy ship to be named after US Navy officers Commodore David Porter, and his son, Admiral David Dixon Porter. This ship is the 28th destroyer of her class. *Porter* was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down on 2 December 1996, launched and christened on 12 November 1997, and commissioned 20 March 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida.

### Service History

#### OEF/OIF

From January to July 2003, *Porter* engaged in combat and support operations of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Joint Task Force (JTF) Cobra. *Porter* launched Tomahawk missiles during the Dora Farms and Shock and Awe stages of the Iraq War. *Porter* also worked with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) off the coast of Israel while some *Porter* Sailors worked with the IDF from the Nevatim base in the Negev desert of Southern Israel.

#### Piracy

On 28 October 2007, *Porter* attacked and sank two pirate skiffs off Somalia after receiving a distress call from the tanker MV *Golden Nori* which was under attack from pirates.

#### Upgrade

On 12 November 2009, the Missile Defense Agency announced that *Porter* 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. In 2016 the aft CIWS mount was replaced by a SeaRAM missile system.

#### Operation Nanook 2010

In August 2010, *Porter* and the United States Coast Guard buoy tender USCGC *Alder* participated in Operation Nanook 2010 in Baffin Bay and the Davis Straits. This was the fourth annual Operation Nanook organized by the Canadian Government, but it was the first to host foreign vessels.

#### Collision

On 12 August 2012, *Porter* collided with MV *Otowasan*, an oil tanker, near the Strait of Hormuz. The collision ripped a 3-by-3-meter (10 ft × 10 ft) hole in the starboard side of the destroyer, forcing her to Jebel Ali, Dubai for repairs. No one on either ship was injured. Initially Naval Forces Central Command did not provide details about the collision, saying that it was under investigation. *Porter*'s captain, Commander Martin Arriola, was subsequently removed from command of the ship and replaced by Commander Dave Richardson. On 12 October 2012, *Porter* rejoined Carrier Strike Group 12 for its transit through the Suez Canal following temporary repairs to the ship costing $700,000. Later repairs were budgeted at a cost of nearly $50 million.

#### Naval Station Rota

On 30 April 2015, *Porter* arrived at Naval Station Rota, Spain. Naval Station Rota is *Porter*'s new permanent homeport. *Porter* joins three other US destroyers at Rota. These four ships are assigned to the United States Sixth Fleet, and will conduct ballistic missile defense patrols in the Mediterranean Sea in support of Commander, US Sixth Fleet's mission.

#### Upgrade 2

In 2016, four destroyers patrolling with the U.S. 6th Fleet based in Naval Station Rota, Spain, including *Porter* received self-protection upgrades, replacing the aft Phalanx CIWS 20mm Vulcan cannon with the SeaRAM 11-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher. The SeaRam uses the same sensor dome as the Phalanx. This was the first time the close-range ship defense system was paired with an Aegis ship. All four ships to receive the upgrade were either Flight I or II, meaning they originally had two Phalanx CIWS systems when launched.

#### Attack on Shayrat Airfield

On 7 April 2017, a total of 59 Tomahawk missiles were fired by *Porter* and *Ross* at military targets at Shayrat Airbase in Homs, Syria, from their positions in the eastern Mediterranean. The missile strike was in response to the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack on 4 April 2017, which the U.S. government said was launched by the Syrian regime from Shayrat.

#### Defender Europe 2021

On 21 February 2021, *Porter* conducted an exercise with the Greek Navy's HS *Adrias* with four F-16s off southern Crete.

#### 2022 Baltic Exercise

In June 2022, *Porter* took part in the naval exercise BALTOPS 2022 in the Baltic Sea, where together with British destroyer HMS *Defender* (D36) and German frigate *Sachsen (F219)*, she provided an air defense screen for the task group centered around USS *Kearsarge* (LHD-3) and USS *Gunston Hall* (LSD-44).

#### Homeport Shift

On 28 September 2022, *Porter* departed Naval Station Rota for the last time as part of a homeport shift of the Rota-based destroyers. In October 2022, the Navy announced that *Porter* arrived at Norfolk after 7 years serving as a Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) destroyer. USS *Bulkeley* replaced *Porter* at Rota.

### Awards

* Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Award for outstanding food service - (2020)