The USS Lake Erie (CG 70) (right), USS Mount Hood (AE 29) (center), USS Cimarron (AO 177) (left) and USS Chosin (CG 65) (far left), conduct operations in the Pacific Ocean on April 14, 1997. The ships are part of the aircraft carrier USS Constellation battle group en route to the Persian Gulf to enforce no-fly zones and monitor shipping to and from the region. (DoD photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class James W. Olive, U.S. Navy)PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Sailors of Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) returned to their homeport of Naval Station Pearl Harbor Sept. 4, following a four month deployment to the Western Pacific in support of the global war on terrorism.
“It’s great to come back home to family and friends,” said Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class (SW) Louie Myers. “This is something I always look forward to.”
When looking back on the deployment, Myers said he was glad to be a part of the team.
“The deployment was excellent, it’s great to know we did our part in supporting the [global] war on terrorism,” Myers added.
Family and friends of the 330 Sailor crew lined the pier waving "welcome home" signs and cheered the Sailors who manned the rails as the ship approached the pier.
“To see them as they come in and then greet them is a heartwarming and exciting feeling,” said a wife of a Lake Erie Sailor.
After the ship moored and the brow was in place, Capt. Randall Hendrickson, Lake Erie’s commanding officer, invited friends and family aboard the ship to welcome home their Sailors and help celebrate their safe return.
“From being dry-docked in October to performing every mission assigned to us in less than a year is amazing,” said Hendrickson. “I couldn’t have asked more from the crew, they performed exceptionally well.”
After a successful test of the ship’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense’s shipboard weapon system in April, Lake Erie and her crew departed Pearl Harbor on May 4, conducting missions in the 7th Fleet area of operations as well as participating in Exercise Talisman Saber 2007 and providing aircraft carrier escorts to USS Kitty Hawk, (CV 63), USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
During the deployment, the ship also made port visits to Yokosuka, Japan; Guam; and Darwin, Australia. While on liberty, Sailors took in the culture and customs the areas had to offer.
Lake Erie was commissioned in 1993, is 453 feet in length, 55 feet wide and can reach speeds of 30 plus knots. The ship is a multi-mission, anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, long-range strike and anti-surface warfare surface combatant capable of supporting carrier and expeditionary strike groups, amphibious forces, or of operating independently and as flagships of surface action groups.