HISTORY

USS DONALD COOK's keel was laid on July 9, 1996, at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship is the 25th Destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class. She was launched and christened on May 3, 1997.

USS DONALD COOK was commissioned on August 21, 1998 at Penn's Landing Pier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ship is named after Marine Colonel Donald G. Cook, a Prisoner of War during the Vietnam War and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Donald Cook's wife, Laurette, attended the ship's Commissioning Ceremony as the Ship's Sponsor.

USS DONALD COOK was the second ship to arrive in response to the tragic USS COLE bombing on October 12, 2000, providing medical, repair, and logistical support to the crew.

On March 21, 2003, USS DONALD COOK was the first surface combatant to fire Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

USS DONALD COOK arrived in Naval Station Rota, Spain on February 11, 2014, from Norfolk, VA, making DONALD COOK the first ship in Rota to form part of Destroyer Squadron 60. Since 2014, USS DONALD COOK has completed 10 full Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe Patrols in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.

USS DONALD COOK home port shifted in April of 2022 to Mayport, Florida. She is one of the Guided-Missile Destroyers assigned to Commander, Naval Surface Group Southeast.