News

Navy to commission Guided Missile Destroyer Donald Cook NAVY WIRE SERVICE (NWS) - 30 November 1998 by DoD Public Affairs WASHINGTON (NWS) -- Guided Missile Destroyer Donald Cook (DDG 75) will be commissioned Dec. 4 at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is scheduled to be the ceremony's principal speaker. Laurette Cook, widow of the ship's namesake, is the ship's sponsor. In the time-honored Navy tradition, Mrs. Cook will give the order, "Man our ship and bring her to life!" The ship honors Marine Corps Col. Donald G. Cook (1934- 1967), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Reports indicate that Cook died in captivity after he succumbed to malaria on Dec. 8, 1967. The destroyer carries Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as Standard missiles to intercept hostile aircraft and missiles at extended ranges. Both Tomahawk and Standard missiles are launched from forward and aft Vertical Launching Systems. Donald Cook is also equipped with the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System and Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, which are fired from stand alone launchers. Its undersea warfare suite is the most advanced system in the world. The Tactical Towed-Array Sonar provides long- range passive detection of enemy submarines. The hull- mounted sonar can detect and track submarines actively and passively. After commissioning, USS Donald Cook will be homeported in Norfolk as a member of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet with a crew of 25 officers and 350 enlisted personnel. The ship was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. -USN-