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USS Cole (DDG 67)

USS COLE is the 17^th ARLEIGH BURKE class guided missile destroyer and first ship in the Navy named after Marine Corps Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS COLE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

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• Click here to see which USS COLE memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS COLE Cruise Books:

• Mediterranean and Arabian Sea Cruise Book 2000
• Mediterranean Cruise Book 2003-04
• Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Baltic Sea Cruise Book 2008
• Mediterranean Cruise Book 2012-13
• Mediterranean Cruise Book 2014-15

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USS COLE's Commanding Officers:

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About the Ship’s Name, about Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole:

On August 25 ,1941, Cole enlisted in the Marine Corps for the duration of the National Emergency, and following a boot training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he was appointed to the Field Music School for training as a Marine Corps Field Music, the equivalent of a bugler. Completing instruction, he was transferred to the First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, and on August 7, 1942, reached the shores of Guadalcanal for the first American offensive of World War II.

Not too happy in his role of field music when he had joined a fighting outfit to fight and after acquitting himself meritoriously as a machine gunner in the absence of the regular gunner, he applied for a change in rating, but was refused due to the shortage of buglers. Cole completed his first overseas tour of duty and returned to the United States in February 1943, where he joined First Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines, then forming as a part of the Fourth Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. When the unit moved to California he again asked for relief as a Field Music and for permission to perform line duties, but was again refused due to the shortage of buglers in the Marine Corps.

During the first engagement of the Fourth Division at Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll, Cole, again forsaking his bugle, went into action as a machine-gunner. Four months later, when the Division stormed ashore at Saipan, he had been assigned to a machine-gun unit. Because of his proven ability in combat, he was designated a machine gun section leader. During the battle when his squad leader was killed, Cole, although wounded, assumed command of the entire squad and acquitted himself in such a manner to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for "...his resolute leadership, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious determination in the face of terrific opposition..." , He was also awarded the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received in action.

A few days after the battle of Saipan, Cole, again led his squad ashore in the invasion of the neighboring islands of Tinian, where he continued to live up to his growing reputation as "The Fighting Field Music."

After the Marianas campaigns he again requested a change of rating and this time his request was approved and he was redesignated Corporal "line" and was subsequently promoted to Sergeant in November 1944. On February 19, 1945, Sergeant Cole led his machine gun section ashore in the D-Day assault of Iwo Jima. Moving forward with the initial assault wave, their advance was halted by a hail of fire from two Japanese emplacements which Sergeant Cole personally destroyed with hand grenades. His unit continued to advance until pinned down for a second time by enemy fire from three Japanese gun emplacements. One of these emplacements was silenced by Cole's machine guns, but then jammed. Armed only with a pistol and one hand grenade, Sergeant Cole made a one-man attack against the two remaining positions. Twice he returned to his own lines for additional grenades and continued the attack under fierce enemy fire until he had succeeded in destroying the Japanese strong point. Returning to his own squad, he was instantly killed by an enemy grenade. By his one-man attack and heroic self-sacrifice, Sergeant Cole enabled his company to move forward against fortifications and attain their ultimate objective.

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Accidents aboard USS COLE:

Date	Where	Events
October 12, 2000	Port of Aden, Yemen	As part of the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON Battle Group, USS COLE was in transit from the Red Sea to a port visit in Bahrain when the ship stopped in Aden for routine refueling. Yemen is the Defense Fuel Support Point that had been open just over a year. It had been used 12 times in the year before, usually when an oiler was not part a battle group. The fueling point is in the center of an industrial harbor and consists of concrete pilings built specifically for commercial refueling. The piping runs under the harbor and the fuel is taken directly form those pipes. COLE completed mooring operations at 9:30 a.m. Refueling started at 10:30 a.m. Later, a small boat approached the COLE. At 11:18 a.m. Bahrain time (3:18 a.m. EDT), when the small boat was situated on the port side of the destroyer an explosion occurred causing a 40-foot by 40-foot gash in the port side of the COLE. Damage control efforts to manage flooding in the ship's engineering spaces were reported successful that evening. Divers have conducted preliminary inspections of the hull and said the keel is not damaged. USS DONALD COOK (DDG 75) and USS HAWES (FFG 53) were making best speed to arrive in the vicinity of Aden that afternoon providing repair and logistical support. Additionally USNS CATAWBA (T-ATF 168), USS CAMDEN (AOE 2), USS ANCHORAGE (LSD 36), USS DULUTH (LPD 6), and the USS TARAWA (LHA 1) arrived in Aden some days later, providing watch relief crews, harbor security, damage control equipment, billeting, and food service for the crew of COLE. The explosion killed 17 of COLE's 320 sailors and injured 39 others. The injured sailors were brought to the Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near Ramstein, Germany, and were later flown to the US. "If, as it now appears, this was an act of terrorism it was a despicable and cowardly act. We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable," President Clinton said. Pentagon officials said that two men aboard the small boat were seen standing at attention just before the blast that destroyed the little boat and took their lives. Officials said it appeared the small boat was carrying some form of explosive powerful enough to rip the hole in the ship. "This is not something you do with a few sticks of dynamite," said Michael Dunn, editor of The Middle East Journal in Washington. "This was done by someone who knew quite a bit about explosives." The FBI also was investigating a report out of London that a Yemeni Islamic group, the Army of Mohammed and the Army of Aden-Abyan, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Explosive Ordnance Detachment personnel, and Navy investigators were also on the scene and were working to determine the cause of the incident, along with FBI and other federal officials. Nearly all the Islamic terrorist groups have one thing in common: They want all U.S. forces out of the Middle East, which they consider to be Muslim land. Security rules in effect the day the USS COLE was attacked by terrorists in Yemen required the crew to take special precautions against approaches by small harbor craft - of the kind that sidled up to the COLE and detonated a bomb - according to Pentagon counterterrorism guidelines. "Shipboard terrorist threatcon measures," described in a Pentagon document that came to light during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in late October, included the following precautionary measures for ships operating at the threat level that existed on Oct. 12, the day of the attack: Harbor craft "require special concern because they can serve as an ideal platform for terrorists." Unauthorized craft should be kept away from the ship; authorized craft should be carefully controlled and monitored. Crews for picket boats should be designated and placed on 15-minute alert. "If the situation warrants, make random picket boat patrols in the immediate vicinity of the ship." The picket boat crews should be armed with M16 rifles, one M60 with 200 rounds of ammunition and 10 concussion grenades. Fire hoses should be prepared for use in repelling small boats or boarders. A sailor who was on watch aboard the Cole, for example, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" on Sunday that he noticed the small boat approaching but assumed it was among the authorized harbor craft that normally approach a Navy ship in port to assist in disposing of its garbage and performing other routine services. Initially, the Navy said the attacking boat masked its approach by joining a small flotilla of harbor craft that was helping the COLE moor at a refueling station in the harbor. Later, however, the Navy said it had misstated the sequence of events and that, in fact, the mooring operation was finished two hours before the attack. Security conditions in Aden, as assessed by U.S. officials at the time, put the COLE in what the military calls "threatcon bravo," which is two notches above a routine security posture and two notches below the highest alert level, known as "threatcon delta." Even at "threatcon alpha" - one notch below "bravo" - the COLE was required to pay special attention to harbor craft, according to the Pentagon guidelines. A heavy lift ship, the BLUE MARLIN, was contracted to bring USS COLE back to the U.S. The process of placing COLE onto the Blue Marlin took place on October 30, after the USNS CATAWBA had towed the COLE out of Aden harbor to deeper water. The operation of returning the destroyer to the U.S. took six weeks and costed about $4,5 million. Once COLE was secured aboard the BLUE MARLIN, some of the crew were flown home although some essential personnel remained with their ship for the transit. On November 9, 2000, the Navy announced that Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., would repair USS COLE. BLUE MARLIN and USS COLE arrived there on December 13, 2000. COLE's industrial availability began in January 2001 and was expected to take about one year to complete. The Navy estimated that the repairs would cost an estimated $240 million. In fact, repairs were completed much earlier and COLE was relaunched at Ingalls on September 14, 2001. Killed in the incident were: Electronics Technician First Class Richard Costelow, Morrisville, Pa. Signalman Seaman Recruit Cheron Ouis Gunn, Rex, Ga. Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, Norfolk, Va. Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer, San Diego, Calif. Operations Specialist Second Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, Ringold, Va. Ensign Andrew Triplett, Macon, Miss. Seaman Apprentice Craig Bryan Wibberley, Williamsport, Md. Hull Maintenance Technician Third Class Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, Mechanicsville, Va. Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis, Woodleaf, N.C. Information Systems Technician Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna, Rice, Texas Engineman Second Class Mark Ian Nieto, Fond Du Lac, Wis. Electronics Warfare Technician Third Class Ronald Scott Owens, Vero Beach, Fla. Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett, Churchville, Md. Fireman Apprentice Patrick Howard Roy, Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y. Electronics Warfare Technician Second Class Kevin Shawn Rux, Portland, N.D. Mess Management Specialist Third Class Ronchester Mananga Santiago, Kingsville, Texas Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis, Jr., Rockport, Texas The Navy held a special memorial service for the fallen at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., the COLE's home port, on October 18. Click here to read newspaper articles about the USS COLE attack. Click here to listen to an announcement of Lt. Terrence Dudley, PAO 5th Fleet, relating the attack on COLE. Click here for more photos.
July 30, 2015	Norfolk, Va.	USS COLE suffers a fire while undergoing a Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at Marine Hydraulics International Inc., Norfolk, Va. The fire started around 08:40 p.m. and was under control by 09:34 p.m. Navy personnel was assisted by firefighters from the city of Norfolk in putting out the fire. No injuries were reported.

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USS COLE History:

USS COLE was commissioned at Port Everglades, Florida, on June 8, 1996, and entered fleet service from Norfolk, Virginia. She completed her post-commissioning workups through 1997 as an AEGIS Flight I destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, and closed the year with the Battle "E", reflecting top performance in the Atlantic surface force. The ship entered 1998 in a sustained readiness posture for deployment with the Atlantic Fleet. In early spring, after transiting the Mediterranean and Suez, COLE relieved USS CARNEY (DDG 64) in the Arabian Gulf and conducted Maritime Interdiction Operations enforcing United Nations sanctions on Iraq. These boardings and presence missions aligned with the broader enforcement of post-1991 Gulf War resolutions and with air policing under Operation Southern Watch. She operated under Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet until late spring, then retraced the route back through the Red Sea and Mediterranean to Norfolk, concluding the deployment in 1998.

During 1999, the destroyer remained primarily in the Western Atlantic and Western Hemisphere operating areas, cycling through maintenance, inspections, and fleet exercises to prepare for her next Inter-Deployment Training Cycle. That cycle peaked in 2000: from March 7 to April 7, 2000, COLE took part in COMPTUEX 00-2 as part of an Atlantic strike group in the Gulf of Mexico operating areas. From May 9 to May 22, 2000, she executed a Joint Task Force Exercise off the U.S. East Coast, validating integrated air, surface, and subsurface warfare skills. On August 8, 2000, COLE deployed eastbound to the Mediterranean and Adriatic and then toward the Red Sea and Gulf, transited the Suez Canal on October 9, 2000, and continued toward a planned fuel stop at Aden, Yemen. On October 12, 2000, at 11:18 local time, the ship was attacked alongside the fueling berth by a suicide boat. Seventeen sailors were killed and thirty-seven injured. Stabilization, damage control, and external assistance followed. The hull was later transported aboard the heavy-lift ship BLUE MARLIN to Pascagoula for repair. The broader context was al-Qaeda's campaign that had included a failed January 2000 attempt against USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG 68) and, later, U.S. counterterrorism actions and legal proceedings against perpetrators and state sponsors. COLE's repaired hull was redelivered to the fleet, and the ship returned to forward operations later in the decade.

After comprehensive repairs and re-certification, COLE resumed overseas operations with a deployment beginning November 29, 2003. She crossed with other Atlantic destroyers and operated in the U.S. Sixth Fleet theater through spring 2004, before returning to Norfolk on May 27, 2004. The following year, she joined the large NATO exercise BALTOPS 2005 in the Baltic Sea, then made a scheduled port visit to Philadelphia for Independence Day events from June 30 to July 6, 2005.

COLE deployed again to the Middle East on June 8, 2006, returning to the U.S. Fifth Fleet's waters for the first time since 2000 and completing the cruise by December 6, 2006. In 2008, she was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean amid the Lebanese political crisis. On February 28-29, 2008, COLE took station off Lebanon as a Sixth Fleet signal of support for regional stability, joined by elements of the NASSAU (LHA 4) Expeditionary Strike Group. That posture messaging was directed toward Damascus and Beirut during a period of acute political deadlock.

Through 2009, COLE split time between training and Atlantic/European commitments. In October 2009, she participated in the multinational exercise Joint Warrior off Scotland, part of a large NATO/partner warfare problem set spanning anti-submarine, anti-surface, and air defense events. That same year the Missile Defense Agency slated COLE to receive an Aegis BMD upgrade in the FY2013 modernization window, aligning the destroyer with evolving European and Middle East ballistic-missile defense tasking.

In 2010, COLE deployed again through the Mediterranean and Suez to the Fifth Fleet region and was assigned to STANDING NATO MARITIME GROUP 2 for combined maritime security and counter-piracy tasking. After transiting back into Sixth Fleet later in the year, she completed the cruise and moored again in Norfolk, closing out the 2010 operating cycle.

From mid-2012 into early 2013, the destroyer returned to Sixth Fleet on an independent deployment. On July 19, 2012, she made a scheduled port visit to Souda Bay, Crete, during a period of routine Mediterranean presence operations, bilateral PASSEXs, and small-boat defense training evolutions with regional partners, including the Israeli Navy - part of the wider U.S. posture that supported NATO's counter-terrorism Operation Active Endeavour and regional maritime security after the Arab Spring. The 2012-2013 command history notes exceptionally high SPY radar availability and self-help maintenance that preserved readiness.

Through early 2014, COLE trained up for another European deployment. She sailed from Norfolk on August 22, 2014, for a Seventh-month Sixth Fleet cruise that emphasized allied interoperability and ballistic-missile defense patrols. Activities included the Turkish-led anti-submarine exercise Mavi Balina, a passing exercise with the French Navy's CHARLES DE GAULLE Carrier Strike Group, additional PASSEXs with Romania, Turkey, Israel, and France; and maritime security in support of Operation Active Endeavour, including periods in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. Port visits included, among others, Haifa and Piraeus. COLE returned to Norfolk on March 13, 2015.

In the latter half of the 2010s, the ship continued Atlantic Fleet tasking, modernization, and periodic deployments. In early February 2017, COLE moved to the Gulf of Aden for a presence mission following an attack on a Saudi frigate off Yemen, aligning with U.S. Fifth Fleet security operations around the Bab-el-Mandeb.

Through 2018 and 2019, the ship cycled through maintenance and basic-phase training. A change of command in Norfolk on October 30, 2020, recorded that COLE's captain had assumed in May 2019 and led the crew through the end of a Maintenance Availability and into the Basic Phase, including the Engineering Light-Off Assessment, contractor and type-commander trials - milestones that frame a destroyer's return to full combat certification. The period also included annual October remembrance ceremonies at the COLE Memorial in Norfolk, which remained touchstones for the crew, families and alumni.

In late 2021, COLE shifted from unit-level training to integrated operations with CARRIER STRIKE GROUP EIGHT. The HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) CSG completed COMPTUEX on October 26, 2021, and got underway for deployment on December 1. During December 2021 and early January 2022, the strike group dispersed to several European ports for the holidays before commencing sustained operations in the Mediterranean as the Russia-Ukraine crisis intensified. On January 24, 2022, NATO took operational control of the entire U.S. carrier strike group for exercises - an uncommon Cold-War-style arrangement reflecting the gravity of the security environment.

COLE then crossed the Suez Canal to work under U.S. 5th Fleet while remaining aligned with the HARRY S. TRUMAN team. On February 3, 2022, she was pierside in Bahrain as U.S., Israeli and Bahraini defense leaders met on maritime security cooperation, a visible outcome of the growing trilateral alignment in the Gulf. Later that month, she returned to the Red Sea and on March 27, 2022, moored in Eilat, Israel, to begin the 10-day U.S.-Israeli exercise Intrinsic Defender, which focused on maritime security operations, EOD, medical topics and the integration of unmanned systems. In May 2022, she was documented in Taranto, Italy, and conducting vertical replenishment in the Mediterranean as the strike group continued high-tempo operations across the theater. COLE returned to Norfolk on September 9, 2022, concluding a nine-month cruise that had spanned NATO reassurance in the Mediterranean and periods supporting 5th Fleet maritime security. The strike group's deployment, extended in the spring, was among the most visible U.S. naval responses to the war in Ukraine.

During 2023, COLE reset in the sustainment phase, completing post-deployment maintenance and preparing for her next certification and integrated events - work typical of the OFRP cycle that bridges a long cruise and the next set of readiness milestones.

In spring 2024, COLE completed another integrated certification: on May 12, 2024, Navy reporting noted the completion of COMPTUEX in the western Atlantic, with COLE participating alongside deploying forces to validate major warfare areas and command-and-control for the upcoming deployment. She then deployed for more than seven months across both 6th and 5th Fleet waters, operating in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Gulf as tensions spiked in the Middle East and as multinational coalitions worked to protect shipping from missile and drone threats and to reassure regional partners. A Navy photo set shows COLE pierside at Souda Bay on October 17, 2024, one of several Mediterranean logistics stops during a busy fall in theater. She returned to Naval Station Norfolk on December 23, 2024, after 224 days away - an end-of-year homecoming widely covered in local and national media.

From early 2025, after post-deployment stand-down and upkeep, COLE was tasked to a stateside maritime-security mission supporting U.S. Northern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet along the southern approaches, relieving USS GRAVELY (DDG 107) out of Mayport in June. The assignment, undertaken with an embarked U.S. Coast Guard law-enforcement detachment, reflected a broader interagency maritime security effort in the Western Hemisphere and shows how an East Coast destroyer alternates between blue-water deterrence missions abroad and homeland-adjacent security tasks closer to the Americas.

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Homeports of USS COLE:

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USS COLE Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Karl-Heinz Ahles and shows USS COLE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va, in September 1998.

The photos below were taken by Brian Barton and show USS COLE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on July 23, 2002.

The photo below was taken by Carl Groll and shows USS COLE moored alongside USS ANZIO (CG 68) at Naval Base Kiel, Germany, on June 17, 2005, following their participation in BALTOPS 2005.

The photos below were taken by me and show USS COLE moored alongside USS ANZIO (CG 68) at Naval Base Kiel, Germany, on June 18, 2005, following their participation in BALTOPS 2005.

The photos below were taken by me and show the COLE at Kiel, Germany on June 20-22, 2008, after her participation in BALTOPS 2008.

The photos below were taken by me and show the USS COLE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va, on November 9, 2008.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS COLE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va, on May 8, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS COLE at the Marine Hydraulics Shipyard at Norfolk, Va., undergoing a Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) on October 6, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Steven Collingwood and show the USS COLE passing Fort Monroe after departure from Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on January 11, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Steven Collingwood and show the USS COLE arriving at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on February 24, 2016.

The photo below was taken by Cindy M. and shows the USS COLE shortly before getting underway from Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain, on March 15, 2017. At the time the photo was taken, the COLE had already completed exactly 3 months of an independent deployment to the Middle East.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the USS COLE at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair at Norfolk, Va., on September 21, 2018.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS COLE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on December 7, 2019. The ship has just completed an Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) and is now back at the Naval Base. A number of sensors and weapons systems are still missing.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the USS COLE along with sistership USS BAINBRIDGE (DDG 96) at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va., on September 6, 2022. Both ships are at the end of a seven-month deployment to the US 5th and 6th Fleet Areas of Operations. They conducted an ammo offload at Yorktown from September 4-9 before returning home to Naval Base Norfolk on September 9.

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