The guided-missile destroyer USS Preble is slated to depart Tuesday from Pearl Harbor on an independent deployment to the Western Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy says.
While deployed, Preble and its crews of more than 300 will conduct theater security cooperation and maritime presence operations with partner nations, according to the Navy.
The mission of Preble, according to the Navy, is to conduct sustained combat operations at sea, provide primary protection for the Navy’s aircraft carriers and battle groups, as well as serve an escort to Navy and Marine Corps amphibious forces and auxiliary ships and conduct independent operations as necessary.
Preble, commissioned in 2002, is assigned to Destroyer Squadron 9 and is homeported in Hawaii as part of the U.S. 3rd Fleet. The 3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Eastern Pacific from the West Coast to the International Dateline.