Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) returned to their homeport of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam following the ship’s surge deployment to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations, June 25. During their deployment, Preble, with their embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET), recovered 100 bales of suspected cocaine totaling an estimated 2,000 kilograms, worth over an estimated wholesale value of $40 million. Preble, along with a detachment from “Easyriders” from Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 37, deployed in March 2020 to conduct U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations missions in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
“The success of this deployment was due to our Sailors and embarked Coast Guardsmen working together daily for a common cause – enhanced counter-narcotics operations. We thank our Preble families and friends whose unwavering support made it possible for their loved ones, our Sailors, to succeed at sea and complete our mission.” Leonardo Giovannelli, Preble’s commanding officer.
“We took all available precautions before the start of the deployment,” said Cmdr. Peter Lesaca, Preble’s executive officer. “I credit our Sailors for understanding the gravity of the pandemic, keeping themselves in good health, and taking care of their shipmates to keep the ship safe.”
USS Preble (DDG 88) joined other U.S. Navy warships, numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperating in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, are all playing a role in counter-drug operations. U.S. 3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Indo-Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy. U.S. 3rd Fleet works with U.S. 4th Fleet to complement one another and provide commanders capable, ready assets across the spectrum of military operations in the Pacific.
USS Preble (DDG-88) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the sixth U.S. Navy ship named in honor of Commodore Edward Preble, who served in the American Revolutionary War and was one of the early leaders of the U.S. Navy. USS Preble is the 38th destroyer of her class. She was the 17th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and construction began on 22 June 2000. She was launched on 1 June 2001 and was christened on 9 June 2001. On 9 November 2002, she was commissioned during a ceremony at the Commonwealth Pier/World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts. At her commissioning ceremony USS Preble was docked bow to bow with USS Constitution, the command of her namesake.
