The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) Crew 104, Detachment 1 from the “Magicians” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35, and Surface Warfare (SUW) Mission Package Detachment 3 are scheduled to return to San Diego Feb. 18.
Crew 104 and the embarked detachments completed the first four months of Fort Worth’s 16-month rotational deployment to U.S. 7th Fleet in support of America’s strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific. Crew 103, Detachment 2 from HSM 35 and SUW Detachment 1 departed San Diego for Singapore Feb. 8.
Deployed since Nov. 17, Crew 104 transited across the Pacific, making port visits in Hawaii, Guam and Jakarta before arriving in Singapore in late December, the ship’s primary maintenance logisitics hub during the rotational deployment. Crew 104 also participated in the search efforts for AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea.
HSM 35 Detachment 1 completed more than 230 hours with one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and one MQ-8B Fire Scout in support of surface warfare and search and rescue operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Operations (AO). Detachment 1 also searched more than 2,500 square miles in the Java Sea in support of the AirAsia search effort.
Fort Worth will employ the surface warfare mission package for her entire deployment, augmenting her 57mm gun and rolling airframe missile launcher with two 30mm guns, two 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats and two six-member maritime security boarding teams. During the multinational effort to locate the AirAsia plane, SUW Detachment 3 conducted 107 hours of search operations in the 11-meter RHIBs.
Fort Worth’s deployment to Singapore is in direct support of the Navy’s strategic rebalance to the Pacific.
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Image: US Navy