Norfolk-based USS Forrest Sherman deploys to Europe — again

For the second time in less than six months, USS Forrest Sherman is headed for Europe — this time to serve as flagship for a NATO immediate reaction force in the Mediterranean.

The Norfolk-based destroyer deployed this weekend, just five weeks after returning from a surge deployment this winter and spring, operating in the North Sea and Baltic as tensions mounted in Ukraine.

That deployment was a key test of the Navy’s ability to bring East Coast ships back into action shortly after yet another, earlier deployment — a time when crews are normally scrambling to prepare for a trip to a shipyard for scheduled maintenance.

It also marked the first time Norfolk-based 2nd fleet took operational command and control of deployed ships since its re-establishment in 2018.

“The sailors aboard Forrest Sherman are incredibly talented and resilient,” said Cmdr. Greg Page, commanding officer of USS Forrest Sherman.

This time, Forrest Sherman will serve as the flagship for Standing NATO Maritime Group Two, succeeding Italian frigate Carlo Margottini. The group usually comprises four to six destroyers or frigates and currently includes a British destroyer and frigates from France, Spain and Canada, as well as supply ships from Spain and Germany. On this deployment, Forrest Sherman will also operate with ships from Greece and Romania.

Since 2019, the group has been assigned to patrol the Mediterranean.

That should make for warmer, calmer steaming compared to the destroyer’s February to April deployment. That deployment gave its sailors a taste of some of the roughest and coldest waters around: crossing the North Atlantic in the middle of winter, escorting the Italian carrier Garibaldi through the North Sea and operating with a Swedish ship and NATO allies in the narrow waters of the Baltic.

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com