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USS COLE DDG-67

Home » Ships » DDG-67

Hull Number: DDG-67

Launch Date: 02/10/1995

Commissioned Date: 06/08/1996


Class: ARLEIGH BURKE

ARLEIGH BURKE Class

Namesake: DARRELL SAMUEL COLE

DARRELL SAMUEL COLE

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole (July 20, 1920 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine who posthumously received the United States‘ highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his conspicuous gallantry at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Although he was originally assigned to play the bugle, Sergeant Cole repeatedly requested that his rating be changed from field musician to machine-gunner. Although rated as a bugler he fought as a machine-gunner in several major campaigns of World War II including Guadalcanal, Tinian, and Saipan.

On his fourth request to change his rating to machine-gunner the request was approved 4 months before he was sent into combat again on Iwo Jima. During the battle, Cole made a successful one-man attack against two gun emplacements impeding the advance of his company. Upon returning to his squad, he was killed by an enemy grenade.

In 1996 the United States Navy named USS Cole (DDG-67), a destroyer, in his honor. This destroyer was damaged in a suicide attack in Yemen but subsequently repaired and is currently in service.

Darrell Cole was born July 20, 1920, in Esther (now part of Park Hills), Missouri.[1] He attended high school in Esther, graduating in 1938. Before graduating, his main interests were sports; particularly basketball, hunting and photography. He also learned to play the french horn which later led to him being assigned as a bugler.[1]

After graduating from high school, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), where he became an assistant forestry clerk and assistant educational advisor for his company. He left after one year and he went to Detroit, Michigan where he worked at a company that made engine gaskets.[1]

On August 25, 1941, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Following United States Marine Corps Recruit Training at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina, he was appointed to the Field Music School for training as a Marine Corps Field Musician (a bugler). He was unhappy with being a field musician because he had joined the Marine Corps to fight. He applied for a change in rating to be a machine-gunner, but was refused due to the shortage of buglers. After completing field music school, he was transferred to the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.[1]

After completing his first overseas tour, he returned to the United States in February 1943 and was assigned to the First Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. When his unit moved to California he again asked for relief as a field musician; and for permission to perform line duties. Again, due to the shortage of buglers in the Marine Corps, his request was denied.[1] Throughout the course of World War II, until his death on Iwo Jima, Cole participated in several battles and campaigns as a machine-gunner and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1944.[1]

The Battle of Guadalcanal, was fought between August 7, 1942, and February 7, 1943, in the Pacific theatre of World War II and was the first major offensive launched by allied forces against the Empire of Japan. Cole arrived on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942, for the first American offensive of World War II; and his first opportunity to fill in as a machine-gunner in the absence of the regular gunner.[1]

After Guadalcanal, Cole served in several more battles throughout the Pacific theatre, including the battles of Kwajalein, Saipan and Tinian. The United States launched an assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944. The Japanese defenders put up a stiff resistance though outnumbered and under-prepared. Although the United States won the battle the determined defenses of Roi-Namur left only 51 Japanese survivors of an original garrison of 3,500. During this engagement of the 4th Division Cole, again forsaking his bugle, stepped in as a machine-gunner.[1]

When Cole was sent to fight with his unit in Saipan, he was assigned to a machine gun unit; and was designated as a machine gun section leader. During the battle his squad leader was killed and Cole, although wounded, assumed command of the entire squad. He was awarded the Bronze Star for “…his resolute leadership, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious determination in the face of terrific opposition.” and was awarded the Purple Heart for the wounds he received.[1]

When fighting began on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from July 24 to August 1, 1944, Cole’s unit was sent in a few days after the battle began. Cole again led his squad ashore in the invasion and defeat of the neighboring islands of Tinian; and continued to build his reputation as “The Fighting Field Musician.”[1]

The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean, between June and November, 1944 during the Pacific War. It was after the Marianas campaign, that he submitted a request for a change of rating for the third time.[1] Pointing out his experience and combat record, he stated that he felt he would be of more benefit to the Marine Corps performing line duties than those of field music.[1] This time his request was approved and he was redesignated Corporal and subsequently promoted to Sergeant in November 1944.[1]

The Battle of Iwo Jima was fought between the United States and the Japanese Empire, in February and March 1945 during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Ground fighting on the island took place over approximately 36 days; lasting from the landings of February 17 to a final Japanese charge the morning of March 26, 1945. The U.S. invasion, known as Operation Detachment, was charged with the mission of capturing the island’s airfields.[2] The Japanese positions on the island were heavily fortified, with vast bunkers, hidden artillery, and 18 kilometers (11 mi) of tunnels.[3]

On February 19, Sergeant Cole led his machine gun section ashore in the D-Day assault of Iwo Jima. Moving forward with the initial assault wave, a hail of fire from two enemy emplacements halted his section’s advance. Sergeant Cole personally destroyed them 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 destroyed by a machine-gunner in Cole’s squad. When his machine guns jammed, armed only with a pistol and one hand grenade, Sergeant Cole made a one-man attack against the two remaining gun emplacements. 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 enemy strong points.[1]

Upon returning to his own squad, he was killed by an enemy grenade. As a result of his one-man attack, Sergeant Cole’s company could move forward against the fortifications and attain their ultimate objective.[1] Sergeant Cole was initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, but at the request of his father, his remains were returned to the United States to be buried in Parkview Cemetery, Farmington, Missouri.

In addition to the Medal of Honor and Bronze Star Medal, Sergeant Cole was awarded the Purple Heart with Gold Star in lieu of a second award, the Presidential Unit Citation, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.[1]

Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, which was presented to his widow on April 17, 1947.[1] The citation reads as follows.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Leader of a Machine-gun Section of Company B, First Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines, Fourth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the assault on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, 19 February 1945. Assailed by a tremendous volume of small-arms, mortar and artillery fire as he advanced with one squad of his section in the initial assault wave, Sergeant Cole boldly led his men up the sloping beach toward Airfield Number One despite the blanketing curtain of flying shrapnel and, personally destroying with hand grenades two hostile emplacements which menaced the progress of his unit, continued to move forward until a merciless barrage of fire emanating from three Japanese pillboxes halted the advance. Instantly placing his one remaining machine gun in action, he delivered a shattering fusillade and succeeded in silencing the nearest and most threatening emplacement before his weapon jammed and the enemy, reopening fire with knee mortars and grenades, pinned down his unit for the second time. Shrewdly gauging the tactical situation and evolving a daring plan of counterattack, Sergeant Cole, armed solely with a pistol and one grenade, coolly advanced alone to the hostile pillboxes. Hurling his one grenade at the enemy in sudden, swift attack, he quickly withdrew, returned to his own lines for additional grenades and again advanced, attacked, and withdrew. With enemy guns still active, he ran the gauntlet of slashing fire a third time to complete the total destruction of the Japanese strong point and the annihilation of the defending garrison in this final assault. Although instantly killed by an enemy grenade as he returned to his squad, Sergeant Cole had eliminated a formidable Japanese position, thereby enabling his company to storm the remaining fortifications, continue the advance and seize the objective. By his dauntless initiative, unfaltering courage and indomitable determination during a critical period of action, Sergeant Cole served as an inspiration to his comrades, and his stouthearted leadership in the face of almost certain death sustained and enhanced the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.[1]



Ship History

USS COLE DDG-67 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Cole (DDG-67) is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer home-ported in Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Cole is named in honor of Marine Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, during World War II. Cole is one of 62 authorized Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, and one of 21 members of the Flight I-class that used the 5 in(127 mm)/54 caliber gun mounts found on the earliest of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The ship was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and was delivered to the Navy on 11 March 1996.

On 12 October 2000, Cole was bombed in a suicide attack carried out by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 sailors, injuring 39 others, and damaging the ship.[5] On 29 November 2003, Cole engaged in her first overseas deployment after the bombing and subsequently returned to her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, on 27 May 2004 without incident.

Cole was launched on 10 February 1995 and commissioned on 8 June 1996 in Port Everglades, Florida.[6] Cole was in continual service for the United States Navy for several years after being commissioned, but an al-Qaeda terrorist attack in 2000, allegedly plotted by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, heavily damaged the ship, requiring extensive repairs, although still capable of eventually returning to service.

Cole spent the first seven months of 2000 completing the intermediate and advanced portions of the Inter-Deployment Training Cycle.[7] From 7 March to 7 April, Cole participated in Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) 00-2 as part of Cruiser-Destroyer Group 2, led by the aircraft carrier George Washington, operating within the Gulf of Mexico operating areas. Cole was the only unit not ‘damaged’ during the exercise. From 9 to 22 May, Cole participated in Joint Task Force Exercise 00-2 with the battle group, operating within the Cherry Point and Virginia Capes operating areas. On 8 August 2000, Cole departed on deployment, spending much time in the Mediterranean and Adriatic.

On 12 October 2000, while at anchor in Aden for refueling, Cole was attacked by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who sailed a small boat near the destroyer and detonated explosive charges.[5] The blast created a hole in the port side of the ship about 40 feet (12 m) in diameter, killing 17 crew members and injuring 39.[8] The ship was under the command of Commander Kirk Lippold.

Eleven seriously injured sailors — two women and nine men — were evacuated to various hospitals in Aden by French Air Force Transall C-160 airplanes from the French Forces of Djibouti. French forces were mobilized to treat the wounded. Afterward, a USAF McDonnell Douglas C-9 evacuated them.

Cole was returned to the United States aboard the Dutch heavy-lift ship MV Blue Marlin, owned by Dockwise of the Netherlands. The ship was off-loaded 13 December 2000 from Blue Marlin in a dredged deep-water facility at the Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Ingalls Operations. On 14 January 2001, Cole was moved from the floating dry dock at Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding to the land facility to begin her restoration process fully. Cole‘s movement over land was accomplished by a system of electrically powered cars that traveled on rails. Cole was moved to a construction bay near where the ship was originally built five years before.[9] On 1 July 2001, still under repair, she was transferred to Carrier Group 2, led by the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman.

On 14 September 2001, Cole was moved from drydock into the water once again. Initially scheduled for 15 September, the transfer was done the night of 14 September secretly to avoid the large media event originally scheduled one month before the September 11 attacks. Moving the ship from the dry dock to the water took around 8 hours. As part of the increased security surrounding the undocking, sister ship USS Bulkeley provided weapons and a physical presence to deter the possibility of any militant activity during the move. After 14 months of repair, Cole departed on 19 April 2002, and returned to her home port of Norfolk, Virginia.

On 3 December 2001, Cole transitioned from Destroyer Squadron 22, to COMDESRON 18 and the Enterprise Battle Group. The move to CDS 18 was followed by a visit to Cole by Commodore Daniel Holloway, Commander, Destroyer Squadron 18, on 10–11 December 2001.

The U.S. government offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of people who committed or aided in the attack on Cole. Al-Qaeda was suspected of targeting Cole following the failure of a 3 January 2000 attack on the destroyer The Sullivans, one of the 2000 millennium attack plots.

On 4 November 2002, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a suspected al-Qaeda operative who is believed to have planned the Cole attack, was killed in Yemen by the Central Intelligence Agency using an AGM-114 Hellfire missile launched from a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator drone.

In April 2019, a federal court dismissed two years of rulings in pretrial proceedings by the judge overseeing the military trial of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged leader of the 2000 bombing of Cole, at Guantánamo Bay; the case was expected to drag on for years.[10][unreliable source?]

On 13 February 2020, the government of Sudan agreed to compensate the families of the sailors who died in the bombing.[11]

On 20 August 2003, Cole got underway with the Argentine destroyer Sarandí for a short group sail.[12] Embarked onboard Cole was the Visit Board Search and Seizure Team from the destroyer Thorn. Together with Cole‘s two VBSS teams, they conducted a series of Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) boardings on both Cole and Sarandí to practice for the upcoming Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX). On 21 August, Cole fired CIWS and 5-inch rounds during a Killer Tomato Exercise in addition to conducting a series of personnel transfers with Sarandí via Sarandí‘s helicopter. Three of each ship’s officers spent a few hours on their counterpart. The destroyer Gonzalez joined the group to conduct their own MIO boardings. On 22 August, all three ships conducted an underway replenishment with the supply vessel John Lenthall before heading back to Norfolk.

The predeployment COMPTUEX tested Cole‘s crew and all of the Enterprise Strike Group from 10 September 2003 until the beginning of October, starting with a series of structured events. On the first day, Cole‘s CIC teams participated in a jamming exercise, demonstrating the effects on Cole‘s sensors while being jammed.

On 29 November 2003 Cole deployed for her first overseas deployment after the bombing. December began with Cole in company with fellow destroyers Gonzalez and Thorn, transiting the Atlantic Ocean for the deployment of Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12, the Enterprise strike group. On 1 December, all three ships conducted an underway replenishment with the supply vessel Arctic, the Surface Strike Group’s last fuel stop until reaching Europe. She subsequently returned to her home port of Norfolk on 27 May 2004, without incident.

In 2005 Cole participated in Exercise BALTOPS 05 in the Baltic Sea. Cole returned to the U.S. in early July and attended Fourth of July celebrations in Philadelphia.

Cole deployed to the Middle East on 8 June 2006, for the first time since the bombing. While passing the port city of Aden, the ship’s company crewed the rails to honor the crewmembers killed in the bombing. She returned to her home port of Norfolk on 6 December 2006, again without incident.

On 21 August 2006, the Associated Press reported that Cole‘s commanding officer at the time of the bombing, Commander Kirk Lippold, had been denied promotion to the rank of captain.[13]

On 28 February 2008, Cole was sent to take station off Lebanon’s coast, the first of an anticipated three-ship flotilla.[14]

On 3 February 2017, a U.S. defense official told Fox News, “The Navy sent USS Cole to the Gulf of Aden following an attack earlier this week [30 January] on a Saudi warship off Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels”.[15] Both Iran and the Houthis have denied they are collaborating with each other.[16][17]

In May 2022, Cole was homeported out of Naval Station Norfolk and a part of Destroyer Squadron 28, along with Carrier Strike Group 8 led by the USS Harry S. Truman.[18]

On 12 November 2009, the Missile Defense Agency announced that Cole would be upgraded during fiscal year 2013 to RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 capability to function as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.[19]

Awards[edit]