Press Releases 2006

USS Carr Visits Freetown, Sierra Leone

April 21, 2006

Contact: Public Affairs Officer
Tel: 226481

ABOARD USS CARR, Freetown, Sierra Leone –USS Carr (FFG-52) will be in the port of Freetown from April 22-24 as part of its current mission to directly support the U.S. Navy priority of strengthening emerging partnerships in the Gulf of Guinea region of West Africa.
 
“The Carr is operating in the Gulf of Guinea to assist in continuing efforts to bolster maritime security in the region,” said Commodore, Task Force 65 Captain Thomas Rowden.  “We are coming to Freetown to establish a relationship so that we can build partnerships and look towards the future.”
 
In January this year, sailors from the Carr rendered humanitarian service by saving a small Ghanaian vessel that was in distress off the coast of Sierra Leone. The vessel had been drifting with a dead motor for 35 days and the crew of six had no food.
 
The Carr maintains its home port at Norfolk, Virginia on the U.S. Atlantic Coast.  The ship is currently assigned to U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.  It is supporting the War on Terror and participating in Theater Security Cooperation efforts.   While operating in the Gulf of Guinea, the USS Carr and its sailors have made port calls and worked on community relations activities in Cape Verde, Senegal, Ghana, and Gabon.

This is the first time a U.S. Navy ship has visited Sierra Leone since the High Speed Vessel (HSV) Swift put in at the port of Freetown in 2003.