USS Cole (DDG-67), a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer, is now patrolling the same waters in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen where she was struck by a suicide boat on Oct. 12, 2000. The attack, which blew an enormous hole in the destroyer's port side, killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others.

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Cole is part of a three-ship squadron that also consists of the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, and the USS Comstock (LSD-45), a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship.

The Makin Island's air group consists of Boeing AV-8B Harrier II single-engine ground-attack, jump jet aircraft; Bell AH-1 Cobra single engine attack helicopters; Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey multi-mission, tiltrotor aircraft and Bell UH-1Y Venom twin-engine, medium-sized utility helicopters.

All three warships are part of the Makin Island amphibious ready group.

The group's mission is to monitor the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait off southwestern Yemen that connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. Iran in the past has threatened to deny access to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the event of a flare-up of tensions with the United States, a situation that seems possible today on account of new U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The Pentagon said on Feb. 2 the United States is prepared to defend access to waters off the coast of Yemen where a frigate of the Royal Saudi Navy (RSN) was damaged by a suicide boat attack on Jan. 30. RSN said its frigate destroyed two of the suicide boats, but the third hit the frigate, killing two crewmen.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control Yemen's west coast, however, claim they hit the frigate with a missile, most probably a C-802 anti-ship missile made in China but supplied by Iran.

It said the Makin Island amphibious ready group is now at the southern end of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, "for no other reason than to respond to Bab el-Mandeb incidents."

"The Red Sea and ... the Bab el Mandeb is a vital waterway that the world relies on for the free flow of commerce," according to the Pentagon. "We will ensure that maritime traffic continues to get through that critical strategic waterway."

On Oct. 12, 2000, Cole was targeted in an attack carried out by al-Qaeda in the Yemeni port of Aden. Two suicide bombers in a small boat packed with explosives got close enough to the destroyer to inflict serious damage and kill 17 sailors. The commander of the Cole at the time was denied promotion to Captain because of this incident.

TagsUSS Cole, yemen, Gulf of Aden, USS Makin Island, USS Comstock, Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Royal Saudi Navy