USS Port Royal returns to Pearl Harbor after deployment

April 29 (UPI) -- The USS Port Royal returned to its homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor this week following a deployment to the 5th and 7th Fleets, the Navy announced.

The Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal confiscated more than 1000 pounds of narcotics in direct support of Combined Maritime Forces' counternarcotics mission, the Navy said in a press release.

The vessel also participated in multiple international maritime exercises and conducted operations with Carrier Strike Group 12 and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.

Those exercises include February's Joint Air Defense Exercise in the Gulf of Oman and a Group Arabian Sea Warfare Exercise with Belgium, Japan and France at the end of March.

In early February the vessel transited the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Arabian Gulf with the USS Makin Island and the dry cargo ship USNS Carl Brashear.

In early March the Port Royal participated in the Omani-hosted Khunjar Hadd 26 in the Gulf of Oman, during which Omani Lynx helicopters landed aboard Port Royal, marking the first time this type of Omani aircraft has landed on a U.S. warship.

"Our team is proud to welcome back Port Royal after a truly exceptional deployment which is evident by their many successful missions across the 5th and 7th Fleet AORs," said Rear Adm. Robb Chadwick, commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, in the release. "We are fully committed to our mission of keeping Pearl Harbor ships combat ready throughout their maintenance and operational phases, thus ensuring we are equipped to execute the Navy's tasking across the globe when called."