Guided missile destroyer USS Chafee leaves for Persian Gulf to join Nimitz

The USS Chafee

PEARL HARBOR — The guided missile destroyer USS Chafee left port and families yesterday on a mission that will take it to the Persian Gulf in search of commercial vessels harboring smuggled goods and in a show of force against Iran.

Ship spokesman Ensign Matt Appleton said, "We'll be guarding oil platforms and doing visit, board, search and seizure. Those are some of our primary missions as a destroyer sent to that area."

Two rigid-hull inflatable boats will be used by search-and-seizure teams looking for vessels that may be trafficking drugs or harboring terrorists.

A similar mission led to the seizure of 15 British sailors and marines on March 23 by Iranian Revolutionary Guards during the inspection of a merchant ship in the northern Gulf. The crew was released 13 days later.

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