YOKOSUKA, Japan -โ The โคguided-missileโ destroyer USSโฃ Benfold departed Yokosuka Navalโ Base on Sept. 29,โค 2025, concluding a decade-long assignment in theโ Western Pacific andโข beginning โits journey to its โคnew homeport in Washington state, the Navyโค announced.
The Benfold’s decadeโ in Japan saw โthe ship regularly โฃparticipate in multinational exercises – including โMalabar, valiant Shield, Keen Sword and Resolute Dragonโ – and conduct operationsโ vital to maintaining freedom ofโ navigation in the Indo-Pacific region. The ship loggedโข over 4 million miles across the โPacific during its deployment. The move reflects a routine shipโค swap โขstrategy employed by the Navy, โoften sending its most advanced โvessels to the Indo-Pacific due to ongoing activity byโฃ China, North Korea, andโ Russia.
Arriving in 2015, the Benfold was among the โNavy’sโค mostโค advanced destroyers at the time,โค equipped โขwith the newest version of โthe Aegis Combat System. While โขbased in Yokosuka, it undertook โat leastโฃ three transits ofโ the โtaiwan Strait andโฃ one through theโ South China Sea, asserting the right to passageโ throughโ international waterways – actions that drew condemnation from China as violations of its sovereignty.
“Over the lastโข decade, Benfold and her crew have โคexecuted our โขnation’s tasking โwith strength and excellence,”โ said Rear Adm. โคDerek Huljack, commander, Task โขForce 70/Carrier Strike Group 5. “We โwill miss Benfold’s โคgrit and determination but look forward to her crew’s continued success in โคDESRON 31.”
The Benfold’s crew earned numerous accolades โduring its โขtime in Japan, including three Battle efficiency “Battle E” Awards, the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy, the Chief of Naval Operations Afloat Safetyโ Award, and 10 consecutive โFleet Healthโ Promotion and Wellnessโข “Green H”โค awards.
“Through tenacity and teamwork,โค Benfold’s decade assigned to the โWestern Pacific has allowed our crew to build โขon the ship’s great accomplishments,” saidโค Cmdr. Rich Mayer, the Benfold’s skipper.”benfold is leaving the Seventh Fleet family on a high note. Our familiesโ will miss Japan, and we โขwill โคmiss sailing alongside one of our nation’s strongest allies.”
