USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) is headed to U.S. 4th Fleet, the Navy announced this week.
Hudner, based at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., is heading to 4th FLeet as an independent deployer set to take on a wide range of missions, a Navy official told USNI News.
“Thomas Hudner will deploy to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility (USSOUTHCOM AOR) to support bilateral and multinational maritime operations with partners in the region and conduct Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) port visits,” reads the Navy release announcing the deployment.
It is not clear if any of Hudner’s future missions will be part of the U.S. actions on the southern border deterring migrants from coming into the country or if it will assist the Coast Guard with drug interdictions.
The Navy announced that the Litoral Combat Ship USS St. Louis (LCS-19) arrived at Guantanamo Bay on Jan. 30. The ship’s crew is helping with construction of facilities and tents needed to house migrants, according to a Navy release. The first phase is expected to be able to house 2,000 migrants.
St. Louis deployed to the Caribbean to conduct counter-illicit drug trafficking operations in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force South.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, the Navy surged warships with embarked Coast Guard law enforcement detachments to assist with the U.S.’s effort to seize illicit drugs, USNI News reported at the time.
At the time, it was the highest number of warships in U.S. Southern Command in five years.
The Coast Guard has continued to operate illicit drug seizures, with the service announcing that it interdicted more than $275 million in cocaine in San Diego, Calif., last week. The sea service lost a service during the operation. Under Trump’s second term, the Coast Guard has increased its migrant interdiction mission.
Hudner returned from an eight-month deployment in January 2024 as part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike GRoupr
