The USS Cole is towed away from the port city of Aden, Yemen, into open sea on Oct. 29, 2000 Photo: DOD by Sgt. Don L. Maes, U.S. Marine Corps

Nearly one year before the attacks of 9/11, the U.S. Navy ship Cole, located off the coast of Yemen, was attacked by suicide bombers. The attack was later attributed to a cell within the al-Qaeda network; it had been supervised by Osama bin Laden. The Cole bombing alerted Americans of the reality of terrorism, though, even when the connection to al-Qaeda was established, the threat represented by the al-Qaeda network remained generally underestimated.

October 12, 2000
On Thursday, October 12, 2000, while refueling at a port in Aden, Yemen, the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole was attacked by a two suicide bombers navigating a small motorboat full of explosives. The explosion occurred at 11:18 a.m. Bahrain time, killing 17 crew members and wounding 39 others.

Witnesses later said the boat, which sidled up along the ship’s port side, came so close prior to the explosion that sailors aboard the USS Cole exchanged greetings with the two suicide bombers, who stood at attention just before the explosives detonated. The explosion occurred as crewmembers had begun lining up for lunch in the galley, and blew a hole 40 feet wide in the side of the ship. The blast was likely caused, CIA officials believe, by a “shape charge;” explosives molded into the hull of the boat.

The ship, which was carrying a crew of 293, was en route to the Persian Gulf to help enforce an oil embargo against Iraq. Though the port in Aden had once been off-limits to U.S. ships as a safety measure, it had been reopened both because of, and to help further, improved U.S.-Yemen relations. The day of the bombing, U.S. President Bill Clinton said in a statement, “If, as it now appears, this was an act of terrorism, it was a despicable and cowardly act.” The attack represented the first major international terrorist attack on a U.S. facility since the 1998 bombings of the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the deadliest against a U.S. Naval vessel since the USS Stark came under Iraqi attack in 1987.
http://www.911memorial.org/uss-cole-bombing
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USS Cole (DDG 67)




About the Ship’s Name, about Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole:
On August 25 ,1941, Cole enlisted in the Marine Corps for the duration of the National Emergency, and following a boot training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he was appointed to the Field Music School for training as a Marine Corps Field Music, the equivalent of a bugler. Completing instruction, he was transferred to the First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, and on August 7, 1942, reached the shores of Guadalcanal for the first American offensive of World War II.

Not too happy in his role of field music when he had joined a fighting outfit to fight and after acquitting himself meritoriously as a machine gunner in the absence of the regular gunner, he applied for a change in rating, but was refused due to the shortage of buglers. Cole completed his first overseas tour of duty and returned to the United States in February 1943, where he joined First Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines, then forming as a part of the Fourth Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. When the unit moved to California he again asked for relief as a Field Music and for permission to perform line duties, but was again refused due to the shortage of buglers in the Marine Corps.

During the first engagement of the Fourth Division at Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll, Cole, again forsaking his bugle, went into action as a machine-gunner. Four months later, when the Division stormed ashore at Saipan, he had been assigned to a machine-gun unit. Because of his proven ability in combat, he was designated a machine gun section leader. During the battle when his squad leader was killed, Cole, although wounded, assumed command of the entire squad and acquitted himself in such a manner to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for "...his resolute leadership, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious determination in the face of terrific opposition..." , He was also awarded the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received in action.

A few days after the battle of Saipan, Cole, again led his squad ashore in the invasion of the neighboring islands of Tinian, where he continued to live up to his growing reputation as "The Fighting Field Music."

After the Marianas campaigns he again requested a change of rating and this time his request was approved and he was redesignated Corporal "line" and was subsequently promoted to Sergeant in November 1944. On February 19, 1945, Sergeant Cole led his machine gun section ashore in the D-Day assault of Iwo Jima. Moving forward with the initial assault wave, their advance was halted by a hail of fire from two Japanese emplacements which Sergeant Cole personally destroyed with hand grenades. His unit continued to advance until pinned down for a second time by enemy fire from three Japanese gun emplacements. One of these emplacements was silenced by Cole's machine guns, but then jammed. Armed only with a pistol and one hand grenade, Sergeant Cole made a one-man attack against the two remaining positions. Twice he returned to his own lines for additional grenades and continued the attack under fierce enemy fire until he had succeeded in destroying the Japanese strong point. Returning to his own squad, he was instantly killed by an enemy grenade. By his one-man attack and heroic self-sacrifice, Sergeant Cole enabled his company to move forward against fortifications and attain their ultimate objective.

USS COLE is the 17th ARLEIGH BURKE class guided missile destroyer and the eighth ship of that class built by Ingalls.

General Characteristics: Keel Laid: February 28, 1994
Launched: February 10, 1995
Christened: April 8, 1995
Commissioned: June 8, 1996
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss
Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
Propellers: two
Blades on each Propeller: five
Length: 505,25 feet (154 meters)
Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters)
Draft: 30,5 feet (9.3 meters)
Displacement: approx. 8.300 tons full load
Speed: 30+ knots
Aircraft: None. But LAMPS 3 electronics installed on landing deck for coordinated DDG/helicopter ASW operations.
Armament: two Mk 41 VLS for Standard missiles, Tomahawk; Harpoon missile launchers, one Mk 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight gun, two Phalanx CIWS, Mk 46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts)
Homeport: Norfolk, Va.
Crew: 23 Officers, 24 Chief Petty Officers and 291 Enlisted
















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