HONARIA, Solomon Islands - The guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) arrived in Honiara for a goodwill port visit, Feb. 10.
Ship visits like this create opportunities for the United States and Pacific Island nations to strengthen security cooperation and ensure a safer and more prosperous future for the region.
While in Honiara, Michael Murphy Commanding Officer Cmdr. Robert A. Heely Jr. will meet with Forum Fisheries Agencies and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
Michael Murphy will also conduct a memorial ceremony, Feb. 11, to honor the Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who died during the Battle of Guadalcanal. During the ceremony, U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Fred Mann, who recently passed away, will be honored. Mann was a World War II Guadalcanal survivor and Silver Star recipient for his actions aboard USS George F. Elliot where he valiantly fought Japanese forces off Guadalcanal Aug. 8, 1942.
The ship and crew of more than 300 Sailors departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a regularly scheduled deployment with the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group as part of the U.S. Fleet-led initiative to extend the command and control functions of U.S. 3rd Fleet into the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, Jan. 13.
Michael Murphy, with embarked law enforcement detachment from U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team based in San Diego, is operating in the region in support of Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI). OMSI improves maritime security and maritime domain awareness by enabling U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement personnel to conduct maritime law enforcement operations from U.S. Navy assets to enforce U.S. and Pacific Island Nations (with an approved bilateral ship-rider agreement with the U.S.) fisheries laws and suppress illicit activities.
Commissioned on October 6, 2012, USS Michael Murphy is named after former U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan, June 28, 2005. He was the first person to be awarded the medal for actions in Afghanistan and was the first member of the U.S. Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War.