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The USS Cole (DDG-67) is back in the water and ready to return to duty. On 12 April, the newly restored Aegis guided-missile destroyer set sail on a two-day sea trial, where she performed better than expected.

Two terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda detonated explosives aboard their small boat in the Yemeni port of Aden on 12 October 2000. The blast severely damaged the Cole and killed 17 of her sailors. Repairs took 18 months and cost $250 million.

A ceremony was held on 14 April 2002 for her at the Northrop Grumman Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, during which several hundred Cole crew members, Gulf Coast residents and yard employees celebrated the ship's return to Navy service.

The Cole will leave the shipyard on 19 April for the Naval base at Norfolk, Virginia to go back on assignment. With any luck, the USS Cole will soon be in a position to exact some painful revenge on the terrorists who attacked her and killed her crewmen. For occasionally updated information on the USS Cole, check 
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/news_stories/cole.html
- Adam Geibel