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USS Chinook (PC 9)

USS CHINOOK was the 9^th CYCLONE - class patrol coastal boat. From November 2001 on, the CYCLONE - class ships were temporarily operated under US Coast Guard control for homeland defense. For Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the CHINOOK was deployed to the Persian Gulf for 18 months from 2003 to 2004 but kept operating in the Middle East in the years to follow. On March 28, 2023, she was decommissioned and transferred to the Philippine Navy under a security cooperation program and was recommissioned as BRP LADISLAO DIWA (PS-178).

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS CHINOOK. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USS CHINOOK History:

The coastal patrol ship USS CHINOOK was ordered from Bollinger Shipyards at Lockport, Louisiana, under a contract awarded on July 19, 1991, as part of the CYCLONE-class built primarily to support naval special warfare and coastal security operations. Her keel was laid at Bollinger on June 16, 1993, and she was launched on February 26, 1994. After fitting out and trials, the Navy accepted delivery on October 7, 1994. She was commissioned on January 28, 1995, at St. Augustine, Florida, with Lt. Brian D. Petersen in command, and was initially homeported at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Virginia, aligned with Atlantic Fleet coastal patrol and special warfare support forces.

In her first years in commission, CHINOOK completed shakedown and special warfare-oriented training from Little Creek, operating with embarked rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and Navy special operations teams to refine tactics for coastal patrol, interdiction, and insertion of small units. By 1996, she was assigned to deployments with the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. On November 1, 1996, CHINOOK returned to Little Creek from a Mediterranean deployment, photographed coming home with two special operations RHIBs embarked and their teams embarked, a configuration typical of her role as a small but heavily armed platform for naval special warfare support. The deployment was noted at the time as the second Mediterranean cruise undertaken by the young CYCLONE-class, underlining how quickly these small craft had been integrated into routine forward presence and special operations support in European waters.

By late 1990s, CHINOOK was already being used for crisis-response roles well beyond routine exercises. A report dated September 29, 1998, records that a stand-by response and evacuation force of about 30 U.S. military personnel deployed to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in connection with instability in nearby Liberia. About half of that unit embarked in CHINOOK, which operated off Monrovia, Liberia, as an afloat platform for potential non-combatant evacuation and protection of the U.S. Embassy during regional turmoil. This employment illustrates how the ship's shallow draft, high speed, and small crew made her useful as a flexible, quickly deployed asset for embassy protection along an unstable coastline.

Performance during her early years brought CHINOOK formal recognition. She earned a Battle Efficiency "E" (Navy E Ribbon) in 1998 and a Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation in 2000, reflecting sustained readiness and effective participation in operations and deployments, though detailed public records of the specific operations tied to these awards are limited.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Navy reoriented much of the CYCLONE-class to homeland defense. From November 2001, the class, including CHINOOK, was temporarily operated under U.S. Coast Guard control for coastal security missions in U.S. waters, contributing to harbor defense, escort of high-value units, and patrols under the broader homeland security posture. This arrangement reflected the ships' suitability for coastal surveillance and interdiction and the Coast Guard's need for additional high-speed patrol craft.

As the focus of U.S. operations shifted toward Afghanistan and Iraq, CHINOOK returned to blue-water deployment. On January 18, 2003, she departed Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek for the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, sailing from her Atlantic homeport alongside fellow CYCLONE-class ship USS FIREBOLT (PC 10) and the experimental high-speed vessel HSV-X1 JOINT VENTURE.

By March 21, 2003, CHINOOK was operating in the northern Arabian Gulf in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Navy photographs from that date show the patrol coastal ship underway, with lookouts scanning the horizon for contacts and potential threats while she conducted patrols and intercepts. Other images taken the same week document coalition vessel-board-search-and-seizure and explosive ordnance disposal teams uncovering dozens of acoustic and moored mines hidden in barrels and cargo aboard Iraqi barges and other vessels, as part of efforts to clear the approaches to the Khawr Abd Allah waterway and protect the offshore oil infrastructure. CHINOOK's operations during this period were coordinated with other small combatants and mine countermeasures units under Task Force 55 in the northern Gulf.

Between March 19 and March 28, 2003, CHINOOK, together with FIREBOLT and Coast Guard patrol boats USCGC ADAK, USCGC AQUADNECK, USCGC BARANOF and USCGC WRANGELL, formed part of a mixed Navy-Coast Guard force recognized in Coast Guard awards documentation as "Task Force FIVE FIVE". This task group earned a Navy or Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation for its role in maritime interception and security operations in the northern Arabian Gulf during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, including the boarding of vessels, interdiction of suspect traffic, and protection of coalition mine warfare units and oil terminals. The intensity and proximity of these operations in a declared combat zone also led to CHINOOK receiving the Combat Action Ribbon and another Battle "E" for 2003.

CHINOOK remained deployed in the Persian Gulf region for an extended period of about 18 months during 2003-2004, supporting both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Crews were rotated approximately every six months to sustain this forward presence, and one of the crews stayed on station about 90 days beyond the normal deployment length, underlining how intensively the ship was used in this phase. During this long deployment, the ship shifted between maritime interception operations, close-in protection of key infrastructure, and general patrols and escort duties, as the coalition transitioned from major combat operations to a long-term maritime security posture.

Folllowing the long forward-deployed period, CHINOOK remained in the Middle East and by April 2005, she was routinely operating from Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Manama as a forward-based unit of U.S. 5th Fleet, even though official homeport documentation still associated her with Little Creek. On April 2, 2005, she was photographed pulling away from the pier at Naval Support Activity Bahrain at the start of Exercise Eastern Sailor 05, a multinational tactical surface exercise in the central Arabian Gulf. In this drill, CHINOOK served as the primary U.S. Navy surface asset supporting the exercise, working alongside British and Qatari naval forces to practice coordinated maneuvering, communications and basic warfighting skills among the participating navies' surface and air assets. Two days later, on April 4, 2005, she hosted Qatari sailors for damage control training on board, further emphasizing her role as a platform for building partner-navy skills as well as conducting patrols.

Through 2005, CHINOOK's crew also conducted routine maritime security operations and engagement with local mariners. In June 2005, Navy imagery shows sailors from CHINOOK, assisted by an Arabic translator, questioning local fishermen in the central Gulf during approach and visit operations typical of coalition maritime security patrols, aimed at gathering information on maritime patterns and deterring smuggling or hostile activity. These interactions formed part of the wider 5th Fleet effort to maintain awareness of small-boat traffic and to build rapport with local civilian mariners.

By December 8, 2006, CHINOOK was still administratively homeported at Little Creek but operating in the North Arabian Gulf, conducting small-arms qualification for her crew while engaged in maritime security operations. Official captions emphasize that these MSO patrols were designed to set conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment and to support the counter-terrorism and security efforts of regional states by denying terrorists and smugglers the use of the sea as a conduit for personnel, weapons, or other material. The ship's presence on these patrols provided a small, responsive platform capable of challenging and inspecting dhows and other small craft in shallow waters where larger warships were less effective.

On October 4, 2008, CHINOOK was photographed conducting maritime security operations in the vicinity of the Iraqi Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) in the northern Gulf as part of Combined Task Force 158. Under the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1790, this task force, composed of U.S. and coalition units, was responsible for protecting critical Iraqi offshore oil terminals such as KAAOT and Al Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT), which were central to Iraq's post-war oil export revenue. CHINOOK's patrols around these facilities, often in constrained waters and in close proximity to commercial shipping, were a key component of the layered defense intended to deter attacks and ensure steady export of oil.

A notable milestone in CHINOOK's relationship with Iraq came on March 25, 2009, when she made a port visit to Umm Qasr. Navy photographs and captions from that date describe the visit as the first overnight port visit to Iraq by a U.S. Navy ship since the onset of the Iraq conflict. Senior Iraqi naval officers met Lt. Allen Maxwell, CHINOOK's commanding officer, on the pier and on board, underscoring the symbolic importance of an American warship staying overnight in an Iraqi port as the Iraqi Navy rebuilt its capacity and took on greater responsibility for its own coastal defense and port security.

Through the early 2010s, CHINOOK remained forward-deployed under U.S. 5th Fleet, increasingly associated with Task Force 55 and with the broader mine-countermeasures and security architecture of the Gulf. In January 2012, she took part in Exercise Iron Siren, operating with the destroyer USS WAYNE E MEYER (DDG 108). This exercise focused on integrated air and missile defense and surface warfare training among U.S. units in the region. Later that year, in September 2012, CHINOOK participated in the large International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX 12). In that event, she operated alongside amphibious assault ship USS IWO JIMA (LHD 7), amphibious transport dock USS NEW YORK (LPD 21), dock landing ship USS GUNSTON HALL (LSD 44), afloat forward staging base USS PONCE (AFSB 15), destroyer USS JAMES E. WILLIAMS (DDG 95), and a substantial group of AVENGER-class mine countermeasures ships, including USS ARDENT (MCM 12), USS DEXTROUS (MCM 13), USS GLADIATOR (MCM 11), USS SCOUT (MCM 8), USS DEVASTATOR (MCM 6), USS PIONEER (MCM 9), USS SENTRY (MCM 3), and USS WARRIOR (MCM 10).

During IMCMEX 12, CHINOOK's role, like that of other patrol coastal ships, was to help secure operating areas, act as a surface escort and screening unit for slower mine countermeasures vessels, and demonstrate coordinated responses to mine threats in congested waterways. Participation in such exercises, combined with ongoing day-to-day patrols, contributed to the award of a second Meritorious Unit Commendation covering the period 2013 to 2015 and another Battle Efficiency "E" in 2015, reflecting the ship's sustained readiness and operational tempo in 5th Fleet.

Operational imagery from January 28, 2015, shows CHINOOK underway in the Gulf, and another photograph from March 2015 depicts her operating in formation with sister ships USS HURRICANE (PC 3) and USS TYPHOON (PC 5), all part of the Bahrain-based patrol coastal force responsible for close-in maritime security. On November 17, 2015, the ship took part in Warfighter Training 2015, a major surface warfare exercise in U.S. 5th Fleet. In that event, CHINOOK operated alongside guided-missile destroyer USS HIGGINS (DDG 76), patrol coastal ship USS MONSOON (PC 4), Coast Guard cutter USCGC MONOMOY (WPB 1326) and embarked MH-60S helicopters, practicing coordinated responses to multiple maritime threats and enhancing the integration of small patrol craft into larger surface action groups.

Modernization of the class brought a new capability test in 2017. On July 18, 2017, CHINOOK joined four other CYCLONE-class ships - USS TEMPEST (PC 2), USS SQUALL (PC 7), FIREBOLT and USS THUNDERBOLT (PC 12) - in an operational test of the surface-launched Griffin missile system in the Arabian Gulf under the command of Task Force 55. During this live-fire event, the patrol coastal ships demonstrated the ability of the Griffin missile to engage small, fast-moving surface targets, improving the PCs' capacity to counter small-boat threats in the constrained waters of the Gulf and further integrating them into layered defense concepts for U.S. and partner forces.

CHINOOK continued to serve as a key platform for regional partnership activities. In August 2018, she participated in a trilateral exercise with the Kuwaiti and Iraqi navies in the northern Gulf. Photographs from August 13 and 14 show CHINOOK maneuvering in formation with Kuwaiti patrol boat KNS AL-GAROH (P 3725) and operating in concert with Iraqi patrol boat P 303, Coast Guard cutter USCGC MONOMOY (WPB 1326) and patrol coastal ship TEMPEST. These drills focused on improving interoperability in patrol, communications, and boarding operations, and on building confidence among Gulf Cooperation Council and Iraqi maritime forces operating in the same constrained waters where CHINOOK had supported combat operations earlier in the decade.

Throughout the late 2010s and into the early 2020s, CHINOOK remained one of the Bahrain-based patrol coastal ships assigned to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and 5th Fleet, routinely conducting maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, as reflected in multiple operational photographs and administrative listings that place PC 9 at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. Her missions in this period included presence patrols, escort duties, boarding and inspection of suspect vessels, and continued exercises with regional partners.

One of CHINOOK's last high-profile operations under the U.S. flag took place on January 10, 2023, in the Gulf of Oman. Operating with sister ship MONSOON and guided-missile destroyer USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG 68), CHINOOK participated in the interception of a fishing vessel that was transporting more than 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles. The boarding, conducted as part of ongoing efforts to enforce international arms embargoes and disrupt illicit weapons smuggling, led to seizure of the weapons and further highlighted the patrol coastal ships' enduring utility as fast, shallow-draft platforms for interdiction operations in crowded sea lanes.

Less than three months later, CHINOOK's U.S. Navy service came to an end. On March 28, 2023 she was decommissioned and transferred to the Philippine Navy under a security cooperation program that saw several ex-CYCLONE-class patrol ships handed over to the Philippines. Recommissioned as BRP LADISLAO DIWA (PS-178), she joined the Philippine fleet as a coastal patrol and interdiction asset, extending the operational life of the hull and reinforcing Manila's capabilities in littoral security and maritime law enforcement.

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