U.S. Navy Ship Elrod pulled into the port of Lobito, Angola on October 13, 2008, marking the second time a U.S. Navy warship has visited the city and the fourth U.S. Navy ship to visit the nation of Angola.
"We are very happy to be in Angola again to advance the relationship between our navies," said Captain Cynthia M. Thebaud, commander of Africa Partnership Station (APS), a U.S. Naval Forces Europe-led endeavor focused on enhancing cooperative partnerships with regional maritime services in order to achieve common international goals such as stability and security.
During their visit, crew members of Elrod are scheduled to conduct several meetings with local and regional Angolan civilian and military leaders.
Previous visits to Angola included USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) in 2006, USS Kauffman (FFG 59) in 2007, and High Speed Vessel (HSV 2) Swift in 2008.