US destroyer to visit port of Gdynia

US Navy destroyer USS Farragut will moor at the northern Polish port of Gdynia's French Quay on Friday afternoon for a three-day working visit. She will sail on Sunday.

The visit was announced by the press officer of the Third Ship Flotilla, Lieutenant Commander Radoslaw Pioch, who explained that the Polish Navy's Third Ship Flotilla Battleship Unit would host the American vessel and that during the visit the US destroyer's commanders would meet with the Third Ship Flotilla's chief of staff, Commander Wlodzimierz Kulagin.

The US embassy in Poland announced that the USS Farragut's visit "will strengthen the relations of Poland and the United States and will help build a stable, secure and prosperous Europe." "The presence of the vessel in the Baltic Sea is also testament to the lasting obligation of the United States to improving the security of the region," the embassy elaborated.

The USS Farragut, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, entered US Navy service in 2006. The vessel is almost 156 metres in length and 20 metres wide with a draft of almost 9.5 metres. It can reach a speed of over 30 knots and accommodate a crew of up to 380.