USS Mason returns to Naval Station Mayport after deployment

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hundreds of families shared a warm embrace Tuesday morning in a Naval Station Mayport homecoming, as the USS Mason returned to its home base following a nine-month deployment.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) was deployed in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Mediterranean Sea to support “freedom of navigation efforts and the free flow of global commerce,” according to Naval Station Mayport Public Affairs Officer David Holmes.

RELATED: USS Mason deployed from Mayport amid war in Israel

Here’s a list of what the USS Mason and sailors aboard did during its deployment, according to Holmes:

• Destroyed Houthi-launched weapons including land attack cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles and unmanned systems
• Conducted defensive strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, destroying 22 targets
• Destroyed five Iranian-launched medium-range ballistic missiles
• Responsible for 46 UAV kills, including 22 that were executed during the single largest multi-axis and multi-threat engagement by the Houthis

Also during the ship’s deployment, a sailor identified as Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola, 34, died after a “non-combat related incident,” the Department of Defense said in a statement shared with First Coast News. And while the department said the incident is under investigation, the U.S. Central Command said Aregbesola was reported missing at sea while conducting operations in the Red Sea on the USS Mason.

RELATED: Florida sailor dies after going missing from Jacksonville-based USS Mason in Red Sea

USS Mason was launched and christened in June 2001; Naval Station Mayport became its homeport on Aug. 22, 2022. She is the third U.S. Navy warship with the name USS Mason, in honor of the non-segregated crew that served on USS Mason, DE-529. The ship is the 37th destroyer of its class and was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.