USS Lake Erie

Friends and family members of sailors wave as the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Monday from a four-month Western Pacific deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Laurie Dexter)

The Hawaii-based Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie returned Monday to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam from a four-month deployment to the Western Pacific.

The Lake Erie is expected to replace the USS John Paul Jones this summer as a rotational Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) deployer from San Diego, as John Paul Jones takes Lake Erie’s place in Hawaii as the nation’s BMD Test Ship.

During port visits while on deployment, the ship’s sailors participated in several community relations projects that included visiting homes for children and assisting the elderly.

U.S. Navy guided-missile cruisers are multi-mission surface combatants capable of supporting carrier strike groups, amphibious readiness groups, surface action groups or operating independently.