U.S. destroyer enters Spanish dry dock, a first in Europe

The U.S. Navy has put the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) into dry dock at Navantia’s shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, the first time one of its Europe-based destroyers has been dry-docked in the region since the Navy began stationing them in Spain more than a decade ago.

The ship entered the dock on Oct. 7 for planned maintenance and modernization, according to U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa. Sailors from the ship, military and civilian staff from the Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center and Navantia workers are carrying out the work together. The Navy did not say how long the ship will be out of service, what modernization work is included or what the job will cost.

Dry-docking lets workers reach a ship’s hull, propellers, shafts and other parts below the waterline, work that cannot be done pierside. Being able to do it in Spain spares the Navy from sending a forward-deployed ship back across the Atlantic or relying on more distant facilities, keeping it closer to its operating area.

“The dry docking of Arleigh Burke is a major milestone in expanding U.S. Navy forward-deployed maintenance capabilities in Europe,” said Vice Adm. J.T. Anderson, commander of U.S. 6th Fleet. “By integrating dry docking into planned maintenance periods overseas, the Navy is increasing material readiness for our forward-deployed warships.”

Arleigh Burke is one of five U.S. Navy destroyers based at Naval Station Rota, near Cadiz, and assigned to Task Force 65 as part of the U.S. contribution to NATO’s integrated air and missile defense. The Navy began basing destroyers at Rota in 2014, when USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) arrived as the first of four ships sent under the European Phased Adaptive Approach for ballistic missile defense. In 2023, the United States and Spain agreed to raise that number to six, and USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) arrived in October 2024 as the fifth.

The ships operate across a wide area, from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the waters off Africa and up to the Arctic. Oscar Austin was recently in the Red Sea, while USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) has been operating in the Mediterranean.

USS Arleigh Burke, the first ship of the U.S. Navy’s largest destroyer class, has been based at Rota since April 2021, when it moved from Norfolk, Virginia, to replace Donald Cook. Navantia, Spain’s state-owned shipbuilder, builds and maintains ships for the Spanish Navy.