The USS Cole is best known for surviving a terrorist attack in Aden, Yemen in October 2000 in which 17 U.S. sailors lost their lives and following which the surviving crew took heroic actions to save their ship. The Cole underwent $250 million of repairs over 14 months at Northrop Grumman's Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi before returning to active service in November 2003.
The USS Cole is 587 ft. long with a crew of 365 and homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. The ship's official motto is "Glory is yhe Reward of Valor." The USS Cole is named for Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, USMC (1920-1945). Sergeant Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry in the campaign at Iwo Jima in World War II.
Free tours were available to the public on July 1 and 2, 2005 at Penn's Landing.