Deployments
Hopper has participated in multiple deployments to East Asia and the Persian Gulf, including RIMPAC 98, three individual PACMEF deployments, an Expeditionary Strike Group deployment to the Persian Gulf in 2004, and a deployment to Southeast Asia in support of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2006. In addition, Hopper has been foremost in the field of Ballistic Missile Defense.
On 12 November 2007, Hopper departed with the USS Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group for a scheduled deployment to the Fifth Fleet and Seventh Fleet.
On 6 January 2008, Hopper was involved in an incident with five Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats. The Hopper, the cruiser USS Port Royal and the frigate USS Ingraham were entering the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz when five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and in a threatening manner. The U.S. ships had been in the Arabian Sea searching for a sailor who had been missing from the USS Hopper for one day. The US Navy says the Iranian boats made "threatening" moves toward the U.S. vessels, coming as close as 200 yards (180 m). The U.S. Navy received a radio transmission saying, "I am coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes." As the U.S. ships prepared to fire, the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said. Before leaving, the Iranians dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships. The U.S. ships did not investigate the boxes.
Officials from the two nations differed on the severity of the incident. The Iranians claimed they were conducting normal maneuvers while American officials claimed that an imminent danger to American naval vessels existed.
On 15 April 2011, Hopper departed from Pearl Harbor on a deployment to Asia and the Middle East.
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