#USNavy - Dublin Port is host to a French 'Tripartite ' minehunter, a Dutch Navy amphibious landing platform dock ship and a fuel replenishment tanker, while in Cork Harbour, a United States Navy guided missile cruiser docked at Cobh this lunchtime today.

The USS Letye Gulf (CG 55) is a Ticonderoga class AEGIS Guided Missile Cruiser home-ported in Norfolk VA. She is to remain alongside the cruiseliner berth to next Friday and her visit is in advance of the first cruise caller this season with the Legend of the Seas due later this month.

In 2012, the 173m vessel successfully completed an 11 month Extended Selected Restricted Availability (ESRA) and Cruiser Modernization which included significant Combat Systems upgrades and extensive hull, tank and superstructure work.

Among her more recent roles, she was deployed in 2011 with the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG 12), Leyte Gulf supported anti-piracy operations and counter narcotic operations off the coast of Somalia.

In the previous year USS Leyte Gulf also supported the missile strikes against Lybia.

She too was involved with the Somali pirate hijacking of the motor vessel Quest in the Indian Ocean and captured 75 Somali pirates.