A skeleton crew – including the skipper, Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, Navy
engineers and volunteers – will stay with the Cole as it travels on the
back of a Norwegian freighter from the Gulf of Aden, the Pentagon said.
The open-water route around Africa's southern tip avoids Egypt's narrow Suez Canal because of security concerns, defense officials said Friday.
The Oct. 12 suicide bombing of the Cole killed 17 sailors and injured 39.
Some of the survivors, who returned earlier to the United States, were part
of the cheering crowd.
"We are proud of the performance of the Cole and its crew," said Adm. Bob Natter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, as he stood with the families waiting for the crew to arrive.
Natter said the crew was "well-trained" and "reacted immediately," CBS News reported.
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