CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Singapore - The deployed Sailors aboard USS Coronado (LCS 4) came together to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday away from friends and family Nov. 24.
The Thanksgiving feast began in the evening on the mess decks and featured a special meal prepared by the four culinary specialists aboard the ship.
"We started preparing the food the day before," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Savage. "With such a small kitchen we have to get going early, but it's worth it because celebrating Thanksgiving miles away from friends and family is a great way to bring a piece of home to the Sailors."
Sailors had a chance to enjoy apply pie, oven roasted turkey, pumpkin bread, baked ham, mashed potatoes, and many other Thanksgiving favorites.
"Our Chefs are incredibly talented," said Executive Officer Cmdr. Karl McCarthy. "They put a tremendous amount of time and effort into every meal, and this meal does a great job of bringing a taste of home to the Sailors of Coronado."
After picking out their favorite Thanksgiving foods, Sailors joined each other on the mess decks for a Thanksgiving dinner with a different kind of family.
"Spending my Thanksgiving on the ship makes is a little different, but I really appreciate the home feel with my shipboard family," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Arndt. "It's just one small thing the ship does to keep our morale up when we are miles away from family on a day about giving thanks."
Fast, agile and mission-focused, littoral combat ships are designed to operate in near-shore environments and employ modular mission packages that can be configured for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, or mine countermeasures.
Commander, Task Force 73 conducts advanced planning, organizes resources and directly supports the execution of maritime exercises such as the bilateral Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) series, the Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) with Vietnam, and the multilateral Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
U.S. 7th Fleet conducts forward-deployed naval operations in support of U.S. national interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific area of operations. As the U.S. Navy's largest numbered fleet, 7th Fleet interacts with 35 other maritime nations to build partnerships that foster maritime security, promote stability, and prevent conflict.

-USN-


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