USS Stout returns to Va. after 8-month deployment

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The USS Stout has returned to Virginia after an eight-month deployment conducting ballistic missile defense.

The guided-missile destroyer arrived at its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk on Friday. The ship had been operating in the Navy's Sixth Fleet area of responsibility, which includes the Mediterranean Sea.

During the deployment, the Stout was positioned in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for a potential strike against Syria.

Sailors from the Stout also helped return an oil tanker to Libya that had been seized by rebels. A team of Navy SEALs boarded the Morning Glory to take control of the vessel in March. Sailors from the Stout later boarded the tanker and sailed it toward Libya.

The Stout left Norfolk in August and has a crew of nearly 280 sailors.