WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • USS Lake Erie was decommissioned at Naval Base San Diego after 33 years of Navy service.
  • The cruiser supported operations across the Pacific, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean and Caribbean.
  • Lake Erie returned in June from an 11 month Operation Southern Spear deployment in the Caribbean Sea.
  • Capt. Drew Borovies said the ship’s sailors will carry its legacy to their next commands.

After more than three decades at sea, USS Lake Erie ended its active service Friday during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego.

The ceremony marked the conclusion of the guided missile cruiser’s 33 years in the fleet.

The ship’s crew and Navy officials gathered to honor Lake Erie and reflect on its record, according to a Navy press release.

The event recognized the vessel, the sailors who served aboard it and the families and communities that supported them.

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Sideboys rendered honors to retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Randy Hendrickson during the ceremony held aboard the cruiser on Sept. 25, 2026. Hendrickson also delivered remarks as sailors assigned to Lake Erie observed the proceedings.

Officers assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser gave their reports during the ceremony.

Those formal moments accompanied the Navy’s farewell to a ship that had deployed across several major regions during its career.

Hendrickson presented Capt. Drew Borovies, the ship’s outgoing commanding officer, with the Battle “E” award for Lake Erie. Borovies served as the final commander of the cruiser.

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“Today, we gather not simply to mark the end of a ship’s active service, but to honor the generations of Sailors who have served aboard Lake Erie, the families who have supported them and the many commands, communities and friends who have stood alongside the ship throughout her distinguished career,” Borovies said in the release.

USS Lake Erie was commissioned on July 24, 1994, at Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The cruiser was named for the Navy’s victory in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

USS Lake Erie Closes 33 Years of Distinguished Service with Solemn Final Honors
The guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie arrives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to support humanitarian assistance operations in the wake of severe flooding and landslides that devastated many regions of the country, June 11, 2017. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Fulton

Throughout its career, Lake Erie deployed across the Pacific, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean and Caribbean. Its assignments took the cruiser through a broad span of Navy operations over its decades of service.

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The ship supported operations Southern Watch, United Shield, Burnt Frost and Inherent Resolve.

The Navy release included those missions among the operational record honored as the cruiser prepared to leave the fleet.

Lake Erie’s service also extended to humanitarian assistance. In 2017, the ship provided aid in Sri Lanka after severe flooding and landslides, according to the Navy release.

The cruiser returned to San Diego in June after an 11 month deployment to the Caribbean Sea.

That deployment was conducted as part of Operation Southern Spear, a Pentagon mission aimed at disrupting illicit trafficking networks and narcoterrorism in the region.

During those sustained operations, Lake Erie worked alongside the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group. The cruiser returned to its homeport at Naval Base San Diego on June 27, 2026, following operations in the U.S. 4th Fleet area.

The June homecoming came shortly before the September decommissioning ceremony. Together, the return and formal farewell closed the ship’s final period of operations and brought its active Navy service to an end.

“Our ship may be leaving the fleet, but her Sailors are not,” Borovies said in the release.

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“They will take a piece of Lake Erie with them to their next commands, and in doing so, they will carry this ship’s legacy forward.”

That message placed the focus squarely on the sailors who served aboard Lake Erie and will continue at new commands.

While the cruiser has departed the fleet, Borovies said its legacy will move forward through the people who carried out its missions.

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