VIRGINIA BEACH -- An amphibious dock landing ship based out of Little Creek is wrapping up more than five months of diplomatic work in West Africa.

The USS Fort McHenry is moored off the coast of Senegal. During the crew’s 15 goodwill port visits they have kept the peace, established relationships with people, and more.

When the USS Fort McHenry and its nearly 400 member crew set sail last October, they knew this would be a different kind of deployment. They served as flagship for the second Africa Partnership Station, an international effort aimed at enhancing regional and maritime safety and security in west and central Africa.

"It sends a signal that we care,” said Commander Skip Shaw, Commanding Officer of the USS Fort McHenry. “But, more importantly, the level of engagement that we've done on this deployment has been truly amazing."

Among the places they conducted training and theater security cooperation activities: Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea and Liberia.

Fort McHenry sailors participated in and supported the training of more than 1400 African maritime professionals and they completed two community relations projects, delivering 29 pallets of high protein meals and medical supplies to orphanages and medical clinics in the greater Dakar area.

"It's been extremely rewarding,” said CMC Andrew Thompson. “This is going on my tenth deployment now, and this is the first of its kind I’ve been on."

"It's been a great connection,” added LTJG Alexa Forsyth. “We've been able to make with the local population. It's been a great experience."

With their Africa work finally complete, the Fort McHenry crew turns its attentions now towards coming home. The seven month deployment is scheduled to wrap up sometime in May.