In March 2006, the USS Gonzalez and the USS Cape St George were conducting a board and search operation on a suspicious vessel in the Indian Ocean.

As two American boarding teams approached the craft, they began to take small arms fire from pirates stationed on the vessel, forcing the teams to disengage and return to the safety of the warships.

The pirates then directed their fire at the two warships, marking the first time in the 21st Century that a US Navy ship came under fire from an enemy vessel.