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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Debka: Enterprise En-Route To Gulf |
| 2007-06-21 |
| According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the US naval build-up off the shores of Iran marks rising military tensions in the region, accentuated by last week’s Hamas victory which has endowed Iran with a military foothold on Israel’s southwestern border. The USS Enterprise CVN 65-Big E Strike Group, the US Navy’s largest air carrier, will join the USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers, building up the largest sea, air, marine concentration the United States has ever deployed opposite Iran. This goes towards making good on the assurances of four carriers US Vice President Dick Cheney offered the Gulf and Middle East nations during his May tour of the region. The “Big E” leads a strike group consisting of the guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke DDG 51, USS Stout DDG 55, Forrest Sherman DDG 98 and USS James E. Williams DDG 95, as well as the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg CG 64, the SS Philadelphia SSN 690 nuclear submarine and the USNS Supply T-AOE 6> On its decks are the Carrier Air Wing CVW 1, whose pilots fought combat missions in the Gulf and Arabian Sea during 2006. The Air Wing is made up of F/Q-18 Super Hornet strike craft, the Sidewinders Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-86, the 251st Marine Fighter Attack Squadron MFA, and the Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ 137. The 32nd Sea Control Squadron VS consists of S-3B Vikings. The Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAQ 3 flies E-2C Hawkeye craft. The Fleet Logistics Support Squadron VRC is based on C-2A Greyhounds. DEBKAfile’s military sources report Washington is considering deploying the fourth US carrier for the region in the Red Sea opposite Saudi Arabian western coast to secure the three US carriers in the Gulf from the rear as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez Canal. |
| Posted by: |
| #13 No! 2 reactors per shaft.... 4 shafts. Umm... lotta reactors, weren't too advanced then. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-06-21 23:44 |
| #12 And what 4 reactors? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-06-21 23:42 |
| #11 Arms and the man I sing...but do they have the will? |
| Posted by: borgboy2001 2007-06-21 21:31 |
| #10 So the Enterprise has Marine VMFA 251 aboard. That's funny they were deployed at Al Asad, Iraq last fall. Did they come home to Beaufort SC and then re-deploy on the Enterprise. Maybe some planes are hitching a ride to join there unit in Iraq? |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2007-06-21 19:25 |
| #9 The USS ENTERPRISE was the Navy's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier and from 1961 to 1972 she was the biggest warship in the world. General Characteristics: Keel Laid: Februar 4, 1958 Launched: September 24, 1960 Commissioned: November 25, 1961 Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va. Propulsion system: eight nuclear reactors Propellers: four Blades on each Propeller: five Aircraft elevators: four Catapults: four Arresting gear cables: four Lenght, overall: 1,123 feet (342.3 meters) Flight Deck Width: 257 feet (78.4 meters) Area of flight deck: about 4,5 acres (18211.5 m2) Beam: 132.8 feet (40.5 meters) Draft: 39 feet (11.9 meters) Displacement: approx. 93,500 tons full load Speed: 30+ knots Planes: approx. 85 Crew: Ship: 3,200 ; Air Wing: 2,480 Armament: three Mk 29 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, three 20mm Phalanx CIWS Mk 15 Homeport: Norfolk, Va. |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2007-06-21 19:14 |
| #8 My grandfather helped build the Enterprise - I was there for the christening as a little kid. That ship is closing in on 50 years of service. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-21 18:57 |
| #7 Marine LHAs now are heavier and carry more aircraft than almost any other country's carrier(s). Why does that perform such a distinct cockle-warming function for me? Properly equipped, I'd like to think that one of our LHAs could take down an escorted Russian carrier. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-21 18:23 |
| #6 Most other countries do count our LHAs as carriers. IIRC they show up that way in NATO stats (I think, it's been a while since I looked at those). |
| Posted by: occasional observer 2007-06-21 18:05 |
| #5 Enterprise En-Route To Gulf Full photon torpedoes wide spread , Scotty. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-21 17:56 |
| #4 Actually, if any of the Wasp class LHAs are present, they would count as another carrier - at least in any other navy than the US Navy. Marine LHAs now are heavier and carry more aircraft than almost any other country's carrier(s). It is becoming a standing joke that the 2 largest carrier fleets in the world are the US Navy and US Marine Corps. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-06-21 17:39 |
| #3 Also, there are only two carriers in the gulf, not three so E won't be the "fourth", it would be a third if in fact it is actually true. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2007-06-21 16:06 |
| #2 That apparently originates from Russia. The same source that said when the Stennis arrived that we would be attacking Iran. I see an identical report here Unless I see it confirmed by some Western agency, it is probably crap, like 99% of DEBKA's reports. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2007-06-21 16:03 |
| #1 Pull the trigger. Preferably full auto... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-06-21 15:58 |