What is the US Navy doing in the Black Sea?

Fox News Channel | 7 MARCH 2014 | Old Navy Vet

[OldNavyVet]

I made it into Istambul while serving in the Navy, but I've not heard about our Navy going into the Black Sea until now, on the Fox News Channel.

[b4its2late]

All seas are equal dontcha know! ;-)

[grania]

BREAKING NEWS: Russian military vehicle crashes gate. Ukranian base invaded

Asssuming that's true, Obama should lodge a protest with the UN. Putin can't do that while Obama's on vacation.

[ColdOne]

Did you hear that on FOX TV?

[VerySadAmerican]

Yes, at the top of the hour.

[colorado tanker]

During the Cold War we would send a destroyer into the Black Sea at least once a year to show the flag and make the point it is international waters. I don’t know if that’s what this is or if this has something to do with the Ukraine crisis.

[ColdOne]

Thanks

[silverleaf]

making Obama look tough

or maybe setting up some rainbow parties onboard to invite the Romanians over for a drag show

[OldNavyVet]

Given the growing international financial mess, various “leaders” need things happening to get military action going.

[Phlyer]

What are we doing in the Black Sea, and when did it start?

This is a freedom of the high seas exercise. In international law, a 'right' that is not exercised for a long time is 'legally' lost. In order to preserve the definition of the Black Sea as 'high seas' and not territorial waters, the US Navy periodically (about once a year) sails a ship up into the Black Sea. The Black Sea demonstration been going on since prior to WWI, not always or only by the USN. This is also not limited to the Black Sea.

Another example was the Gulf of Sidra fight with Libya. Ghadaffi had declared the entire Gulf of Sidra to be Libyan territorial waters. We disagreed, saying that they were part of the 'high seas' and belonged to no single nation. To prove our point, we sailed a task group past his "Line of Death" and he sent out some fighters to harass our ships. F-14s shot them down.

International maritime law prior to the self-proclaimed declarations of the UN is *all* derived from common law - which is to say, common practice of the nations of the world. To that end, something that becomes common practice - or ceases to be - is a 'legal' basis for declaring that international law has changed. The USN engages in freedom of the seas demonstrations all over the maritime world.

In addition to maintaining that certain areas are 'high seas', there is an 'innocent transit' clause in international law for warships which says that they can transit waterways en route from one high seas area to another as long as they do it without engaging in combat activities. To that end, we (USN) notify nations that control the transit areas (in this case, the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits) of our intent and our ships do not engage in military activities such as using anti-submarine sonars or fire control radars while transiting. In fact, since operating submerged is a combat activity for submarines, USN submarines transit straits such as the Strait of Malacca on the surface. And since it's hard to see a surfaced submarine, they get a USN surface ship escort while they are transiting the strait.

So it's not quite right to say that we had to get 'permission' from Turkey. In fact, that was part of the point - we have the right to make the transit between high seas areas through a historically recognized transit routes (straits). But as a courtesy, we inform them of our transit. And if the country claiming territoriality over the strait has some good reason to delay the transit, we usually work out a mutually agreeable time.

[Army Air Corps]

That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.

[2harddrive]

Don’t forget, the NORKS boarded and CAPTURED a US Navy ship! And they still HAVE it!

[maggief]

https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/status/442031881568387072

Hearing that a couple of journalists have been quite badly beaten up by the self defence units near the Sevastopol base being stormed. Grim.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/.premium-1.578553

Russian soldiers attack Ukrainian military base in Crimea

[Mariner]

The US has been sending warships into the black sea for decades, probably over a century.

However, there is an International Treaty that limits total tonnage of all countries except Russia.

That had something to do with one of the many, many wars fought in and around it.

[2harddrive]

Did they Crash the Gate at 98?

[aumrl]

we have had one there since Souchi having its prop repaired.

[Mariner]

Montreux Convention of 1936 limits everyone except Black Sea countries to ships under 10,000 tons.

[OldNavyVet]

our ships do not engage in military activities such as using anti-submarine sonars or fire control radars while transiting.

That's news to me. I was in the Navy a long time ago and we occasionally used Fire Control radars in navigating into US Ports.

[mykroar]

I had a date in Constantinople, but she was waiting in Istanbul.

[BenLurkin]

The Muslim scum who stole Istanbul will get an overdue comeuppance when Mother Earth unleashes the next earthquake on them.

http://phys.org/news/2012-09-istanbulthe-earthquake-megacity.html

[billhilly]

Probably military exercise also keeping eye on Vlady and Russia miltary.

We were doing that with the U-2 when I was at Incirlik Air Base.