Posted on 11/13/2006 7:43:42 PM PST by maui_hawaii
KH strike group gets underway for fall cruise
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Reinhardt, Kitty Hawk public affairs
USS KITTY HAWK, At Sea – USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and its strike group departed Yokosuka, Japan, Oct. 17, for a fall deployment with embarked Carrier Air Wing 5 after completing a month of maintenance.
The strike group is expected to return to Yokosuka by the end of the year.
Other ships departing with the Kitty Hawk on Tuesday included the guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63), and guided missile destroyers USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) and USS Mustin (DDG 89).
The destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) and guided-missile frigate USS Gary (FFG 51) left Yokosuka last week.
About 7,400 Sailors departed with the eight ships, including more than 5,200 aboard Kitty Hawk alone.
Kitty Hawk, leading the Navy’s only forward-deployed carrier strike group, will spend the underway period conducting carrier qualifications, drills and exercises in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility.
During this deployment Kitty Hawk will also take part in ANNUALEX 2006, a joint exercise between the U.S. Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
During the brief in-port period, Kitty Hawk Sailors worked with Ship’s Repair Facility workers, and Japanese contractors on several hundred maintenance projects, said Lt. Cmdr. Billy Partington, Kitty Hawk’s maintenance officer.
“The ship’s engineers had to work extra long hours fixing extra discrepancies that were discovered as maintenance was performed,” said Partington. “Their efforts brought [the ship] back up to 100 percent [mission] capable.” -
- The Kitty Hawk Strike Group is the largest carrier strike group in the Navy. It includes the Kitty Hawk, the aircraft squadrons and staff of Carrier Air Wing 5, USS Shiloh (CG 67) and Cowpens, and Destroyer Squadron 15 staff. The group’s ships and destroyer squadron staff are based at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, and the air wing and staff are based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan.
On Oct. 26 nine days into the cruise they ran across this Chinese sub.
Anyone know how fast the Kitty Hawk can move?
U.S., Japanese Train Together In ANNUALEX
Story Number: NNS061113-01
Release Date: 11/13/2006 7:06:00 AM
From USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs
USS KITTY HAWK, At Sea (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force kicked off their largest bilateral exercise, ANNUALEX, Nov. 9.
About 8,500 U.S. Sailors are taking part aboard 13 ships and submarines and various shore-based aircraft.
About 90 JMSDF ships and 130 aircraft are participating, and are “an absolutely critical partner with whom we train throughout the year,” said Battle Force 7th Fleet Commander, Rear Adm. Douglas McClain. McClain is commanding participating U.S. forces from his flagship, USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), with Japanese military officials commanding their own forces.
“We train across the spectrum of warfare areas at the highest levels,” McClain said about the exercise. “Each time we work together, our relationship and friendship build upon the previous level.”
This is the 18th ANNUALEX.
“We don’t exercise with anyone else on this scale,” said Cmdr. Russ Blair, Battle Force 7th Fleet exercise and plans officer. “This is [also] one of the largest fleet training exercises we participate in.”
U.S. ships taking part in ANNUALEX are Kitty Hawk, the guided-missile cruisers USS Cowpens (CG 63) and USS Shiloh (CG 67); guided-missile destroyers USS Curtis W. Wilbur (DDG 54), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS Stethem (DDG 63), USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Mustin (DDG 89), USS Halsey (DDG 97); the high-speed vessel Swift (HSV 2) and submarines USS Seawolf (SSN 21) and USS Asheville (SSN 758).
U.S. 7th Fleet is made up of about 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.
A Chinese sub mysteriously was 'tracking' our guys....
My bet goes to the fact that:
A)China dabbles in Japanese waters all the time
B)They were trying to spy on the war games.
C) They got busted.
D) We forced them to surface, smacked them on the bottom and sent them on their way home.
To: WoofDog123
3) it surfaced. this is a very clear message in and of itself.
That baffles me. Why would the Chinese want us to know they had this capability ?
21 posted on 11/13/2006 12:05:19 AM PST by justa-hairyape
Ping
ping
/insert evil laugh :o)
Check out this.
Check out this thread.
ping
Yep. Sounds highly probable. Sounds like someone's thinking out there. MESSAGE TO MR GERTZ: I don't know who's passing you your "this is no sh*t" hot skinny G-2, but a. it may not be accurate, and b. conservative/pro-Administration reporters have no more business publishing classified info than liberal, anti-Administration NYT reporters. And if this came from "the top", tell 'em to knock it off if they want to preserve any shred of operational security.
How fast can the Kitty Hawk move? Not as fast as the next generation torpedoes. My nephew was a nuclear officer on the Carl Vinson, does anyone know where it is today?
But in recent months and years even there have been numbers of reports of Chinese vessels encroaching on Japanese waters. At one point the Japanese even pursued them to some extent chasing them out of the water.
So, they come, and even the Japanese know that they are there...but the Chinese ALWAYS deny it. There is always accusation of Chinese spying... and this time they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
This leads me to believe that the Chinese vessel was lurking but ultimately got busted. Exactly how it went down we probably won't hear about.
Everyone knows there is not a chance in hell (at this point) that they will shoot at us....maybe at some point in the future...but not now...
So our guys just played the game along with them compelling them to surface.
I will admit to not being a military expert though.
No more denials from China about spying on Japan.
Turns out they were just chugging along on the way to the vicinity of Okinawa where all this took place.
ping
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