USS Mount Whitney
Posted on 09/05/2008 5:41:48 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
US navy ship steams into port where Russian troops stationed
James Hider in Tbilisi
A US navy flagship has steamed into a Georgian port where Russian troops are still stationed, stoking tensions once again in the tinderbox Caucasus region.
A previous trip by American warships was cancelled at the last minute a week ago amid fears that an armed stand off could erupt in the Black Sea port of Poti.
The arrival of the USS Mount Whitney came as Moscow accused Dick Cheney, the hawkish US vice-president, of stoking tensions during a visit to Tbilisi yesterday, in which he vowed to bring Georgia into the Nato alliance. Russia sees any such move as a blatant Western encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Not exactly your killer ship....
MOUNT WHITNEY is the Navy’s only Joint Command Ship and truly in a class by itself. The ship is a self-contained headquarters complex for fleet and joint task force Commanders.
This is a “Show the Flag” move, and is not unusual. Mount Whitney is not a combat vessel itself, but is a logistics and command vessel. It poses no armored threat, and Russia knows it.
Basically unarmed aside from a few air defense cannon.
It’s all Bush’s fault
I was stationed aboard her during the late 80’s, when it was home to CJTFME.
My first (and only) time assigned to a ship, as I was an Air Force fighter pilot and was TDY to the LaSalle in support of Operation Earnest Will.
Clunky ol’White Whale, she was, and when she hit 11 kts, she vibrated like a cheap hotel bed with 25 cents in the coin box.
Wouldn't surprise me if she was retired by now.
Almost certainly accompanied by 2-3 submerged SSNs...
And to think Britania once ruled the waves.
Yes, but it is really a burr in the Russian bear’s saddle ... and that is a good thing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.