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The USS Chung-Hoon is a Burke flight IIA ship. Top of the line.

The US Navy is punctuating with this deployment that the Impeccable is operating in international waters and can and will continue its surveillance mission.

Here's a pic of the USS Chung-hoon, DDG-93.

And her specs:

Propulsion: Four General Electric LM 2500-30 gas turbines; two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower

Length: 509½ feet (155.29 meters)

Beam: 59 feet (18 meters)

Displacement: 9,496 L tons (9,648.40 metric tons) full load

Speed: In excess of 30 knots.

Crew: 276 (24 officers)

: Standard Missile (SM-2MR); Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) missiles; Tomahawk®; six Mk-46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts); Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)

: Two LAMPS Mk III MH-60 B/R helicopters with Penguin/Hellfire missiles and Mk 46/Mk 50 torpedoes.

The Chinese will have to think very hard before taking on the Chung-hoon. But they do have four very modern DDGs of their own in the South Sea fleet that would be capable of doing so.

Clearly the US is punctuating, with this deployment, that the USS Impeccable is operating in international waters and can and will continue with her surveillance.

IMHO, we should send the Stennis Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which is visiting the ROK right now, down there to ride herd on this. A CSG in the immediate area would up the any so high that the Chinese would be unable to stay in the game.

Bush got tested over the EP-3 a few months into his term and he blew it. Let's see what happens.

Sending a destroyer sends a message that the U.S. isn't happy over what happened to the Impeccable. Sending an entire strike force would be premature. If China ups the ante and messes with the Chung Hoon then yes, our response should be to reply in kind. If the matter dies with the harassment of last Sunday then the U.S. has sent its message without China loosing much face, if any.