Posted on 02/21/2003 10:06:10 AM PST by demlosers
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Yokosuka Naval Base resembled a ghost town with all but one ship out to sea, a visitor commented early this week.
Yokosuka ships have orders to the U.S. Central Command area in support of a possible mission in Iraq, or are elsewhere “at sea,” according to a 7th Fleet spokesman.
The USS Kitty Hawk recently left for the Persian Gulf, as did the USS Cowpens, USS Vandegrift and USS John McCain. And on Wednesday, Lt. j.g. Marc Boyd said the USS Vincennes, USS Chancellorsville, USS O’Brien and USS Cushing are also under way, though the Vincennes, an Aegis guided-missile cruiser, was seen pulling pier-side in Yokosuka on Thursday morning
The USS Blue Ridge, the 7th Fleet’s flagship, is making a port visit in Hong Kong. That leaves the USS Curtis Wilbur as the lone ship still in Yokosuka, where it’s receiving extensive maintenance.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is moving toward Japan to fill the niche normally occupied by the Kitty Hawk, which is joining four other carriers already in or near the Persian Gulf.
The Vinson battle group includes the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Lassen, both based in San Diego; the frigate USS Ingraham, from Everett, Wash.; and the fast-combat support ship USS Sacramento, anchored in Bremerton, Wash.
The Vinson contingent could patrol waters in the Sea of Japan between western Japan and the Korean peninsula, or the ships may moor at Yokosuka Naval Base until further movement is required, but specific operating orders have not been released.
“The Carl Vinson battle group has been ordered to deploy to the Western Pacific,” Boyd reiterated. “We do not discuss specific operations.”
The Carl Vinson, known as the “Gold Eagle,” with a crew of 5,313 enlisted sailors and 568 officers, is accompanied by Carrier Air Wing NINE, based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.
The last nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to visit Japan was the USS Abraham Lincoln, which anchored in southern Japan’s Sasebo Harbor in August 2002 for a three-day port visit at Sasebo Naval Base. About 2,000 people peacefully protested that visit.
Seven other ships operate from their forward-deployed positions in Sasebo, including four from the USS Essex Amphibious Ready Group — the USS Essex, USS Juneau, USS Fort McHenry and USS Harpers Ferry. In addition, two of the ships are minesweepers — the USS Guardian and USS Patriot — and one — the USS Safeguard — is a rescue and salvage ship.
Sasebo’s largest ship is the Essex, an amphibious-assault ship currently in port with a crew of about 1,100 sailors. When deployed, the Essex typically embarks about 1,500 Marines and their equipment from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit on Okinawa.
Unofficially, some Essex crewmembers say they expect to leave in the next couple of weeks, although they’re unsure of the ship’s destination.
“The next event scheduled for the Essex is participation in the Iwo Jima commemoration in the middle of March,” said Lt. j.g. Jeral Dorsey, spokesman for Amphibious Group ONE.
Of the other ships operating from Sasebo, the Juneau is still in maintenance mode following a recent period in dry dock; the Harpers Ferry is at sea, en route to Sasebo from a training stint at Yokosuka; and the Fort McHenry is under way near Okinawa.
The Patriot is at sea participating in a minesweeping exercise in southern Japan with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces, and the Guardian is in port. The Safeguard is conducting salvage operations at sea near the Palau Islands in the South Pacific.
“None of the ships from Sasebo have received deployment orders in connection with the Iraq or North Korea situations,” Dorsey added.
The USS Frank Cable, a submarine tender, is in port on Guam, Boyd confirmed.
Hell, I can't really comprehend it either. It's one thing to recognize the numbers involved, quite another to imagine what the combined weaponry of these ships will do to an adversary.
And I notice that there is no word on sub deployments, of which I'm reasonably certain there have been many.
I believe only two of the twelve carriers in the fleet are in the yard at the moment (although undoubtably some are yard-bound shortly). Conceivably you could have ten carrier groups available. Even if you had four in the ME and four in the far east, that is an enourmous amount of conventional fire power.
That's a relief!
That's the beauty of the Navy's secret service. No one knows where the subs are, but you can bet that they are out there. There's little defense against a cruise or ballistic missile-firing submarine.
A conversation in Fall 2001.
LibKill: I'd like to put the uniform on again if they'd let me go to Afghanistan.
LibKill's Best Friend: You're too old.
LibKill: (angry) The hell I am! I can still shoot and march!
LibKill's Best Friend: You're TOO OLD!
LibKill: (Expletive Deleted) (Sigh) You're right. It's the young guys turn now, lucky stiffs.
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