The Roosevelt
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TalkNet: Roosevelt message board / Ship profile Background: Truman will make it home first |
Although an official Navy announcement has not been made, families and crew members were told of homecoming plans over the weekend. That ended a week of uncertainty during which families were concerned that the Roosevelt would have to remain at sea into the summer and possible even the fall.
The early-June return would have the Roosevelt and its crew of 5,000 home after a five-month deployment that began on Jan. 6. However, some of the carrier's 11-ship battle group may not be returning until later.
The 12-ship Truman battle group, also based in Norfolk, is expected back just before Memorial Day weekend -- two weeks ahead of the Roosevelt.
The good news for Roosevelt crew and family members was being tempered with word that not all of its accompanying ships would steam home together. Navy officials warned families that some of the battle group's surface ships and submarines, particularly those capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles, might stay deployed until July.
Those ships are needed to maintain a Tomahawk presence in case they are again needed for Operation Iraqi Freedom, said one official who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
``There are a lot of proposals out there, concerning which ships go where and we don't want to give up future operations,'' he said.
Reach Jack Dorsey at jdorsey@pilotonline.com or 446-2284.
NORFOLK -- Two additional ships will join the Theodore Roosevelt when the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier returns home at the end of the month.
The Navy announced late Friday that the guided missile frigate Carr and the fast-combat support ship Arctic will accompany the TR when it pulls into Norfolk Naval Station on May 29.
Originally, sources said only the cruiser Cape St. George would escort the Roosevelt.
Not all of the elements of the TR's group will return at once.
Other ships include the guided missile cruiser Anzio, the destroyer Stump and the guided missile destroyers Arleigh Burke, Winston Churchill and Porter.
No return date for those ships has been announced.
But on May 29, 5,700 returning sailors of the TR group will be joined in their homecoming by more than 4,000 sailors and Marines attached with Nassau Amphibious Ready Group.
The ships include the Norfolk-based amphibious assault ship Nassau; the amphibious transport dock ship Austin; and the amphibious dock landing ship Tortuga, based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach.
Accompanying the Nassau is the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, headquartered at Camp Lejeune, N.C.