US Navy deploys 2nd aircraft carrier to Gulf

Associated Press ^ | 4/08/2012 | Associated Press

[FreeAtlanta]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Monday it has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

The deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise along with the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group marks one of the few times the Navy has had two aircraft carriers operating in waters near the Persian Gulf, said Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

The two carriers will support the American military operations in Afghanistan and anti-piracy efforts off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden, she said.

[Excellence]

The Enterprise is expendable?
I feel as sick as I did on 9-11, having this dreaded feeling we are going into an active war.

[cva66snipe]

what are those two ships tied up next to the carrier?

The aft one is in about the position where garbage is tossed over the side of the ship but that isn't a garbage barge though or sure doesn't look like one LOL. The forward one looks like it is positioned at the port deck house for loading and unloading personnel. My guess is a contracted ferry ship too shore. The aft one might just be secured waiting for the other too move away. If so dumb idea in the M.E.

The carriers have or did have 7 utility boats capable of transporting 150 - 175 each boat plus two officers boats, the Captains Gig and the Admirals boat. IOW Bosuns and Snipes should be running the ships own boats into shore.

I blew the picture up for a closer look. Unless I'm wrong they are ferry boats {based on seeing boarding ramps} and the aft one looks like possibly the garbage barge is off to the side of it. I don't see contracted ship to shore rides as good policy in any port friend or foe.

[Smokin' Joe]

They are there to prevent Israel from attacking Iran. He will order shoot downs of Israeli fighters if it comes to that. The Azerbaijan betrayal proves that.

That thought crossed my mind, too.

[Fitzy_888]

Assassinations, explosions, drone flights into Iran and now a second carrier arrives.

If these Iranian’s don’t do something provacative soon Obama is just going to have to fake it. You can only pull Bin Laden out of a freezer once, Obama needs to strike Iran for a bump in the polls.

[cva66snipe]

And don’t worry about the Big “E”-—after all she survived McCain and his buddies who tried to sink her off Oahu about 1968-—

It couldn't have been Senator McCain he was captured October 26, 1967 after launching off the USS Oriskany. He was in the Hilton right after the Forestall fire that occurred July 1967 in which he was onboard at the time.

Politically I'm not a McCain fan and far from it. But his actions in that fire were heroic. Some rumors are on the net that his plane launched the rocket that set off the fire. That too is false. His plane was positioned in a manner that made it impossible. I've found the aircraft spotting diagram for when the fire broke out. It couldn't have been him. Nor could he have possibly been onboard at Big E's fire 14 January, 1969.

[Candor7]

Sent there to intercept the IAF on their way to Iran—turn back you Jews or be shot down.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I agree with your sentiment.

But not ALL of such IAF flights would be intercepted, some would get through.

I think this is exactly what Obama is doing BTW.He has no intention of bombing Iran, but he will act to stop the IAF.

[stboz]

He will order shoot downs of Israeli fighters if it comes to that.

I hope our guys would calmly say to him, "Up yours, Sir!"

[tanknetter]

if God forbid a couple of IIAF F-4’s were to powerdive into Big E’s flightdeck with AP bombs aboard and survive long enough to strike it, E could sink.

Hardly. In 1969 Enterprise herself experienced a similar flight-deck conflagration to what Forrestal had survived a couple years earlier. The fire really messed up the aft end of the ship, largely due to multiple 2000lb bombs cooking off.

It's believed that Enterprise absorbed the equivalent of 9 or 10 large ASM/Cruise Missile hits. Which would be the rough equivalent of eating a like number of F-4s loaded with HE. She survived, and if it weren't for the need to conduct the investigation and the ability to replace her on the line with another CV (to allow her to be fixed properly) could have been back in service (with some limitations) in a matter of days.

As I said, Forrestal went through something similar (worse, actually) in 1967. And then there's the damage the very-lightly armored Franklin and Bunker Hill took near the end of WWII, plus the damage this Enterprise's (CVN-65) namesake (CV-6) survived (and remained largely operational) during both Okinawa AND the Guadalcanal campaign.

Of the fleet carrier losses in early WWII, only Wasp's was really unpreventable from a post-design perspective. She had negligible torpedo protection as-built and ate a torpedo in a very bad place. Lexington would have lived if her CO hadn't ventilated the ship, Yorktown would have lived (and Hornet might have lived) except for the "early" decisions to abandon them.

[Happy Rain]

The reason Obama ratted out the Israeli strategy of using air bases in Azerbaijan to launch a surprise attack from the North on Iranian nukes was to force the IAF to fly over Iraq where we have first the Iraqi Air Force and then two carriers in place to stop them.

My question is—US Navy and Marine airmen are a pretty savvy bunch when it comes to geopolitical issues in the areas of their operations. Will they follow orders from Islamophile Marxist Obama to shoot down the aircraft of one of our closest allies—allies who are only trying to stop the annihilation of their nation through a preemptive strike against a country that lusts heartily for the violent death of not only Israel but our America as well?

Could they come back to the US with that kind of stain on their honor?

[cherokee1]

You get Groucho’s duck and the fifty bucks for saying the magic word I think. “Provocative “is the operational word. Our Fifth Fleet sailors have been buzzing the Iranian coast for quite some time now. It has to be driving the Mullahs nuts or worse. The coast of Iran is the same length as California’s and that’s a lot of water skiing. Ever since Reagan took out half the Iranian navy they have been grinding an awfully dull axe all over the world with little cheap shots at us. But they’d really love to figure out a way to take a low risk cheap shot close to home-——and by the way I don’t see Obamuzzie getting away with using our naval air to block the Israelis. We train with their guys, we know them, and if anything I think our guys would “miss “and fly along for the ride.

[tanknetter]

... so maybe there’s sentiment to give Her one last show?

She was there sinking the Iranian Navy in the late 80s as part of Preying Mantis. Perhaps a return engagement?

Let's make sure history never forgets... the name..."Enterprise"!

[Candor7]

Could they come back to the US with that kind of stain on their honor? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Obama does not think they have any honor. I guess we may find out.

[BerryDingle]

Just want you to know we are all behind you and the Enterprise is going to the Persian Gulf.

[daniel1212]

All Too Plausible.

[JerseyanExile]

We'd have to send ships in though. Remember, Iran is threatening to shut down the Gulf to commercial traffic. And naval mines would likely be one of the tools at their disposal. We'd have to send in minesweepers, but those ships are vulnerable by themselves - which means we'd then have to send in a naval task force to defend them.

[chessplayer]

Is this legitimate, or is it part of Obama Campaign 2012?
The unthinkable would be loosing one or both of our great ships and crews. I am nervous and praying for our military.

---

Could be interesting. After endless calls for action being taken against Iran’s nuke facilities, if dumbo orders an attack on them, will conservatives condemn the attacks?

[daniel1212]

I did not need the translation, and i think too much of made of typos. And with my stiff fingers i make plenty (and speech to text software has far to go). But a browser like Firefox will mark error and provides correction options via right click.

I use OpenOffice a lot which enables you to use autocorrect, so that the next time you misspell the word it will correct it automatically.

[JerseyanExile]

Which is why over the course of a multi-month aerial bombing campaign in Yugoslavia in ‘99, American and NATO aircraft equipped with smart bombs wound up blowing up little more than wooden decoy tanks and microwave ovens. By good use of camouflage, decoys, and fake movements and electronic emissions, the Serbs were able to blunt and, for the most part, nullify the effects of NATO air strikes. Assuming that all of America’s enemies are going to be as inept as the Iraqi military seems like the same kind of overconfidence that allowed a Serbian air-defense commander in charge of an antiquated SA-3 SAM battery to down a F-117 stealth fighter.

[JerseyanExile]

That was the Millennium Challenge 2002 wargame.

[daniel1212]

True.