Free Republic

he Chinese military has said it chased off a U.S. warship near a disputed set of islands in the South China Sea, but the Navy contended the vessel was acting within international law. Senior Colonel Li Huamin, the spokesman for the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Southern Theater Command, said in a statement Thursday by official military outlets that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin "illegally intruded" into territorial waters near the Paracel Islands, known to China as the Xisha Islands, earlier that day. As a result, Li said Chinese sea and air units were dispatched to "warn off" and...

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A new top-of-the-line U.S. guided missile destroyer was deployed to Japan on Saturday, amid tensions over North Korea's missile tests. The USS Mustin sailed into the port of Yokosuka, home to the Navy's 7th Fleet, with a crew of 300 for permanent assignment to the region, 7th Fleet spokeswoman Hanako Tomizuka said. The Mustin, commissioned in 2003, is one of the most advanced in the fleet. Its deployment to Yokosuka was previously planned and not in response to North Korea's missile tests, Tomizuka said.

(CBS News) TOKYO A new top-of-the-line U.S. guided missile destroyer with missile-tracking radar was deployed to Japan on Saturday, as tensions mounted over neighboring North Korea's recent missile tests. The USS Mustin arrived Saturday at Yokosuka, homeport to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, with its crew of 300 sailors for permanent assignment to the region, said 7th Fleet spokeswoman Hanako Tomizuka. The move comes as the United States restructures its regional defenses amid growing concern about the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, which stunned northeastern Asia on Wednesday by test-firing seven missiles. In August, Yokosuka will also welcome the USS...

PERSIAN GULF (NNS) -- The crew of USS Mustin (DDG 89) rescued 27 people from Motor Vessel Olympias when an engine-room fire engulfed the vessel at 11 p.m. local time, May 11, in the Northern Persian Gulf. Mustin, currently conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the area, responded immediately after receiving word from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) of the vessel in distress. Vinson is also deployed to the Northern Persian Gulf conducting MSO and providing air support for multinational forces on the ground in Iraq. The crew of Olympias notified Vinson of the fire via bridge-to-bridge radio. When crew...