Originally published on September 2, 2013
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has been rerouted to the Red Sea along with its carrier strike group for a possible role in the event of a United States-led attack against Syria.
The Nimitz carrier strike group, which had been in the Indian Ocean supporting U.S. operations in Afghanistan and had been scheduled to return to its home port in Everett, Washington, is instead moving into the Red Sea and possibly the Mediterranean. U.S. officials told ABC News that the ship had not been assigned a mission for the potential attack but had been dispatched to "maximize available options."
"It's about leveraging the assets to have them in place should the capabilities of the carrier strike group and the presence be needed," a U.S. official told Reuters.
The most likely scenario for an attack on Syria would be to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. ships in the eastern Mediterranean in a campaign that would last days, analysts say. There are now five U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, The USS Stout, Mahan, Ramage, Barry and Graveley. Each ship can carry a maximum of 90 to 96 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
According to Reuters: "The Navy has also sent the USS San Antonio, an amphibious ship carrying 300 Marines and extensive communications equipment, to join the destroyers, diverting it from a different mission that would have taken it farther west."
Reuters continues:
"The USS Kearsarge, a large-deck amphibious ship that is part of a readiness group with the San Antonio, is also on the way toward the Red Sea after a port call in the United Arab Emirates, officials said. No further specific orders had been issued to the ship, they said."
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