Pearl-based ship Another Pearl Harbor warship -- the cruiser USS Chosin -- is getting ready to sail to the Persian Gulf with the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier battle group as preparations for a war with Iraq continue.
to join Gulf fleet
The USS Chosin joins
the USS Nimitz aircraft
carrier battle group
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThat means the United States could have six aircraft carrier battle groups in the region, the largest since the Gulf War in 1991.
The Chosin is commanded by Capt. Richard Nolan, a Desert Storm veteran, and has been part of the Nimitz's accelerated deployment training off the Southern California coast since January. It has since returned to Pearl Harbor.
The Navy would not say when the Chosin, with its crew of more than 370 sailors, would leave Hawaii, because of security concerns.
The Nimitz, with its flotilla of four warships, will leave San Diego on Monday and will take at least three weeks to reach the Gulf area. The Navy would not say whether the Nimitz would stop at Pearl Harbor on the way.
It is scheduled to replace the USS Lincoln carrier battle group, which has been on an extended deployment since July 20. That could mean that at least two Pearl Harbor warships that belong to the Lincoln battle group -- destroyer USS Paul Hamilton and frigate USS Reuben James -- could be on their way home.
However, a Pacific Fleet spokesman at Makalapa said "a decision on the date of the turnover hasn't been made as yet," meaning the Lincoln could be kept in the area even longer if needed.
On New Year's Day the Lincoln battle group was ordered to return to the Persian Gulf as preparations were made to place at least five aircraft carriers in the region.
At that time, the Lincoln and the two Pearl Harbor warships had completed a liberty call in Australia and were preparing for a January homecoming.
The aircraft carriers Lincoln, USS Kitty Hawk and USS Constellation are in the Persian Gulf, with the USS Truman and the USS Roosevelt in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, ready to send strike planes and cruise missiles into Iraq.
Other warships in the Nimitz group include cruiser USS Princeton, destroyer USS Fitzgerald, frigate USS Rodney M. Davis and oiler USS Bridge.
On Tuesday the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier battle group arrived in Guam for a weekend port call. The Vinson is expected to take up station in waters near the Korean peninsula, replacing the Kitty Hawk battle group, which is patrolling the Persian Gulf.
Joining the global war on terrorism last month was the Pearl Harbor-based nuclear attack submarine USS Los Angeles, which is on its first six-month deployment since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It joins six other Pearl Harbor submarines now on patrol.
Two other Pearl Harbor warships -- frigate USS Crommelin and destroyer USS O'Kane -- are on six-month deployments, but at undisclosed western Pacific locations.
The Navy has committed at least 75 warships for a possible showdown against Iraq. They will be joined by 65 other vessels from coalition countries.
USS Chosin