Four warships and 8,500 sailors, led by the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, stopped at Pearl Harbor today before heading for a possible war with Iraq. Nimitz battle group
stops at PearlBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe Nimitz, along with the cruiser USS Princeton and the destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS Higgins, left their home port in San Diego last Tuesday.
Also part of the battle group from Everett Naval Station in Washington are the frigate USS Rodney Davis and the ammunition ship Bridge.
When the Nimitz leaves this weekend, it will be joined by the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser USS Chosin. The group will take at least 30 days to reach the Persian Gulf.
The Nimitz will become the sixth aircraft carrier battle group in the Persian Gulf-Mediterranean Sea region as naval forces prepare for a war against Iraq.
The Pentagon estimates 250,000 U.S. troops are now in the Gulf region, including more than 35,000 Marines in Kuwait.
The Nimitz will join three Navy battle groups already in the region: the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Constellation and USS Kitty Hawk.
Two other aircraft carriers, the USS Harry Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt, are in the eastern Mediterranean within striking range of Iraq.
The Nimitz's air wing includes four F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet squadrons from Naval Air Station Lemoore.
On Jan. 31 the USS Carl Vinson carrier battle group made a brief Pearl Harbor port call as it made its way to the western Pacific to relieve the carrier USS Kitty Hawk.