US Carrier Pulling Back From Iran Operations To Crete Port After Suffering Fire
by Tyler Durden
Authored...
America's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is pulling away from the Middle East region as it nears a record-long deployment and after it suffered a major fire which damaged living quarters and other areas.
Bloomberg
reports in a fresh update Wednesday, "
The US Navy's most advanced aircraft carrier is retreating from the Red Sea after a fire broke out in its laundry room, scuttling plans for the 100,000-ton nuclear-powered vessel to project power in the war with Iran."
It is planning to
temporarily pull back into Crete in the southern Mediterranean, and hopefully outside the reach of Iran's feared long-range ballistic missiles. The Ford had already docked there in late February after being called from Caribbean operations into the CENTCOM region of responsibility.
US Navy/AFP
"Following the incident, which left at least two of the ship's 4,000 crew members with non-life-threatening injuries, the USS Gerald R. Ford will travel to the Greek island of Crete, according to a US official familiar with the matter," Bloomberg continues.
Bloomberg concludes, "The incident
underscores how even the Navy’s most advanced assets are under strain as the US expands its military endeavors. The Ford —
the most expensive warship ever built — has spent months beyond a standard deployment at sea."
The fire occurred last week, raising immediate questions of whether it was hit by an Iranian drone or missile attack, as Tehran has claimed, amid Pentagon insistence that it was none of these - but just an accidental fire.
There are also widespread
rumors,
speculation and claims that sailors actually set the fire themselves, in order to sabotage and derail the much longer than expected deployment.
The Ford's time at sea is entering ten months. The crew has reportedly been informed that they will be deployed into May, which would make an entire year at sea,
after the prior Caribbean stint focused on the Venezuela anti-Maduro operation.
The NY Times says this marks twice the length of a normal carrier deployment - one wrought with extreme difficulties and a major emergency, as the report
details:
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Post trimmed by moderation, you can't post an article in its entirety, it's a copyright violation.