USS John Stennis Enters Persian Gulf

U.S. aircraft carrier USS John Stennis has passed the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf accompanied by guided missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay. The aircraft carrier called at the port of Jebel Ali, 35km southwest of Dubai. Meanwhile, the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu has entered the Oman’s port of Salalah on the Arabian Sea. (Interfax, 27 December)

The Iranian Navy will begin conducting maneuvers on Friday at the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea.

File photo: USS Hohn Stennis (U.S. Navy/Reuters)

U.S. Aircraft Carrier John Stennis Arrives in Persian Gulf

USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) has reached its destination in the Persian Gulf (Stratfor, 17 October), joining USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). A third aircraft carrier assigned to the area, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), is now on a R&R port visit in Naples, Italy.

File photo: The Stennis at Starit of Hormuz in November 2011. (U.S. Navy/Reuters)

USS John C. Stennis Returning To Persian Gulf

Reports published on military news sites indicate that the U.S. Navy will deploy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) to the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea in late August, joining USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Enterprise already deployed to the region. The Stennis had left the Gulf last March, and was singled out by Iran’s military commander who threatened it not to return to the region.

The presence of three aircraft carriers in the region is a rare occurrence. The Navy has also doubled the number of minesweepers in the region, to eight, and moved a converted amphibious transport and docking ship, the USS Ponce, into the Persian Gulf to serve as a floating staging base.