US Battleships near Venezuela Coasts

Caracas says the presence of these vessels may be part of "unannounced routine manoeuvres"

March 3, 2005
Pravda

While Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez attends to the inauguration ceremony of Uruguay"s leftist leader, Tabare Vazquez, in Montevideo, his Armed Forces are closely watching the unexpected presence of several US battleships near country's western coastline. On Monday, Venezuela's Navy commander, Armando Laguna, made the announcement during an interview on state TV but opted not to accuse Washington directly of any provocation.

english.pravda.ru...

When did the US Navy pull Battleships from the bone yard?
I thought they were all moth balled?

The remaining Iowa class vessels are actually moveing beyond the mothball designation, and the U.S. Navy is actually looking to place them in port cities as Museums. The Iowa's #2 turret was actually never repaired. The only nation that has anything close is the Russian Navy with thier Kirov class Battlecruiser and the last I heard of it, a Russian Admiral described it as a floating nuclear bomb cause of all the problems.

The US battle ship looks to me like an amphibious assault ship.


Heres the one from the article,^


And heres a USMC amphibious assault ship



Is it me or are they strangely similar?

[edit on 26/02/2005 by devilwasp]

Fred are you saying that Pravda.ru is not always that ...ghasp! ... reliable?

Good gracious! I'd always believed everything I've read in Pravda!

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
Fred are you saying that Pravda.ru is not always that ...ghasp! ... reliable?

Good gracious! I'd always believed everything I've read in Pravda!

Not Pravda , my last source of unbiast news is gone

About the Wasp class ships (I think). They look like Brit carriers to me and there is no way that they could mistake an Iowa class ship with one of those. Unless they have really bad recce.

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
Fred are you saying that Pravda.ru is not always that ...ghasp! ... reliable?

Good gracious! I'd always believed everything I've read in Pravda!

Not Pravda , my last source of unbiast news is gone

About the Wasp class ships (I think). They look like Brit carriers to me and there is no way that they could mistake an Iowa class ship with one of those. Unless they have really bad recce.

Fred are you saying that Pravda.ru is not always that ...ghasp! ... reliable?

Good gracious! I'd always believed everything I've read in Pravda!

Thanks, I needed that today, hehe....

I still think it's funny that "Pravda" is Russian for "Truth"...

Wait!!! I saw a similar article in my local newspaper. About a U.S. navy ship stationed here on Aruba at the moment being a threat to Venezuela or something like that. And don't forget that Aruba is off the coast of Venezuela.

If my dad was still in the Dutch marines I would know for sure if there are U.S. Navy ships off the coast of Venezuela though. I have to pass by the harbor to pick up my gf from work after 5 p.m, so I'll take a look see if there is a U.S. navy ship in the port (which is not uncommon though).

[edit on 3-3-2005 by TheBandit795]

Originally posted by FredT
About the Wasp class ships (I think). They look like Brit carriers to me and there is no way that they could mistake an Iowa class ship with one of those. Unless they have really bad recce.

No thier definately US built, both ocean and invincible class carriers dont have that kind of a stern.
Not even the Albions like that.....
Well any ship that is ready for battle is a battle ship, besides the guys that reported this lol do they even know what a battleship looks like?

There are no US battleships left in active service.

The ship that is in the picture is a Tarawa class (LHA) assault ship.

CNN has an AP story about this on their website:

CNN
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's navy is taking a close look at the American military presence on the nearby island of Curacao to determine the intention of U.S. operations there, Venezuela's navy commander said Monday.

Navy Cmdr. Armando Laguna said the Venezuelan navy was "taking precautions" as it observes the presence of U.S. Marines, along with military planes and amphibious vehicles on the Caribbean island. He did not provide details regarding what measures the navy was taking.

Laguna told the state-run television channel the navy "detected a series of (military) units" on the island, located roughly 46 miles (75 kilometers) northeast of Venezuela's Paraguana Peninsula.

It looks legit to me.
I didn't bother going to the Pravda link. I just went to google news after I saw this story.

Ahh Na Korsow nan ta anto. Curacao is our sister island and is about a half hour flying away from here. There are US f-16's there as well (part of the FOL base on the island).

On this website you can see a picture of the ship. It's the USS Saipan. The website is in Dutch though.

www.amigoe.com...


So Pravda was right about at least one U.S. Navy Ship being off the coast of Venezuela.

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater people!!!



[edit on 3-3-2005 by TheBandit795]

Originally posted by devilwasp
[No thier definately US built, both ocean and invincible class carriers dont have that kind of a stern.

No doubt sorry I was not clear. From a distance, to me there are some similarities to the Brit Carriers, but they are USN all the way. Trivia for you, they are the biggest object to move over land as they are built in the Ingals shipyard.

Apparently they're just there to relax and take a breather. They were at Haiti delivering supplies to build camps and schools there. They're just enjoying themselves on Korsow. Campo Alegre is probably full right now... Hehehe

But there are often foreign ships on Aruba or Curacao. So I don't see what Venezuela is making so much of a fuss about.

[edit on 3-3-2005 by TheBandit795]

I already know what the Russian response will be.

1. Putin will make a barely concealed threat against 'extremists of all kinds.'

2. Russia will expedite military export of more hypersonic cruise missles to drive home the point.

3. America will look for the next smallest kid on the global playground.

LOL Just basing my opinions on precedent.

In all reality, America is probably just posturing, or conducting maneuvers to test response times, or just maintaining operational readiness (most likely). There was a hint of some bad blood between Venezuela and Columbia, perhaps there is more to that conflict - soon to be played out.

It all boils down to energy, and Venezuela is a MAJOR exporter of LNG and oil products. They also have a great deal of untapped reserves, which means fewer dollars in and more barrels out. That combination would make a tasty treat for the oligarchs on either side of the Atlantic.

Also, Venezuela is in a particularly uncomfortable position, because they have an unstable military backed government, and a leader who is chummy with Castro - all this in a hemisphere rapidly transitioning to 'assisted democracy.'

Fun times ahead, that's for sure.

as posted by SIRR1
When did the US Navy pull Battleships from the bone yard?
I thought they were all moth balled?

Look, to Venezuela, anything that carries two or more guns is considered a "battleship."




seekerof

Originally posted by WyrdeOne

Fun times ahead, that's for sure.

And that in my backyard. In the newspaper today there's a cartoon of the prime minister of our island pointing a rifle at Venezuela...

It says:

Minister of Justice Rudy (Bitch) Croes: Nel, I see Chavez very close by on the radar.

Prime Minister Nel Oduber: Rudy, over my dead body will I allow Chavez to attack Aruba!!! I'm ready for 'em.

Meanwhile Chavez is standing behind the two of them.

Originally posted by Seekerof

as posted by SIRR1
When did the US Navy pull Battleships from the bone yard?
I thought they were all moth balled?

Look, to Venezuela, anything that carries two or more guns is considered a "battleship."

seekerof

You're absolutely correct Seekerof, I right clicked on the original picture, hit the "properties" button and lo and behold - it said - Battleship.BMP

After 26 years in the Navy I've finally seen a Battleship - why, if you look long enough and use averted vision, you can begin make out the outline of a 16 incher.

Chief

Here is a great view of the a*s end of the USS Missouri just in case anyone out there still had some doubts.

PS. it's the one on the right.


www.ussmissouri.com...