Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Ray Clark signals to raise an aircraft elevator in the hangar bay of the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD) 7 as part of preparations for potential humanitarian relief efforts on Sept. 11, 2017. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s Hurricane Irma relief effort is ramping up as more ships position off the coast of Florida and teams arrive on land to deliver supplies and assess damage, the service said on Wednesday. Read More
Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 1st Class Oliver Martin and Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Parker Eastman, assigned to the Spartans of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72, load boxes of water onto an MH-60R Sea Hawk from the Swamp Foxes of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74 on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Sept. 11, 2017. US Navy Photo
Positioned off the coast of Florida, helicopters from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) are now delivering food and water to Florida as part of the Hurricane Irma relief effort. Read More
A medical vehicle attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU), drives aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) during an Oct. 7 onload of more than 500 Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and nearly 300 pallets of supplies. US Navy photo.
Amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) is in Haiti today and amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) is en route to respond to the island nation that suffered infrastructure destruction from winds and flooding, a death toll of more than 1,000 and now a cholera outbreak after Hurricane Matthew made landfall last week. Read More
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) operate in the Arabian Sea on April 21, 2015. US Navy Photo
PENTAGON — The build up of U.S. naval presence in the vicinity of Yemen is the result of the deteriorating security situation inside the country and to “preserve options” to maintain maritime security in the region, Department of Defense officials told reporters this morning. Read More
Helicopters fly from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on April 13, 2015. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to include additional information from Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR).
Nine U.S. warships have moved closer to Yemen — including the bulk of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (CSG) — pulling U.S. forces away from the ongoing airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) militants, U.S. Navy officials told USNI News on Monday. Read More
USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) in the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 21, 2014. US Navy Photo
The amphibious warship USS Iwo Jima (LHD- 7) is standing by in the event it would need to assist in the evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel from Yemen, a Navy spokesperson told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) in the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 21, 2014. US Navy Photo
The U.S. has moved two amphibious warships close to Yemen as a precaution against an ongoing militia uprising in the region, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday. Read More
USS New York (LPD-21) in 2012. US Navy Photo
The San Antonio-class amphibious warship USS New York (LPD-21) left Norfolk, Va. Wednesday bound for its new homeport at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. Read More
USS New York (LPD 21) transits in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in October. US Navy Photo
Amphibious warship, USS News York (LPD-21) will be home ported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. by the end of the year, according to a Wednesday release from a Florida congressman. Read More
President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the White House in 1981 The Reagan Library Archives
While publicly claiming neutrality between Argentina and the U.K. during the 1982 Falklands War, President Ronald Reagan’s administration had developed plans to loan a ship to the Royal Navy if it lost one of its aircraft carriers in the war, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, told the U.S. Naval Institute on June 26.
Lehman and then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger agreed to support U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with the loan of the amphibious warship USS Iwo Jima, he said.
“We agreed that [Weinberger] would tell the President that we planned to handle all these requests routinely without going outside existing Navy channels,” Lehman said in a speech provided to the U.S. Naval Institute he made in Portsmouth, U.K. “We would ‘leave the State Department, except for [Secretary of State Al] Haig, out of it.’”
Reagan approved the request without hesitation and his instructions to Weinberger had been simple, “Give Maggie everything she needs to get on with it,” Lehman said in the speech.
At the time, the Royal Navy had deployed HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes to the Falklands. Each carrier fielded five vertical takeoff Sea Harriers armed with American Sidewinder missiles — all major components of the U.K.’s air war in the Falklands.
The contingency plan to provide a replacement carrier was developed at the Royal Navy’s request.
“As in most of the requests from the Brits at the time, it was an informal request on a ‘what if’ basis, Navy to Navy,” Lehman said.
