The sixth US fleet could not break through to the coast of Syria
The invincible and legendary Sixth Fleet of the U.S. Navy hastily left the Mediterranean when approaching the Syrian coast of the Russian naval group. Actually, the Sixth Fleet itself and its commander, Vice Admiral Craig Pandolf, have not gone away - they are still in the zone of responsibility entrusted to them, listed in all operational reports and financial reports. At the numerous Mediterranean bases of the Sixth fleet life also flows in the usual mode - work orders, dismissal, perimeter security, painting fences, theft of property, unpaid bills for electricity, gas and fresh water.
Another thing is that the ships of the Sixth Fleet strangely disappeared from the Mediterranean Sea!
There is a fleet, but there are no ships, you will surely be surprised - Is this possible?
Yes, perhaps, if we are talking about the US Navy. Unlike the structure of the Russian Navy, where each fleet has an unchanged list of ships assigned to it, including its flagship (Northern Fleet - TARKR Peter the Great, Baltic Fleet — Destroyer destroyer, Black Sea Fleet — GRKR Moscow, Pacific - RKR "Varyag"), the concept of "fleet" for the US Navy - no more than a sphere of responsibility. It is impossible to give a specific answer to the request: “Show the ships of the Sixth Fleet” - the fleet composition changes almost daily. Here is a quantum mechanics!
For example, any carrier strike group that has passed the Strait of Gibraltar is automatically assigned the designation Task Force 60 (60 Operational Connection) and AUG is transformed into the main strike force of the Sixth Fleet. And the commander of the carrier group, respectively, receives the post of commander of the Operational Force 60, and is now directly responsible for the situation in the Mediterranean.
Following this logic, each assault helicopter carrier and its escort, which entered the Mediterranean waters, are designated Task Force 61. Now they are the main amphibious forces of the Sixth Fleet.
Any squadron of destroyers in the Mediterranean is transformed into DESRON SIX ZERO (or simply “the 60 squadron”), the destroyers are gone — the 60’s mines squadron is disbanded.
How do the Americans manage not to get entangled in this whirlpool and not accidentally lose their six dozen destroyers in the expanses of the World Ocean? Imagine such a conversation on the sidelines of the Pentagon:
- Where is the destroyer "John Paul Jones"?
“Last year he was seen off the coast of Jamaica ...”
- Damn, he was supposed to arrive in Norfolk in September. Where is he gone?
A "John Paul Jones" quietly rusting in the harbor of Pearl Harbor, in anticipation of a new order, which, perhaps, will send him to the coast of Greenland.
Three things help to avoid such a mess: a specific home port for each ship (standard and mandatory world practice), a rather fuzzy division into Atlantic and Pacific command, and, most importantly, regardless of the number of the fleet, American ships are kept in permanent divisions, combat groups and carrier strike groups.
For many years, any aircraft carrier usually has an unchanged list of its escort ships and a clear composition of the wing with permanent squadrons, which are sometimes assigned to this aircraft carrier for decades. And nothing else.
For example, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, together with the Cape St. George missile cruiser, four Aegis destroyers (Sterret, Hesley, Momsen and Shoup), and a number of auxiliary ships and frigates form the “combat aircraft carrier group №9 ".
Based on this concept, each of the six American fleets constantly has in its composition (i.e., in its area of responsibility) one or several carrier strike groups, amphibious groups or divisions of destroyers from which the fleet is formed. Ships come and go, but their number always remains the same.
And so — noticing the Russian squadron on the horizon, most of the American ships hurried to leave the zone of the Sixth Fleet, leaving the Mediterranean frontier of NATO, sorry, with a bare bottom. Speaking in Russian - the Sixth Fleet ceased to exist, remaining only in the form of paper instructions and empty berths of the Mediterranean bases.
History This is not new - according to a similar scenario, the brave British sailors acted, who, having barely received information about the German battleship Tirpitz entering the sea, threw the unarmed transports of the PQ-17 convoy to their fate and shamefully fled on a 30-junction passage. It is significant that the British squadron, at least, was not inferior to German ships and even had an advantage due to the presence of a deck aviation. The death of the PQ-17 convoy laid a shameful spot on the entire history of the British Navy.
So it happened this time: a middle-aged rocket cruiser, a pair of large anti-submarine ships, four amphibious ships with full holds of “black towers”, a small frigate and a patrol ship, laid back in the distant 1966 year, drove away from the coast of Syria all of the “probable enemy” ", Tearing down the already prepared plans for an armed invasion. American sailors are seriously afraid of the Russian Navy - they have long understood that when the shells run out, our ships will break through their side, as happened in the Black Sea.
Let's see for fun who confronted a small Russian squadron:
Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Dwight Eisenhower" - a clot of combat matter weighing 100 thousand tons; invincible monster capable of striking the enemy at a distance of a thousand kilometers and explore the entire surface of the Mediterranean Sea in a day. Two Westinghouse reactors, unlimited autonomy for fuel reserves. The displacement of a huge ship is twice the total displacement of all the ships of the Russian group.
The main argument of the slaughter machine is 70 ... 80 aircraft of various purposes, capable of dumping tons of ammunition from the vast cellars of a super-aircraft carrier on the heads of 1900 enemies. State-of-the-art equipment, radar and supercomputers, a plant for seawater desalination, catapults, ammunition elevators, aerofinishers and aircraft lifters, heavy booking, unique fire extinguishing systems, giant storages and cold stores, nearly six thousand crew members.
1 December 2012 of the Year “Dwight Eisenhower” arrived in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. 13 December 2012, the invincible aircraft carrier Dwight Eisenhower, unexpectedly said goodbye to everyone, and a bullet flew out of the Mediterranean, heading for Norfolk's home base.
According to the official version, the ship was taken away to defuse the tense situation in this region. Hmm ... why are the Americans afraid of the "tense situation" ?! In my opinion, their entire policy is aimed at creating tensions around the world.
After the escaped “Eisenhower”, Turkish politicians looked sadly at themselves, and now they will have to resolve the situation on the border with Syria on their own.
Universal amphibious assault ship docking "Iwo Jima". A huge barge, comparable in displacement and capabilities with the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov." Onboard the Iwo Jima are thirty aircraft: vertical take-off attack aircraft, heavy transport helicopters and convertible planes, and a squadron of attack helicopters. Down below the flight deck are hidden accommodations designed to accommodate 2000 marines. Even lower - decks for the transport of armored vehicles. And at the waterline level there is a dock filled with water, in which there are three ready-made amphibious assault ships.
Two weeks of "Iwo Jima", overloaded with military equipment, it is important to spur Syrian waters, but barely seeing small Russian BDK, rushed to the West, rolling over and puffing on the 23-node course.
Together with the Eisenhower aircraft carrier, his personal guardian left the Syrian waters - the Hue City missile cruiser with full Tomahawk cellars prepared for the shelling of Syrian cities. The most modern ship, equipped with the all-seeing Aegis system and 122 launchers for launching any type of missile in service with the US Navy. But no modern technology has saved the Americans from the fierce fear of the Russian squadron. And a quarter of a century ago, the Yorktown rocket cruiser, similar in design to Hue City, returned from a Black Sea cruise with destroyed deck flooring and broken sides. Although it would seem - just tried to get closer to Sevastopol ... And then - the whole Syria, the Russian sailors of what good will be cut in half with an impact ram.
In addition to the missile cruiser, in the retinue of the American super-aircraft carrier there were three destroyers of URO of the Orly Burke type — McFaul, Kerney, and Farragut. All of them, of course, escaped with their flagship. Stunning ships, masterpieces of world shipbuilding, ready to shoot the enemy with five dozen winged “Tomahawks” or strike a target in low near-earth orbit. Lastly, Burgh's gunship destroyers are a key element of the US missile defense system. Strong, strong and modern destroyers. So what? Did it help much?
All in all, the Americans concentrated on the sea approaches to Syria from 17 the most powerful and modern ships: aircraft carrier and UDC, Ajis cruisers, destroyers, frigates, integrated supply ships and ships of the Shipping Command. And the total number of ships of the Sixth Fleet reached 40 units! To date, most of them have left the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, while the rest of the ships hid in bases.
Americans are the most modest and ascetic people. In the composition of the Sixth Fleet is constantly only ... one ship. The special command ship "Mount Whitney" is the very exception that confirms the general rule. Unlike all other ships, the Mount Whitney rarely leaves the Mediterranean basin and, in fact, is the eternal flagship of the American maritime group in this region.
The idea is not bad - to ensure effective management and coordination of the forces of the Navy and the Marine Corps, it was proposed to build a specialized staff ship, extremely saturated with receiving and transmitting equipment, with equipped briefing and conference rooms, comfortable admiral cabins and military control posts. On board there is equipment for receiving a helicopter. Externally, the “Mount Whitney” is distinguished by a flat spacious deck, which is literally littered with covers of antenna devices. In principle, Mount Whitney is difficult to distinguish from civilian research vessels or ships to communicate with spacecraft. The only thing that gives him a warship, - mounted on the bow and in the stern six-column automatic anti-aircraft gun "Phalanx".
In 2008, Mount Whitney, having forgotten about its flagship functions, was the first to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia. Along the way, he tried to make his way with a “friendly visit” to Sevastopol, but was booed and exhibited from the Black Sea in disgrace. This time, sensing that the Russians are determined to defend Syria, the flagship of the Sixth Fleet locked itself at its base in Gaeta (Italy) and does not appear to our sailors.
By the way, about the bases - the Sixth Fleet has in the Mediterranean Sea a significant number of points of material and technical service. Among them are facilities in Italy: in addition to the already mentioned naval base Gaeta, on the coast of this country there is a large naval base Naples with a coastal high-security command post and a forward point of stationing La Maddalena (a base of nuclear submarines on Sardinia). In addition, the Sixth Fleet may use the Italian naval forces Spezia, Taranto, Brindisi, Augusta (a major fuel supply point for fuel and lubricants). On the coast of Spain is another large object - the naval base Rota, used in conjunction with the Spanish Navy. Also, to deploy the base patrol and anti-submarine aircraft, the US fleet can use numerous air bases in European countries (for example, Sigonella AB on Sicily).
The maintenance of all these military facilities falls heavily on the shoulders of American taxpayers. The Sixth Fleet commanders are trying to cut costs, and sometimes this leads to hilarious results - in September 2009, the Gaeta naval base remained for several days without fresh water: a private Italian water supply company simply turned off the water for non-payment.
Finale
Whatever events take place in the Middle East - the coast of Syria is under the constant control of the Russian Navy. We won this round - American ships left the Mediterranean Sea, and without the help of American aircraft carriers, UDC and Ajis destroyers, NATO has no clear advantage at sea - European non-aircraft carriers and frigates devoid of any serious strike weapons do not pose a threat to Russian group of ships of the Black Sea, Baltic and Pacific Fleets. Hopefully, the North Sea mariners will soon come to the area and our Navy will be able to conduct truly ambitious exercises in the Mediterranean.
Yes, the Sixth Fleet is cool and strong, but the era of atomic weapons guaranteed to "multiply by zero" all non-nuclear means in global war. And in local conflicts, the one who is more impudent and decisive has an advantage. The US Navy has extensive experience in fighting at sea, but the Americans do not like to fight unprepared, they need time to deploy and thorough preparation. Our sailors, on the contrary, are ready to fight in any conditions - this is our main and only trump card; unexpected tricks and desperate courage devalue any Aegis and Tomahawks.
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