The U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship the USS Wasp, along with troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit on board, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on June 26 and has now entered the Mediterranean Sea.
The Wasp-class multi-purpose amphibious assault ship will be joined by the USS Oak Hill, a Harpers Ferry-class amphibious landing dock ship, which passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on June 18.
The U.S. Navy said that the USS Wasp will focus on “theater security cooperation efforts to further regional stability and demonstrate the strong maritime partnership between the U.S. and allies and partners.”
“Wasp is truly the number one ship in the fleet,” Capt. Chris Purcell, commanding officer of the assault ship, said in a statement released by the U.S. Navy on June 27.
“We’ve all worked tirelessly to reach this point. I am grateful for the energy our Sailors and Marines bring to the fight each day and confident they will meet every challenge head[-]on over the coming months,” he said.
The deployment marks the first time that the USS Wasp has operated in the Mediterranean region since its homeport shift from Sasebo, Japan, to Norfolk, Virginia, in 2019, according to the U.S. Navy.
The Navy did not specify how long the assault ship would be operating in the Mediterranean Sea.
The USS Wasp is built to support U.S. Marines in combat, as well as to provide disaster relief and medical support to those in need, according to the U.S. military.
The deployment was made just days after the U.S. Navy announced on June 24 the arrival of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (IKE) and its carrier strike group (CSG) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, after departing the Red Sea on June 22.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier entered the Mediterranean region alongside the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely.
The U.S. Navy said in a statement that IKECSG (the Navy’s name for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group) units departed their homeports of Norfolk, Virginia, and Mayport, Florida, on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, 2023, for “a scheduled deployment.”
“After an eventful seven months in the Middle East region, the IKE strike group is back in the U.S. 6th Fleet, ready as always to demonstrate our flexibility and capabilities where needed,” Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh, commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, said in a statement.
“We are prepared to operate anywhere, whenever we are tasked,” he added.
