USS Mobile Bay Departs for the Middle East

The guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay is scheduled to begin an eight-month deployment Saturday by heading for the Persian Gulf with a battle group led by the Washington-based aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.

The Stennis group, including the Mobile Bay, returned from its latest deployment in February. It is heading out again four months earlier than planned because of a growing sense that Israel may strike at Iran to disrupt its nuclear program.

Earlier this year, the Stennis began its voyage home by transiting the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about 40 percent of the world's oil exports passes. Iranians warned the carrier not to come back – a reflection of tensions between the U.S. and Iran over its efforts to develop a nuclear program and economic sanctions imposed by the West.

The Christian Science Monitor reported Friday that Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Israeli government officials that a unilateral strike would only slow Iran's nuclear program, not destroy it.

The International Atomic Energy Agency recently reported that Iran had doubled its number of centrifuges for enriching uranium, despite sanctions and diplomatic appeals.

The Stennis group deployment is part of plan to keep two carriers in the Persian Gulf.

The Norfolk, Va.-based carriers Enterprise and Eisenhower are in the region now.

When the Stennis arrives, the Enterprise will head to its homeport for the last time. The 51-year-old, 1,132-foot Enterprise, which can cruise at more than 30 knots, is scheduled for decommissioning Dec. 1.

The heavily armed, 567-foot Mobile Bay, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, is named for the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay. Commissioned in 1987, its array of weaponry is designed for repelling threats at sea, in the air, on land and underwater.

– City News Service