The USS Wasp, an amphibious battleship. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The United States is said to have sent warships to the Mediterranean, according to reports by several media outlets and information obtained by L'Orient-Le Jour's political columnist. Their deployment follows an Israeli strike that targeted a high-ranking Hezbollah official in Beirut's southern suburb on Tuesday night, raising fears of a significant escalation in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
Since it began in October, the fighting between the two adversaries has been largely contained to the border region, in what Hezbollah has long asserted is a support front meant to draw the Israeli army's resources away from the group's ally in Gaza, Hamas. Three days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war, the world's largest warship, the American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived in the eastern Mediterranean under the pretext of providing deterrence.
This time, according to the British daily The Telegraph, three ships are en route to Lebanon: the USS Wasp, USS New York, and USS Oak Hill. These vessels reportedly have 2,200 soldiers onboard and possess the "means" to conduct evacuations, The Telegraph continues.
When questioned on Tuesday by the Saudi channel al-Hadath, Lebanese General Wehbe Katicha proposed that sending the ships was perhaps "a way to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as on Iran and Hezbollah, to avoid further escalation."
"These ships are here to contain the situation and not to engage in military actions because no one wants an extended war," he added.
What do we know about these three American fleet ships?
The USS Wasp, the flagship of the American fleet currently in the Mediterranean, made its last known stop at the port of Souda, Greece. (Illustration by Guilhem Dorandeu/L'Orient Today)
USS Wasp
It is an "amphibious assault ship" used to conduct an assault from sea to land, whose "primary mission is to support American marines in combat, but also to provide disaster relief and medical support to those in need," according to the website of the U.S. Army's second fleet.
According to Marine Vessel Traffic, the last known position of the USS Wasp was recorded nine days ago when the ship was detected in the Aegean Sea. The vessel is currently moving at a speed of 17.4 knots, to an undisclosed destination. Commissioned in 1989, this ship can carry up to 2,200 soldiers in addition to its crew of 1,000 sailors. It can also carry several helicopters.
USS New York
The USS New York is an amphibious transport dock commissioned in 2009, whose presence was first detected 19 days ago in the Aegean Sea. The ship is currently traveling to an undisclosed destination at a speed of 1.6 knots, significantly slower than the average speed. It was built from materials recovered from the World Trade Center towers in New York, destroyed by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and can carry up to 700 soldiers, in addition to 360 sailors.
American warships in the Mediterranean. (Illustration by Guilhem Dorandeu/L'Orient Today)
USS Oak Hill
It is a ship designed to serve as an amphibious landing dock, commissioned in 1994. "Our mission is to transport marines, landing craft, vehicles, and cargo to land, using landing craft and helicopters to support military and humanitarian operations, as well as to support and withdraw them if necessary," according to the ship's description on the American army's second fleet website.
This ship was designed "to respond quickly to any potential crisis,” the website specifies. The USS Oak Hill was detected in the Aegean Sea 23 days ago and is currently traveling at a speed of 18.5 knots to an undetermined destination, according to Marine Vessel Traffic.
