Navy: China has not attacked U.S. aircraft carrier

The aircraft carrier George Washington has not been attacked, and World War III has not begun, despite what tweets from United Press International say, the Navy has confirmed.
The carrier is in port, not in the South China Sea.
"It started on Twitter, where six fake headlines were posted in about 10 minutes, starting about 1:20 p.m. Some of them were about the Federal Reserve; others contained a false report that the USS George Washington had been attacked."
Editors learned of the hacking when they noticed a "breaking news" banner for a false story about the Federal Reserve, the statement said.
militarytimes

USS George Washington departs Yokosuka; carrier’s future uncertain

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington embarked Saturday on what is likely one of its last patrols of the western Pacific Ocean as a Japan-based carrier.
About 5,500 sailors, Marines and other personnel left Yokosuka for a cruise that will include multiple port visits throughout Asia, as well as exercises at sea with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Long-term patrols for a carrier generally run about six months, though they have been lasting considerably longer recently. The USS Truman returned to Virginia in April after nearly nine months away.
Some carriers, like George Washington, often return to their homeport for a mid-patrol break.
In the summer of 2015, USS Ronald Reagan is scheduled to replace George Washington as the Navy’s Japan-deployed carrier.
USS George Washington’s future remains uncertain after that.
The ship is scheduled for a mid-life nuclear refueling and maintenance overhaul in 2016, which would take up to four years to finish. Some lawmakers and Pentagon officials have suggested retiring the ship instead, in order to meet mandatory budget caps on defense spending.
stripes

Pentagon Drops Plan to Mothball USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier

The Pentagon has dropped a plan to retire one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers after the White House intervened to head off a brewing political fight.
The military had proposed an early retirement of the USS George Washington, reducing the U.S. carrier fleet to 10, as part of plan to deal with cost cuts imposed by Congress.
wsj

US Navy to move Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to Japan next year

The Navy said Tuesday it would move the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan from San Diego to Japan next year so another carrier could come home for maintenance.
The shuffle will allow the Navy to keep one carrier deployed in the western Pacific, where tensions have flared in recent months over a tiny Japanese-controlled island chain also claimed by China.
The Reagan's home port will be the Yokusuka naval base in Japan, replacing the George Washington, which will move to Norfolk, Va., for refueling of its nuclear reactor.
A third carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, which is currently undergoing maintenance, will be shifted to San Diego.
The move means San Diego will continue to be the home port for two carriers. The Carl Vinson is also based there.
The Navy currently has 10 carriers, one of which is usually undergoing maintenance that can take several years to complete.
The Pentagon has said that the disputed island chain, known as the Senkakus in Japan and as the Diaoyus in China, is covered by the U.S.-Japan defense treaty, which requires the U.S. to come to Japan's aid if it is attacked.
U.S officials have urged China and Japan to peacefully resolve the dispute, but tensions flared in November when Beijing declared all planes entering an "air defense zone" in the East China Sea near the islands would have to identify themselves.
The George Washington deployed in November to the Philippines to help with relief efforts after a typhoon hit the islands.
The U.S. also keeps a carrier air wing, consisting of several squadrons of strike aircraft capable of operating off a carrier, in Japan, along with several squadrons of the Air Force's most advanced land-based fighters.
The Reagan has operated from San Diego since 2004.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-navy-ronald-reagan-carrier-japan-20140114,0,7005230.story#ixzz2qbFNP4UW
Lean more

U.S. sends B-52s over China-claimed waters

An American carrier battle group and a flotilla of Japanese warships will arrive Wednesday near a vast stretch of ocean claimed by China in what is shaping up as a test of how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the USA will stand up to the challenge.
The joint U.S.-Japan exercises in the sea are a direct challenge to China's claim. On Tuesday, the U.S. military said two Air Force B-52 bombers flew over the sea without notifying Beijing despite China's demand that it be told if anyone plans to fly military aircraft over its self-claimed "air defense zone."
The aircraft took off from Guam on Monday, part of a regular exercise.
China has been laying claim to nearly 1 million square miles of ocean known as the East China Sea, insisting that the sea's energy resources and fisheries belong to China. Much of the ocean territory it claims is hundreds of miles from its shore, including waters off the coasts of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
On Saturday China went further than ever, announcing it had designated much of the sea as an air defense zone it controls. The zone includes the Japan-held Senkaku Islands, a string of uninhabited islets that China calls the Diaoyus.
The challenge represents a test for Abe, a conservative party prime minister elected in 2012 who has vowed to shift Japan's deferential military posture to a more muscular stance that recognizes its right to defend itself.
On Tuesday, Abe directly confronted China, stating he would not recognize the Chinese air zone over the East China Sea or any of its claims to the Senkakus.
For the United States' part, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Chinese action represents a "destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo" and "will not in any way change how the United States conducts military operations in the region."
To that end, the U.S. Navy arrived in force Tuesday off the coast of Japan for a complex exercise in which Japanese naval ships and U.S. fighter jets, warships and submarines will practice scenarios for a possible attack on Japan.
China issued a protest with Japan and the U.S. government over the exercises and opposition to China's self-claimed right to an air defense zone over the sea.
Earlier this year, Japan scrambled fighter jets when Chinese planes flew near the Senkaku islands, a rich fishing ground annexed by Japan in 1895 and purchased by the legislature in 2012. Chinese interceptor aircraft conducted the first flights into the zone after it went into force at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
usatoday

U.S. sends ships, aircraft carrier to aid Philippines

The Pentagon is dispatching its ready-duty flattop in the Asia-Pacific region and three escort ships to provide relief and support to the typhoon-stricken Philippines.
The order from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cuts short a Hong Kong port visit by one day for the ships: aircraft carrier George Washington, cruisers Cowpens and Antietam, and destroyer Mustin. The crews have been recalled from liberty and are getting ready to “make best speed” for the disaster zone, according to a Defense Department news release, a journey that will take about two days.
The Philippines government has requested relief from the U.S., whose assets are being directed by Marine Corps Forces Pacific, after what is believed to be one of the worst tsunamis in Philippines history, Typhoon Haiyan.
The ships will be joined by supply ships Charles Drew and Richard E. Byrd, Curry said. A second destroyer, the Lassen, also got underway Sunday and is headed to the Philippines, where up to 13-feet of typhoon surge wiped away seaside homes and dragged residents out to sea. The death toll is feared to be in the thousands.
The Marines are already there.
navytimes

Two U.S. aircraft carriers converge around Spartlys

Two of the U.S. Navy's global force aircraft carrier strike groups (CSGs) are currently conducting operations in the vital Asia-Pacific region.

Ships of the forward-deployed George Washington CSG, to include the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, the guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63) and the guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85); coupled with the ships of the John C. Stennis CSG, to include the Bremerton, Wash.-based aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), its embarked CVW 9, and the San Diego-based guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53); are currently patrolling the Western Pacific. They are providing a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of the United States and its allies and partners.

learn more

China irritada por la presencia de portaaviones americano cerca de sus costas/China voice displeasure over the presence of USS George Washington

China ha mostrado su disconformidad e irritación con Estados Unidos, por la presencia del portaaviones USS George Washington cerca de sus costas.
(leer más)
____________________________________
In an oped by China’s state-run newspaper Global Times, the country warned the United States that it views the deployment of USS George Washington off its coast as an irritant.
(read more)