American frigate USS Carr arrived in Baltic Fleet (BF) main naval base paying informal visit, reports Russian Defense Ministry.
The ship called at Baltiysk after friendly visit to St. Petersburg where she had participated in 5th International Maritime Defense Show (IMDS-2011) held since June 29 till July 3.
American warships have not visited Baltiysk for over 14 years. Symbolically, the frigate’s homeport – Norfolk, Virginia – is sister town of Kaliningrad.
The ship’s crew plan to pay friendly visit to Northern Fleet (NF) main naval base Severomorsk in Sept 2011.
Covering the frigate’s cruise, US Navy official website reports that USS Carr ‘is on a scheduled three-month deployment supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility’.
On her way from St. Petersburg to Baltiysk, USS Carr have paid similar visits to Turku, Finland (July 11), Tallinn, Estonia (July 27), and Klaipeda, Lithuania (Aug 1).
Reference
USS Carr was launched in 1983 and named for Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Paul H. Carr (1924–1944) posthumously awarded Silver Star for heroism and courage displayed during US Navy’s operations off Philippines.
The crew headed by Cmdr. Patrick E. Kulakowski consists of 15 commissioned including 2 women and 190 enlisted. Among the ship’s tasks are support of naval operations and countering drug traffic. The frigate is armed with missile/gun/antisubmarine weapons.
The ship had first combat experience during the Iraqi-Iranian War when US Navy escorted Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf. That was the largest maritime escort operation since the WW2.
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Source: rusnavy, August 5, 2011;