ESG ships deploy for Marine-less mission

[unhappycamper]

The amphibious assault ship Nassau went to sea Wednesday morning for a planned six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East.


ESG ships deploy for Marine-less mission
By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 19:43:36 EST

NORFOLK, Va. — More elements of the Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group left their homeport Wednesday for a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East.

The destroyers Bulkeley and Ross and the amphibious assault ship Nassau went to sea Wednesday morning. They will join the dock landing ship Ashland, which left Little Creek on Tuesday afternoon, and the cruiser Philippine Sea, which left Mayport, Fla., Tuesday morning.

The attack submarine Albany will leave at a later date and catch up with the strike group at sea, Navy officials said.

The strike group deployed without embarked Marines, but Capt. Bob Lineberry, strike group commander, said the 2,800 sailors in the group will have plenty to do on deployment, from anti-piracy operations to humanitarian assistance missions.

“Certainly one of our missions is to transport Marines, but there are so many other things we do,” Lineberry told reporters on the waterfront before departing. “The captain’s crew is capable —with their hospital, in case there is some cataclysmic event, we can go out and render assistance.”


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/navy_nassau_deploy_080220w/