The USS
San Antonio, an amphibious ship with hundreds of U.S. Marines on board,
was in the region for reasons unrelated to Syria and there are no plans
for Marines landing operations insists a senior defense.
"It was kept in the zone as a precaution," said the same source.
USS San Antonio, which crossed the Suez Canal from the Red Sea on Thursday,
was deployed for six months near the Arabian Peninsula.
USS San Antonio joins Burke class destroyers USS Gravely, USS Barry,
USS Mahan and USS Ramage and USS Stout.
The San Antonio class ships are 684 feet long and 105 feet wide and
displace approximately 25,000 tons. Their principal mission is to deploy
the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Units and Brigades.
The ships can carry up to 800 troops and have the capability of transporting
and debarking air cushion (LCAC) or conventional landing crafts, augmented
by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as the
MV-22. These ships will support amphibious assault, special operations
or expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st
century.
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