Latest news with #USSRalphJohnson
Newsweek
6 days ago
- General
- Newsweek
US Warship Provided 'Critical Defense' of Strategic Island Base: Navy
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A United States warship, based in the Western Pacific, recently provided critical defense for America's strategic military outpost at Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean. The destroyer USS Ralph Johnson is assigned to the Seventh Fleet's Destroyer Squadron 15, a U.S. Navy surface force forward deployed in Japan. "We won't speak to the details of specific missions for operations security purposes," the Seventh Fleet told Newsweek when asked for comment. Why It Matters Diego Garcia—a tiny British Indian Ocean Territory island that hosts a U.S. military base—received far more attention than usual earlier this year following tensions between the U.S. and Iran, during which the Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 stealth bombers there. As part of the broader U.S. reinforcement of its force posture in the Middle East, the Ralph Johnson and its sister ship, USS Milius—also assigned to the Destroyer Squadron 15—operated in the Indian Ocean and made port calls at Diego Garcia, Newsweek previously reported. The Seventh Fleet—which manages U.S. naval operations across the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans—told Newsweek that both Japan-homeported warships are designed for anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare missions, as well as ballistic missile defense. What To Know The Ralph Johnson, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, completed a seven-month deployment and returned to its home port at the Yokosuka naval base—located near Tokyo, Japan—on July 31, Destroyer Squadron 15 announced in a set of photos released the following day. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ralph Johnson returns to Yokosuka, Japan, on July 31, 2025. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ralph Johnson returns to Yokosuka, Japan, on July 31, 2025. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Taylor DiMartino/U.S. Navy The warship conducted patrols in the Seventh Fleet's area of responsibility and "critical defense of U.S. strategic locations in the Indian Ocean" during its deployment, according to a photo caption that did not specifically mention Diego Garcia. The Ralph Johnson was seen departing the island on July 13, following "a scheduled port visit." The military base "enables our forward deployed forces to conduct operations in support of regional stability and provide a rapid response to crises," the Seventh Fleet said. The Milius—which made its last stopover at Diego Garcia on July 21—was spotted anchoring off Yokosuka on Monday but appeared to set sail again without entering its home port for unknown reasons, according to photos shared by a local ship spotter. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Milius arrives in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, on July 21, 2025. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Milius arrives in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, on July 21, 2025. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Greg Johnson/U.S. Navy A third warship from Destroyer Squadron 15, USS John Finn, also made a port visit to Diego Garcia on July 16 and arrived at Sembawang naval base in Singapore on Monday. According to its official Facebook page, the warship commenced patrols as of July 31. The Seventh Fleet told Newsweek that it operates daily to protect the security, freedom, and prosperity of the U.S., its allies, and partners, ensuring maritime security in the Indo-Pacific. What People Are Saying The U.S. Seventh Fleet told Newsweek: "The Indo-Pacific region stretches from the U.S. Pacific Coastline to the Indian Ocean. As forward deployed naval forces, the U.S. [Seventh] Fleet operates forward to strengthen peace, stability and deterrence across the Indo-Pacific, and we will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows." U.S. Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia said on its website: "Diego Garcia consists of United States Navy and Air Force personnel assigned here to carry out the Island's mission: To maintain and operate facilities and provide services and materials in support of afloat units, operating forces on forward deployment, and tenant shore activities." What Happens Next Whether the Pentagon will maintain a strong military presence on Diego Garcia remains uncertain, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have eased following American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran's missile strikes on a U.S. base in Qatar in June.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
China tracks U.S. Navy transit through Taiwan Strait
Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy sent two vessels to transit the Taiwan Strait for the first time since President Donald Trump took office, and China tracked their progress through the disputed seaway. The two vessels are the destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the survey ship USNS Bowditch, which sailed through the Taiwan Strait on a north-to-south voyage lasting from Monday through Wednesday, USNI News reported. The Johnson is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer while the Bowditch is a Pathfinder-class survey vessel. "Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years," Navy Commander Matthew, a spokesman for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said Wednesday in a statement. "The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," Comer said. "Within this corridor, all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms." The Chinese Army, Navy and Air Force tracked the two U.S. Navy vessels during their three-day voyage. "The U.S.'s actions sent the wrong signals and increased security risks," China's People's Liberation Army spokesman Capt. Li Xi said in a statement. "The troops of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command remain on high alert and all times to resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability," Xi said. China routinely tracks U.S. Navy transits through the Taiwan Strait, which last occurred in October when the USS Higgins and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver undertook the voyage. China has laid claim to the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan, which it considers to be part of China's sovereign territory. The Taiwan Strait spans 111 miles and is considered an international waterway. The U.S. Navy and naval forces of allied nations commonly traverse the strait to challenge China's territorial claims and affirm its status as an international waterway controlled by no nation. China also routinely conducts military drills and overflights near Taiwan, and Chinese officials have declared their intent to re-unify with Taiwan by 2047. The United States and Taiwan are closely allied via the Taiwan Relations Act, which enables the United States to provide Taiwan with arms to defend the island nation and aggression from China or other nations. Former President Joe Biden repeatedly said the United States would intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan.
LBCI
12-02-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump's inauguration
Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks. The U.S. Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it. The U.S. Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said. "The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command. "Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms." China's military said that Chinese forces had been dispatched to keep watch. "The U.S. action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks," the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement early Wednesday. China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue and it is regularly a stumbling block in Sino-U.S. relations. Reuters
Japan Times
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time since Trump inauguration
Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait this week — the first transit of the waterway under U.S. President Donald Trump's new administration — prompting an angry rebuke from China. The U.S. Navy said the guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and survey ship USNS Bowditch had carried out a 'routine north-to-south Taiwan Strait transit' from Monday to Wednesday. 'Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years,' U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Cmdr. Matthew Comer told The Japan Times. 'The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas. Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms.' China and Taiwan also confirmed the transit, with Beijing deploying naval and air forces 'to monitor the entire passage of the U.S. vessels.' 'The actions of the U.S. sent the wrong signals and increased security risks,' Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement Wednesday. Beijing views Taiwan — the democratic island that it says is a renegade province that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary — as the 'core of its core interests.' Much to China's chagrin, the U.S. Navy routinely sends ships through the Taiwan Strait, sometimes with other navies. Last September, Japan sent a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer through the strategic waterway for the first time ever following a series of unprecedented Chinese military moves inside Japanese airspace and waters. Beijing says the Taiwan Strait belongs to it — a position that Taipei and Washington dispute, having said the waterway is international waters. Asked about the transit, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office reiterated that Taiwan is a 'core interest' of China. 'We firmly oppose and will never allow any external interference,' spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said. 'We have the firm will, full confidence and sufficient ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.' The last publicly reported U.S. Navy mission in the strait came in late November, when a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew over the waterway, while the last time a U.S. warship was confirmed to have sailed through the waterway was in October, part of a joint mission with Canada's navy. The latest transit may signal continuity of such sailings under Trump, who noted 'the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait' during his summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week. The actions could soften claims by Trump on the campaign trail for the U.S. presidency last year that Taiwan should pay the U.S. more for 'protection' and that it had 'stolen' America's semiconductor business. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but has maintained unofficial relations with Taiwan and is bound by law to supply the island with weapons to help it defend itself. While the U.S. has largely over the years maintained a policy of 'strategic ambiguity' as to whether or not it would come to Taiwan's defense in the event of any attack or invasion by China, former U.S. President Joe Biden — Trump's predecessor — repeatedly said that the United States would militarily defend the island.
Al Arabiya
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump inauguration
Two US Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks. The US Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it. The US Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said. 'The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas,' said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the US military's Indo-Pacific Command. 'Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms.' China's military said that Chinese forces had been dispatched to keep watch. 'The US action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks,' the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement early Wednesday. China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue and it is regularly a stumbling block in Sino-US relations. China this week complained to Japan over 'negative' references to China in a statement issued after a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. That statement called for 'maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait', and voiced support for 'Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organisations'. Asked in Beijing on Wednesday about the US warships, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Taiwan was a 'core interest' for the country and that the United States should act with caution. 'We are resolutely opposed to this and will never allow any outside interference, and have the firm will, full confidence and capability to uphold the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity,' she said. Taiwan's defence ministry said its forces had also kept watch but noted the 'situation was as normal'. The last publicly acknowledged US Navy mission in the strait was in late November, when a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew over the waterway. The last time a US Navy ship was confirmed to have sailed through the strait was in October, a joint mission with a Canadian warship. China's military operates daily in the strait as part of what Taiwan's government views as part of Beijing's pressure campaign. On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said that it had detected 30 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operating around the island Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
