9 NATO ships now operating in the Black Sea?

I'm observing the news wires at the moment and it seems that things in the Black Sea are really starting to heat up.

The current NATO ships operating in the Black Sea that I'm aware of are:

1. USS McFaul
2. USCG Dallas Cutter
3. USS Mount Whitney
4. German frigate Luebeck
5. Spanish frigate Admiral Juan den Borbon
and five other NATO warships including possibly an attack submarine are either there or on the way

Possibly on the way (This ship is cool, research it):

USS Iwo Jima

On top of this, they say an additional 7 U.S. warships also seem to be headed to the same region from various places around the world.

"A senior Russian military official said Tuesday he was "bewildered" by the growing presence of NATO warships in the northeastern Black Sea. Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn told reporters in Moscow that nine NATO ships were in the region, including a U.S. vessel that arrived late Tuesday, the Russian Itar-Tass news agency reported."

The Black Sea is not a very big place for all these warships to be at one time. I would say it is now likely that we could see some kind of confrontation in the coming weeks. At some point, these Russian and NATO ships are going to bump heads in one manner or another.

Anyone heard anything else? I've been wondering if any American Super Carriers were headed to the Black Sea. So far we haven't even seen the brunt of the American Navy yet.

Comments anyone?

By the way, why the heck isn't this the main news story on all the American news networks? This is practically another Cuban Missile Crisis type scenario in the works. When I say that I don't mean its like the Cuban Missile Crisis in regards to nuclear weapons but more in regards to the possibility of naval searches/seizes, blockades, and so on.

It just seems to me like the Democratic National Convention is washing out a major development that Americans are just not in touch with. In my opinion, American news networks need to forget about the convention for now and keep people informed on these far more important developments. I can always watch the DNC recordings on C-Span's website (www.cspan.org) at a time suitable to me anyways. I do want to hear what any possible future leaders have to say about where the USA is headed, but I find this conflict to be far more important.

[edit on 26-8-2008 by Cl0aK]

reply to post by Cl0aK


Yes and also the build up in the persian gulf ready for the blockade of iran. I think the reason for both build ups is that if iran kicks off, and russia tries to protect iran there will be a nother force ready to attack russia from the black sea. And did you also notice the news about the georgian troops massing on the south ossetian border, To be honest i think the # is going to hit the fan big time.

reply to post by Truther

I hear what you're saying. I actually didn't consider that but I'll keep my eye on it in case you're right. My personal opinion is that nothing in regards to Iran will happen. Talks of a blockade in the Persian Gulf with Iran have been going on for over a year now and little has come of it. I did read however that Israeli Spy Satellites detected Russian dredge activities taking place at a Syrian port. This would indicate that large Russian naval shios were planning to dock here soon. So you might be right, this could be the preperation for 2 fronts, not just 1. If these Russian ships are actually going to dock at this Syrian port, what would be the reason since there's no crisis in Syria at the moment? It's not like they will be delivering humanitarian aid. That would be a sure sign that the Russians are planning to deliver some weapons to Syria. The Israelis must be furious right now with Russia just like most everyone else seems to be.

I would be surprised to see anything go on between Iran and NATO, Iran and Israel, or even Iran and the U.S. any time before the end of this decade, but if it happens, I'll come back to this post and admit I was wrong. The Black Sea is where the majority of the ships seem to be headed. It's bound to be a test of who will blink first when it comes to the port city of Poti and coastal regions off Georgia's coast. Supplies will be coming into Georgia near Russian checkpoints and this could be why the USS Iwo Jima might be nearing the Black Sea. You would need to have Marines and actual on the ground support to help escort such supplies into Georgia since the Russians might try and interfere. NATO nor Russia wants to back down here, its a test of where the world is headed in the years to come. Are we going back to an agressive Russian Cold War posture? Russia seems hell bent on standing firm against NATO but NATO also seems hell bent on showing Russia that they will not be allowed to remain in Poti and continue deciding who and what can come and go freely through the region.

This right here is going to decide where the world is headed for years to come...

[edit on 26-8-2008 by Cl0aK]

Well the black sea is located between Iran and Europe. Maybe NATO is worried about Iran attacking Europe w/ missles. After all Poland can't be the only country w/ protection.

I can't see Iran ever being stupid enough to attack Europe. So I doubt that's the thinking here. The last thing Iran needs is Europe coming together with the U.S. and Israel like we saw in 1990 during Desert Storm. That war was so lopsided that it wasn't even funny. I think Iraq had the 3rd largest military in the world at the time and they were obliterated in a matter of days. Surely Iran isn't that foolish.

Because as much as this is a big deal, it really isnt a big deal. Just look at all the threads on this site over the last few years that predict something big about to happene every other week or so and why isnt the media covering it yadda, yadda, yadda. Well guess what? Nothing ever happens so why should the media cover a non-event now? So what, yeah there are a lot of ships in the area. Are there suppose to be TV crews live on the scene watching them do nothing? Unfortunately that would be very boring to watch. As soon as the first shot is fired the media will be on the scene but there is really nothing to talk about until then. A play by play for something that isnt happening?

Originally posted by Cl0aK
By the way, why the heck isn't this the main news story on all the American news networks? This is practically another Cuban Missile Crisis type scenario in the works. When I say that I don't mean its like the Cuban Missile Crisis in regards to nuclear weapons but more in regards to the possibility of naval searches/seizes, blockades, and so on.

reply to post by princeofpeace




6. USS Taylor frigate

7. ORP General K Pulaski frigate

apparently a candadian boat?

there are romanian and bulgarian boats there, presumably quite a few turkish ones.

any USS nuclear subs dont need to enter the zone, their cruise missiles have a 3000km range. the USS dallas nuclear sub was reported in the area, but is now back home, but the US has plenty of these.

Russian Black Sea fleet flagship enters Abkhazian waters

US warships scrap visit to Georgian port-source

Damn, at this rate they will be bumping into each other.



[edit on 27-8-2008 by Regenmacher]

Its a giant show for Moscow and Georgia.

For the Georgians, the presence of NATO ships provides them some sort of support.

For the Russians, NATO is basically telling the Russians that NATO can go wherever it likes and nothing can be done about it without making Russia look like the outright aggressor. If the Russians do something against NATO ships in the region, NATO can destroy the entire power projecting ability of Russia without setting foot on Russian soil, and will have the rest of the world in support or at least quieted.

The only problem is escalations. NATO should be figuring a way to lessen the tensions instead. A military presence does not help and opens the door to a possible nuclear confrontation.

I know that NATO can defeat Russia, but its not worth the billions of lives that can be lost.

Well NATO has been sniffing around the northern Black Sea ever since the "Orange revolution coup" in Ukraine brought pro-US Yuschenko to power. NATO has been scouring Crimea for a potential future naval base there. They have also been holding exercises with Ukraine in the region for the last few years.

As you can see the tension in the Black Sea is nothing new. NATO has a right to have its ships there, expecially considering that some NATO members border the sea.

This escalation or show-of-force if you will won't really lead to anything. Yes it is tense in the northeast portion of the small sea- but neither U.S. nor Russia want any direct confrontation, and they will be careful not to provoke each other. 7 ships still isn't that much, and most of the Black Sea fleet is in port at this point. So far I only heard that the cruiser "Moscow" is atually at sea, and perhaps a few support ships. I don;t even think there are any Russian ships at or near Poti right now. "Moscow" is supposed to be further north in Russia's waters.


The problem is the future - NATO could decide to build a naval base in Georgia once it's excepted into NATO. That naval base would be only 200 miles from where the Black Sea fleet will be stationed in Novorosyisk (it is supposed to leave Crimea before 2012).



No doubt the Black Sea will be a sight of many tense moments in the future. NATO is cornering in Russia from all sides. Right now U.S. might just be using this war as an excuse to probe the grounds (waters) to see how Russia will respond.