[cva66snipe]

It goes even further than that. There is safely in numbers. The USS COLE was what almost two days away from another US Navy ship that could render assistance. yemen had ben a hot spot for years. Better yet once upon a time COLE would have fueled at sea. The larger ships such as Amphibs or used to the old conventional carriers could fuel a ship at sea if a USNS oiler wasn't available.

We're taking some serious chances in this M.E. environment taking so many ships through the ditch. For 14 years 1967-81 all carriers stayed out of the Suez Canal. When we did start taking Super carriers through the SUEZ in 1981 we had 521 ships plus a two carrier group presence in the MED SEA 24/7/365. We had equal capabilities for WEST PAC. We had a lot more support for all ships concerned.

[Pecos]

Cole was sent to refuel at Yemen because the State Department needed the Navy to show the flag. Due to SD’s normal incompetence, they failed to pass on to the ship several indicators that the local franchise of AQ was more active.

That is above and beyond the problem of having too few logistics force ships.