Posted on 06/19/2009 6:08:19 PM PDT by Steelfish
Pictured: The massive floating destroyer the Americans are sending to keep North Korean missiles at bay
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 19th June 2009
USS John McCain: The destroyer has been deployed to intercept a North Korean vessel suspected of carrying illicit weapons
The U.S. military is planning to intercept a North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit nuclear materials and missiles.
Navy destroyer the USS John McCain has been deployed to intercept the Kang Nam as it leaves the coast of China, according to a senior US defence official.
The ship, which left a port in North Korea on Wednesday, appears to be heading towards Singapore.
Its suspected cargo is in violation of a UN Security Council resolution passed last Friday, and it is now being constantly monitored by air.
The Kang Nam is the first ship the U.S. has tracked from North Korea since the UN imposed sanctions following the country's recent nuclear test.
The resolution bans North Korea from exporting a wide range of weaponry - but does not allow the US to forcibly board the vessel.
Instead, they would have to ask for permission - which, in all likelihood, would not be granted.
North Korea has already stated that any attempt to board its ships without permisson would be viewed as an act of war.
It promised '100- or 1,000-fold' retaliation if provoked.
The latest tension follows a recent report in Japan's Yomiuri newspaper that North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July.
The Taepodong-2 missile has a range of 4,000 miles, but even though Hawaii is 4500 miles away, the US has already deployed anti-missile defences around the state.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The U.S. Navy commissioned the guided missile destroyer JOHN S. McCAIN on Saturday, July 2, 1994 at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine!
Leni
No, they’ll first want 0 to give them a deep bow when asking for permission and then give him a kick up his rear.
What has become of the US???? We all must now bow our heads in shame for this election (52.7% win) that gave us this “tingle up our spine” of a different sort.
Hopefully it becomes a new playground for aquatic life below it.
NEVER name anything after a living person.
Then again, the John McCain IS massive compared to the 692 class cans from WW2, she(he?) is as large as a old cruiser, and more powerful than a battleship.
Jack
It's named after his grandfather.
NEVER name anything after a living person.
Named after Admiral John McCain, the senator’s father.
Jack
http://navysite.de/dd/ddg56.htm
General Characteristics: Keel Laid: September 3, 1991
Launched: September 26, 1992
Commissioned: July 2, 1994
Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
Propellers: two
Blades on each Propeller: five
Length: 505,25 feet (154 meters)
(LWL aprox.: 490 feet, Hull Speed: 29 knots)(1.34 X SR LWL)
Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters)
Draft: 30,5 feet (9.3 meters)
Displacement: approx. 8.300 tons full load
Speed: 30+ knots
Aircraft: None. But LAMPS 3 electronics installed on landing deck for coordinated DDG/helicopter ASW operations.
Armament: two MK 41 VLS for Standard missiles, Tomahawk; Harpoon missile launchers, one Mk 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight gun, two Phalanx CIWS, Mk 46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts)
Homeport: Yokosuka, Japan
Crew: 23 Officers, 24 Chief Petty Officers and 291 Enlisted
My Thought Exactly!
Meanwhile ... SecDef Clinton calls her recent fall and and right elbow fracture more proof of the “vast, right wing, conspiracy”.
Destroyers have 16 inch guns?
Trumps 16 guns. By miles.
It promised ‘100- or 1,000-fold’ retaliation if provoked.
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We should answer that we don’t care because they will not be able to hurt US, just our economic competitors
GO AHEAD MAKE MY DAY PUNK
Yes, and this in a British newspaper. They were once a seagoing folk.
Lord Nelson must be spinning.
My bad. Sorry about that.
Not a problem.
I believe this is the destroyer that had it’s towed array run over by the Chinese last month.
I’ll always wonder what percentage of the 52.7% win was legit. I bet if you took away the dead, multiple and illegal voters the socialists would have lost.
It may prove to be beneficial to have a ship in the area around July 4.
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