USA: missile destroyer USS James E. Williams heading to Ukrainian port of Odessa
The USS James E. Williams, which entered the Black Sea, is headed for the port of Odessa, said a spokesman for the U.S. Navy, as reported on a U.S. Naval Institute news site.
Under the Montreux Convention of 1936, warships may be in the Black Sea for no more than 21 days.
According to the report, the USS James E. Williams left the base in the American city of Norfolk on May 23 to take part in U.S. Navy operations. In May, ABC 13 News Now reported that the destroyer would be at sea for seven months. Then the ship sailed to the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, during this deployment, it was also in the Middle East, ensuring the continued presence of the United States in those waters. The USS James E. Williams also demonstrated the U.S. Navy’s readiness to carry out defensive actions. In addition, the ship can be used for humanitarian missions and fighting piracy.
The U.S. military explained that the last American ship that was in the Black Sea was the USS Porter, a destroyer that left the area on September 1 after the completion of Operation Atlantic Resolve in August.
On Monday, November 27, it became known that the destroyer USS James E. Williams had passed the Bosphorus Strait and was headed for the Black Sea. The blog Yörük Işık, on its Twitter page, published photos of the American ship passing through the Bosphorus Strait in the city of Istanbul.
In mid-November, the USS James E. Williams traveled to the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah, which is on the Red Sea coast. Afterward, the ship went to Turkey.
The American ship USS James E. Williams belongs to the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers. It is 155 meters long and 20 meters wide, and its total displacement is more than 9,600 tons. It is equipped with a missile weapon system that includes Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-3 anti-aircraft missiles. In addition, the USS James E. Williams was built with “stealth” technology.
Operation Atlantic Resolve was launched by the United States in 2014. It is a set of measures aimed at responding to the threat that Washington expects from Russia. Moscow denies such an assertion. In turn, Russia has repeatedly stated that NATO forces have been active at its borders.