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Wasp Transits Suez Canal, Enters 5th Fleet AOR

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS040329-06

Release Date: 3/29/2004 3:05:00 PM

By Journalist 2nd Class Mark C. Schultz, USS Wasp Public Affairs

SUEZ CANAL, Egypt (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), and the Sailors and Marines of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 2 entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations March 17 as they made their way through the Suez Canal.

Wasp is the flagship of ESG 2, which consists of the Marines of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, as well as amphibious transport ship USS Shreveport (LPD 12), dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41), guided-missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG 48), guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74), and the attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22).

After a port visit in Malta and an amphibious landing exercise in the Adriatic Sea, Wasp, along with ESG 2, began its journey to the Central Command area of operations in support of the global war on terrorism. ESG 2 is the first expeditionary strike group to deploy from the East Coast of the United States.

Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet's area of responsibility encompasses about 7.5 million square miles and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. This expanse, comprised of 25 countries, includes three critical chokepoints at the Suez Canal, the Straits of Hormuz, and the Straits of Bab al Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.

Transiting the canal on a sunny day, Wasp Sailors and Marines were able to look ashore from either side of the ship and know that they could see both Africa and Asia at the same time.

The 100-mile-long canal--which spans only 500 yards--took 14 hours to transit.

"This is my seventh time through the Suez Canal, and it's always fun to do it. It's always busy and nerve-racking, because in the middle of the night, you have 50 ships trying to get together to go through at the same time," Wise said. "But it was exciting, and with perfect weather, it gave our Sailors and Marines a chance to get on deck and see something very unique. Everyone had a good time."

The Suez Canal is the primary water route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean, and the only way to transit without going completely around Africa. For a ship the size of Wasp, the transit is a challenge.

"We had to stop and anchor at one point so that northbound traffic could come up," said navigation department's Quartermaster 3rd Class Matthew Drummond. "It only took about two hours for the anchor detail, and then we got back on our way."

The idea of a canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea dates back to ancient times. Unlike the modern Canal, earlier ones linked the Red Sea to the Nile, forcing ships to sail along the river on their journey from Europe to India.

In 1859, Egyptian workers began construction of the canal, completing it in less than 10 years. Today, approximately 50 ships transit the canal daily, and the cities and beaches along the Bitter Lakes and the canal serve as a summer resort for tourists. Nearly a century and a half later, it serves as the beginning of ESG 2's historic deployment to the Central Command area of operations in support of the global war on terrorism.