Exclusive to DEBKAfile's military sources: US aircraft carriers USS
Eisenhower and USS Enterprise in the Red Sea off the Saudi Arabian
coast

November 1, 2006, 2:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, and its
accompanying carrier strike group, passed through the Suez Canal on
Monday, Oct. 30, and arrived in the Red Sea on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

This is true

DEBKAfile's military sources report that the USS Eisenhower is at sea
off the Saudi Arabian coast, together with another aircraft carrier,
the USS Enterprise. The presence of the two US aircraft carriers, and
their accompanying strike groups, in a body of water as small as the
Red Sea is an extraordinary development.

No, it happens all the time.

With the arrival of the USS Eisenhower in the region, there are now
three US aircraft carriers in the Persion Gulf and surrounding waters,
including the USS Iwo Jima. Accompanying the USS Eisenhower are the
guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, the guided-missile destroyers USS
Ramage and USS Mason and the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS
Newport.

Except that Iwo Jima is not an aircraft carrier, and that the
Enterprise has transited the Suez and is now in the Med. The two
carriers simply passed by each other in the Red Sea.

DEBKAfile's military sources report that a fourth US aircraft
carrier, the USS Boxer, will arrive on the scene by the beginning of
next week, together with its carrier strike group. The USS Boxer is
currently taking part in joint US-Indian naval maneuvers, dubbed
Malabar '06, which include the landing of marines on beaches.

Boxer is not an aircraft carrier.