Navy asked for, and heading to JAPAN for relief effort

USS Ronald Reagen heading for disaster relief to Japan.

The good news is that there have been no American Naval deaths in the Earthquake and followed Tsunami that hit Japan yesterday.  I have heard from several friends who are in the region and have confirmed they are ok.  (Thank GOD!).

Japan has asked for and the US is sending 6 ships to the region to assist in disaster relief.

The Navy has announced that U.S. Pacific Fleet ships in the Western Pacific are heading to Japan so that it can be in a position to help those in areas damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.

“We obviously have huge sympathy for the people of Japan, and we are prepared to help them in any way we possibly can,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a statement. “It’s obviously a very sophisticated country, but this is a huge disaster and we will do all, anything we are asked to do to help out.”

The fleet includes the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which departed Southern California waters on March 5 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and U.S. Central Command area.

Reagan is the flagship of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which includes USS Chancellorsville and USS Preble. All three ships were headed to Honshu’s east coast. It is too early to say what they will be tasked with once they arrive, a Navy press release said.

USS Essex, also forward deployed to Sasebo, had just arrived in Malaysia, but is getting ready to return to Japan to rendezvous with USS Harpers Ferry and USS Germantown off Tokyo to prepare for any humanitarian assistance/disaster relief duties, the release added.

USS Tortuga, a dock landing ship that carries helicopters and landing craft to support amphibious operations, left its forward deployed port of Sasebo in Southern Japan last evening to embark MH-53 heavy lift helicopters, according to the release.

There’s also the USS Blue Ridge, the U.S. Seventh Fleet command ship, which arrived in Singapore yesterday for a port visit, but immediately changed its focus to loading humanitarian assistance/disaster relief equipment and preparing to return to Japan to provide support as directed, the release stated.

We will update more as new info comes in to us here.