US aircraft carrier strikeforce readies in case of war with Iran - Telegraph

 

The flagship $4.5 billion carrier, a 100,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,000, was despatched four months earlier than planned to bolster the United States Navy's already formidable force in the region, the Fifth Fleet. Its mission is to keep some of the world's busiest shipping lanes open in its most combustible region; at any moment America's standoff with Iran could escalate into a crisis. "Could there be a threat?" asked Rear Admiral Mike Shoemaker, the man who would command any mission to force open the sea lanes. "Yes is the answer. Is it manageable? Also yes." Admiral Shoemaker, a wiry man with a Navy buzz cut, runs through the likely threats: anti-ship cruise missiles; midget submarines; speedboats on suicide missions. Iran's conventional air force and navy are clapped out and no match for the US Navy, but they had years of practising mine-laying. "If they sunk a tanker, that could shut the Strait for a couple of days or a week," Adm Shoemaker said. "But we could deal with that quite quickly. A massive mine-laying effort, though, would take a while to clear.