Seventh Fleet flagship sets Saipan visit

USS Blue Ridge/COMSEVENTHFLT — The flagship of the US Seventh Fleet, USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) is scheduled to make a four-day port visit to Saipan. The ship will arrive at the standard side of Pier Bravo at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 5. The ship is scheduled to depart Saipan at noon on April 9.

While in port, Sailors and Marines will have the opportunity to sightsee, shop and enjoy the unique attractions Saipan has to offer. The last time USS Blue Ridge visited Saipan was in January of 1998. The visit was the ship’s first port visit during its annual “Southern Swing” deployment. This year, Saipan is the last port visit for the ship’s officers and crew before returning to Yokosuka in mid-April. Prior to Saipan, USS Blue Ridge visited Sattahip, Thailand; Singapore, Port Kelang, Malaysia; Bali, Indonesia; Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Australia and Guam.

USS Blue Ridge is the flagship for Vice Adm. Walter F. Doran, Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet, and the Combined Task Force commander for Tandem Thrust 1999.

The biennial exercise began March 15 and ended April 4. Tandem Thrust 1999 was designed to enhance the fleet commander’s ability to function as joint task force commander under the U.S. Pacific Command’s two-tier concept. The exercise involved more than 12,000 personnel, 18 ships and 110 aircraft from the United States militaries, the Australian Defense Forces and the Canadian Navy.

USS Blue Ridge provides state of the art command and control and control of theater level forces by naval and/or joint commanders during peacetime or conflict and provides preeminent naval support for the United States diplomatic initiatives and objectives. The Seventh Fleet comprises an area of more than 52 million square miles stretching from just west of Hawaii to the east coast of Africa, and from the Kuril Islands in the north to the Antarctic in the south. More than 40 nations populate this vast area of responsibility, one of the most strategically and economically important regions in the world. On any given day, more than 50 ships, 350 aircraft and 80,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel are deployed in the region.

The ship will be open to the public for visiting on Tuesday, April 6, from noon to 4 p.m.. USS Blue Ridge, commanded by Capt. David K. Meier, is forward-deployed from Yokosuka, Japan, and has a crew of 900 Officers, Sailors and Marines.