A US Navy sailor went missing from the USS Nimitz during its patrol of the Northern Arabian sea. The news of the missing sailor was brought to light amid tension with Iran. The Nimitz, an aircraft carrier, has been sailing the Arabian Sea since July. Who is the US sailor who went missing? Commander Rebecca […]
A US Navy sailor went missing from the USS Nimitz during its patrol of the Northern Arabian sea.
The news of the missing sailor was brought to light amid tension with Iran.
The USS Nimitz[/caption]
The Nimitz, an aircraft carrier, has been sailing the Arabian Sea since July.
Commander Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that the crew sounded a “man overboard” alert near 7 pm on September 6th.
The Nimitz, an aircraft carrier that holds 5,000 sailors and Marines, was extensively searched before the alert was flagged.
A US Navy commander declined to identify the sailor[/caption]
Rebarich declined to identify the missing sailor citing Navy policy.
The Nimitz, missile-cruiser USS Princeton, and other 5th fleet personnel continue their search.
The US and Iran have faced an underlying threat of military conflict after a series of incidents escalated tensions between the two nations.
The Nimitz’s homeport is in Bremerton, Washington[/caption]
The US conducted a drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad in January.
Persian forces responded by firing ballistic missiles that wounded dozens of American soldiers stationed in Iraq.
The Nimitz has broken the record for the longest at-sea deployment, previously held by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower[/caption]
Iran has also conducted a live-fire exercise that targeted a mockup aircraft carrier that resembled the Nimitz after the ship arrived in the Middle East.
A Twitter statement said the “USS Nimitz called man overboard at 6:47 p.m. local time on Sept 6 after personnel aboard the ship were unable to locate the Sailor following a shipwide search.”
The search and rescue mission for the missing sailor remains ongoing.