The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in 2011 is that it "conducts the full range of Maritime Operations and Theater Security Cooperation missions, in concert with coalition, joint, interagency, and other parties, in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa." The current commander of the Sixth Fleet is Vice Admiral Thomas E. Ishee.
USS America (CVA/CV-66) was one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but did make three Pacific deployments serving in the Vietnam War. She also served in the Persian Gulf War's operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
USS Spruance (DD-963) was the lead ship of the United States Navy's Spruance class of destroyers and was named after Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and launched by Mrs. Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance served in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, assigned to Destroyer Squadron 24 and operating out of Naval Station Mayport, Florida. Spruance was decommissioned on 23 March 2005 and then was sunk as a target on 8 December 2006.
USS Fletcher (DD-992), the thirtieth Spruance-class destroyer, was part of the first major class of United States Navy surface ships to be powered by gas turbines. She was commissioned in July 1980 and was deployed mainly in the western and southern Pacific, but also voyaged to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. She was the second ship in the U.S. Navy to bear this name but the first to be named after Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. After her decommissioning in 2004, she was sunk in a torpedo test exercise in 2008.
USS Monterey (CG-61) is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser that served in the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy vessel named for the Battle of Monterrey at Monterrey, Nuevo León during the Mexican–American War in 1846. She was built at Bath Iron Works in Maine. The ship was decommissioned on 16 September 2022.
USS John Hancock (DD-981), a Spruance-class destroyer, was the second ship of that name, and the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Founding Father John Hancock (1737–1793), the President of the Continental Congress and first signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Operation Active Endeavour was a maritime operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea and was designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. It had collateral benefits in enhanced security of shipping in general. It was one of the first military actions taken by NATO in response to an invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty which provides for collective defense and the first-ever operation conducted by the Alliance in direct application of the defense clause of the Treaty. In November 2016 it was replaced by the non-Article-5 Operation Sea Guardian.
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east. The bay is overlooked on both sides by hills, with a relatively low and narrow isthmus in the west near Chania.
Law Enforcement Detachments or LEDETs are specialized, deployable maritime law enforcement teams of the United States Coast Guard. First established in 1982, their primary mission is to deploy aboard U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct counter-drug operations and support maritime law enforcement, interdiction, or security operations. LEDETs are the operational elements of the Coast Guard’s two Tactical Law Enforcement Teams (TACLETs) which are part of the Coast Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF). As of April 2010 there are seventeen LEDETs.
Visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) is the term used by United States military and law enforcement agencies for maritime boarding actions and tactics. VBSS teams are designed to capture enemy vessels, combat terrorism, piracy, and smuggling, and to conduct customs, safety and other inspections.
USS Antelope (PGM-86/PG-86) was an Asheville-class gunboat in the United States Navy.
The Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) —formerly Deployable Operations Group— are part of the United States Coast Guard that provide highly equipped, trained and organized deployable specialized forces, to the Coast Guard, United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Department of Defense (DoD) and inter-agency operational and tactical commanders. The command was formerly headquartered in Arlington, Virginia where it was established on 20 July 2007, and was commanded by a captain. It was decommissioned by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert Papp on 1 October 2013, with units previously assigned to the DOG being split between Coast Guard Pacific and Atlantic Area commands. The units were subsequently reorganized under Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF).
Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA) is a United States Coast Guard command based in Manama, Bahrain. PATFORSWA was created in November 2002 as a contingency operation to support the U.S. Navy with patrol boats. The command's mission is to train, equip, deploy, and support combat-ready Coast Guard forces conducting operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) in the Naval Forces Central Command's area of responsibility. It was commissioned as a permanent duty station in June 2004. In July 2003, PATFORSWA moved from its own compound to facilities at Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
Carrier Strike Group 14 was a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. The group was for some time the only U.S. carrier strike group that did not have an assigned aircraft carrier or carrier air wing. As of December 2010, it directed the cruisers USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Philippine Sea (CG-58). Carrier Strike Group 14 was seemingly last based at Naval Station Mayport. Without a carrier flagship, it did not conduct the typical deployments of other carrier strike groups; instead, its two cruisers made independent voyages.
Operation Unified Protector was a NATO operation in 2011 enforcing United Nations Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973 concerning the Libyan Civil War and adopted on 26 February and 17 March 2011, respectively. These resolutions imposed sanctions on key members of the Gaddafi government and authorized NATO to implement an arms embargo, a no-fly zone and to use all means necessary, short of foreign occupation, to protect Libyan civilians and civilian populated areas.
Destroyer Squadron 50 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. The squadron was first formed during World War II when the squadron commodore and his staff led ships in the Pacific Theater from October 1943 until its disestablishment in November 1945. The squadron was equipped with nine Fletcher-class destroyers, comprising Destroyer Divisions (DesDivs) 99 and 100.
Patrol Squadron FIVE (VP-5) is a long-lived maritime patrol squadron of the United States Navy. It is the second squadron to bear the VP-5 designation. VP-5 is the second oldest patrol squadron, the fourth oldest in the United States Navy, and the 33rd oldest squadron in the United States military. As of 2019, VP-5 is still active and is based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.
Crete Naval Base is a major naval base of the Hellenic Navy and NATO at Souda Bay in Crete, Greece.
Vice Admiral Ioannis G. Pavlopoulos is a Hellenic Navy special operations and line officer, and since 2017 the Chief of the Fleet Headquarters, the Hellenic Navy's main operational command.
Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) is a multilateral event conducted by Indian Navy in which naval forces of foreign countries participate. This exercise is conducted as part of the Indian Navy's ongoing efforts to enhance its operational capabilities and strengthen its partnerships with friendly nations. MPX underscores India's commitment to promoting regional stability and security.
A member of an Algerian navy boarding team fast-ropes out of a Hellenic Navy S-70B-6 Aegean Hawk helicopter assigned to the 2nd Squadron onto the training ship Aris (A 74) at the NMIOTC
At NMIOTC, U.S. Navy Capt. Bradley D. Martin addresses a multinational audience during a pre-sail conference for exercise Phoenix Express 2012, a two-week exercise designed to strengthen maritime cooperation among partners from Africa, Europe and United States.
Members of a Moroccan navy participating in small-arms training aboard the training ship HS Aris (A 74), at the NMIOTC in Souda Bay, Greece.
An Operations Specialist practices small-arms tactics, aboard the training ship Aris (A 74) at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center
A Greek special forces representative from the NMIOTC speaks with students from the Willard High School, as part of an annual program that allows the students to get an up-close look at the various branches of the U.S. armed forces.
The Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team demonstrates fast rope techniques for Moroccan sailors at the NMIOTC in Souda Bay, Greece, during exercise Phoenix Express.
