US missile cruiser pays friendly visit to Georgia

09.06.2011 Guided missile cruiser USS Anzio CG-68 called at Georgian port Batumi with friendly visit on June 9, reports newspaper Vzglyad referring to US Embassy in Georgia.

The crew of USS Anzio and Georgian Coast Guard will conduct joint drills; in particular, repair of damaged engine and shipborne electrical equipment.

American guests will attend scheduled cultural activities, meet with locals of Batumi and town administration. Traditionally, Georgian and American sailors will play a friendly soccer game.

USS Anzio headed by Captain John M. Dorey participates in the Sea Breeze multinational naval exercise held in the Black Sea. The cruiser moored at Odessa port, Ukraine on June 3. This year, Sea Breeze exercise is attended by 17 countries.

After the visit to Georgia, the cruiser will head for Somali coast to become the flagship of international anti-piracy mission.

This is not the first call of US Navy ships at Georgian ports. American warships regularly pay friendly visits to Poti and Batumi since 2001. USS Gonzalez DDG-66 called at Batumi in Nov 2010.

Reference

Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Anzio CG-68 was named in honor of the battle won by American soldiers over Nazi Germans near Italian town Anzio in 1944. The cruiser's full displacement is 9.800 tons, length is 173 meters, beam is 16.8 meters, draft is 10.2 meters, max speed is 32.5 knots, crew is 33 officers and 367 enlisted. The ship is equipped with two Mk 41 type vertical launch systems and armed with 122 surface-to-air missiles, 8 Harpoon antiship missiles, two 127-mm gun mounts, 2-4 heavy machineguns, 2 torpedo tubes with antisubmarine torpedoes.