US Warship Calling At Sevastopol Surprised Locals

24.10.2011 American guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG58) pays official visit to Sevastopol. The ship's call surprised most of residents, since neither city administration nor Ukrainian Navy's press service did not announce the coming visit, reported RIA Novosti referring to a source in Sevastopol seaport.

Representatives of some political parties were waiting for the cruiser at seaport on Oct 21 at 8 am. But neither seaport authorities nor guards confirmed the cruiser's coming visit. Having spent about an hour on the pier, demonstrators went away.

About two hours later, the American cruiser started to move towards Sevastopol Harbor and moored without problems.

Despite it is an official visit, city authorities tried to make it as concealed as possible, reported RIA Novosti referring to the source in Sevastopol seaport.

"To avoid protest actions of Sevastopol locals, city authorities kept the lid on the visit. American naval officers will conduct several meetings with their Ukrainian counterparts, although no large exercises are scheduled", said the interviewee.

According to him, the American warship arrived in Sevastopol from Batumi, Georgia and will head for Romania then. The source did not specified when exactly the cruiser is going to leave Sevastopol.

USS Philippine Sea carries 26 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable to destroy surface and land targets at the range over 2,000 km. The cruiser's length is 173 meters, max speed is 30 knots, displacement is 9,950 tons, crew is 358 men. Sevastopol is main naval base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.