NORFOLK, Va. — Led by the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, the U.S. Navy has more than 20 ships, including at least 12 guided-missile destroyers and cruisers, deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.
USNI News reports that three Russian guided-missile cruisers have been spread across the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to counter NATO. Additionally, USNI said Russia has a 16-ship group formation off Syria.
The Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday said last week: "Given the current situation, the chance for miscalculation is greater."
Retired Navy captain and former destroyer commanding officer Joe Bouchard agrees.
"This is reminiscent of the height of the Cold Wat when the 6th Fleet and the Soviet Navy were operating in close proximity in the Mediterranean," he said.
Bouchard has seen it all before.
"It appeared at times the Soviets were trying to provoke an accident so they could label it as a deliberate provocation by the U.S. and retaliate," he said. "And I wouldn't put it past them to be doing that again today."
Last week, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that a U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine left Russian territorial waters in the Pacific after Russia's Navy took what it called "appropriate" actions.
U.S. Navy officials flatly denied the assertions, saying, "There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters."
In another incident last October, the U.S. Navy disputed a claim that Russian maritime forces had "thwarted" the American destroyer USS Chafee from "violating" Russian territory in the Sea of Japan.
The U.S. Navy said the claim was false, and that "The interaction was safe and professional."