AT SEA: U.S. warship U.S.S. Ponce readies off coast of Libya

Record ID: 742275

  • Title: AT SEA: U.S. warship U.S.S. Ponce readies off coast of Libya
  • Date: 22nd March 2011
  • Summary: AT SEA, MEDITERRANEAN SEA OFF COAST OF SICILY (MARCH 21) (REUTERS) AERIAL SHOT OF U.S. NAVAL ASSAULT SHIP, U.S.S. PONCE, AND OTHER VESSELS AT SEA VARIOUS OF DECK OF U.S.S. PONCE, LOOKING TOWARDS BRIDGE VARIOUS OF BRIDGE GUN BARREL POINTING TOWARDS SEA PAVE HAWK HELICOPTER HOVERING DECK OF U.S.S. PONCE PAVE HAWK HOVERING VARIOUS OF HELICOPTER LANDING U.S.S. PONCE MAST WITH FLAG VARIOUS OF PAVE HAWKS ON LANDING DECK (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER, U.S.S. PONCE, COMMANDER ETTA JONES, SAYING: "The good news, so far, for folks ashore, is that the aviation community has been able to supply adequate throughput, so we don't have personnel who are trapped ashore, we don't have a refugee situation that's building, we've been able to accommodate the needs of the nations that have requested assistance through aircraft so, for the moment, we're in standby." PAVE HAWK HELICOPTER TAKES OFF VARIOUS OF PAVE HAWK HELICOPTER FLYING
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: At Sea, At Sea
  • Country: At Sea
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAD34NJ0KXI4X3CWKJR5G0ZY57
  • Story Text: The commanding officer of the U.S.S. Ponce, a naval assault ship, says her crew is standing by to offer assistance.
    The flight deck of the U.S. naval assault ship the U.S.S. Ponce was busy with helicopter activity as the vessel sailed between Sicily and Libya in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday (March 21).
    Ponce, and her sister assault ship U.S.S. Kearsarge, reached the Mediterranean at the beginning of March as Washington stepped up pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to end his four-decade rule.
    As the United States, along with other Western powers launched a second wave of air strikes in support of a U.N. Security Council resolution to protect Libyan civilians, Ponce's commanding officer, Commander Etta Jones, indicated that she and her crew were standby mode.
    "The good news, so far, for folks ashore, is that the aviation community has been able to supply adequate throughput, so we don't have personnel who are trapped ashore, we don't have a refugee situation that's building, we've been able to accommodate the needs of the nations that have requested assistance through aircraft so, for the moment, we're in standby."
    The Ponce, which normally carries U.S .Marines on expeditionary warfare missions, presently has a compliment of HH60 Pave Hawk helicopters operating from its aft flight deck.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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