A United States nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its destroyer escorts entered the South China Sea on Thursday, following visits to three countries bordering the contested region.
USS Abraham Lincoln, one of 11 aircraft carriers in service with the U.S. Navy, transited the Singapore Strait eastward on Wednesday night with destroyers USS Spruance and USS Michael Murphy. Ship tracking data showed they reached the South China Sea afterward.
USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., another destroyer escort assigned to the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, left Singapore and headed eastward on Wednesday afternoon.
The return of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the South China Sea came amid persistent tensions between the Philippines, which is America's oldest ally in Asia, and China. Their maritime claims in the region conflict with each other, and the disputes have led to clashes at sea.
China, which has the world's largest navy, conducted a dual aircraft carrier operation for the first time in late October in the South China Sea, at a time that no U.S. "flattops" were available for tasking in the Western Pacific Ocean, Newsweek's weekly update showed.
USS Theodore Roosevelt was the previous American aircraft carrier operating in the South China Sea. It was underway in the contested waters on September 20, following a surge deployment in the Middle East as a part of the increased U.S. military presence there.
The Abraham Lincoln reached Port Klang on Malaysia's west coast on Saturday, while the Spruance and the Michael Murphy docked in Phuket off Thailand's west coast from Friday to Tuesday. The Frank E. Petersen Jr. was in Singapore from Saturday to Wednesday.
"Following their respective port visits, the three destroyers will continue their deployment in the Seventh Fleet area of operations," the U.S. Navy said on Wednesday. The Seventh Fleet operating area covers the Western Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.
The Abraham Lincoln sailed from its home port at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California, in July for a scheduled Seventh Fleet deployment, but it was repositioned to the Middle East in the end, supporting the Theodore Roosevelt.
The naval formation led by the Abraham Lincoln was conducting routine operations in the Seventh Fleet operating area, the U.S. Navy added. It was not clear whether the "flattop" was on a homebound voyage. Newsweek has contacted the Seventh Fleet for comment.
Besides the Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy has sent another aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, to the Western Pacific Ocean last week. Following an overhaul in Virginia, the George Washington returned to Japan on Friday for its second forward deployment.
A third U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, was transiting waters near the Hawaiian Islands westbound as of Monday, according to the U.S. Naval Institute's USNI News. The warship left North Island on November 18 for a Pacific Ocean deployment.
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