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Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The strike group of ships and planes led by the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is in the Atlantic Ocean with the 6th Fleet, the Navy announced on Monday. The group will eventually relieve the strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the Persian Gulf.
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Ships in the strike group include the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen, USS Farragut and USS Forrest Sherman as well as the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy. Together with smaller ships, they escort the aircraft carrier and its squadrons of fighter planes.
The Harry S. Truman CSG last operated in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, surrounding Europe from the "High North" to the East Mediterranean Sea, in 2018.
In September, the Truman spent several months at Carrier Station Norfolk, Va., sidelined with electrical problems. Its escort ships nonetheless began deployment from their East Coast home ports for training exercise. Traveling without its lead vessel was regarded as unprecedented for a carrier strike group.
"We are ready to continue our steadfast commitment to our allies and partners in U.S. 6th Fleet," Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, commander of the Truman Strike Group, said in a Navy statement. "These vital sea lanes must remain open for global commerce and prosperity, and nothing in the world is able to foster regional security like a carrier strike group."
