According to USNI News, USS Essex, USS Anchorage and USS Rushmore left from San Francisco on Tuesday with a squadron of F-35B fighters "for an expected Western Pacific and Middle East deployment."
Capt. Charlie Brown, the spokesperson for the Pacific Fleet, told the news site that "for reasons of operational security, we are not publicly disclosing any additional details."
Rather than an actual media release, footage of the three-ship Essex Amphibious Ready Group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit were shared online by curious netizens.
Citing a two sources familiar with the operation, USNI reported that the hush deployment was done under the direction of new US Pacific Fleet Commander Admr. John Aquilino. It also noted that the move was done to show that future deployments would be disclosed differently moving forward.
Per the Business Insider, the decision to not inform the media could have something to do with the US not wanting to alert neither China nor North Korea.
It's unclear if the vessels have already arrived at their destinations.
