World's Largest US Warship Pending Symbolic Port Call to Oslo
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The last time a US aircraft carrier visited Norway was in 1959, so the planned port call is framed as a historic event with an immense symbolic value that underpins the growing partnership between the two countries.
The USS Gerald R Ford, the world's largest warship, will arrive in the Norwegian capital in the next few days.
The giant 337-meter $12.8 billion aircraft carrier is on its first operational voyage ever, and Oslo will be the first port visited. The ship is now in the North Sea, accompanied by the Norwegian frigate Roald Amundsen, on its way to Oslo with, among others, Norwegian Minister of Defense Bjorn Arild Gram on board.
Gram, who visited the carrier out at sea together with the chief of defence, the minister of research, the US ambassador to Norway and other official representatives, called the port call "a clear expression of the security guarantees we have through NATO, not least the close cooperation and partnership with the US."
The giant 337-meter $12.8 billion aircraft carrier is on its first operational voyage ever, and Oslo will be the first port visited. The ship is now in the North Sea, accompanied by the Norwegian frigate Roald Amundsen, on its way to Oslo with, among others, Norwegian Minister of Defense Bjorn Arild Gram on board.
Gram, who visited the carrier out at sea together with the chief of defence, the minister of research, the US ambassador to Norway and other official representatives, called the port call "a clear expression of the security guarantees we have through NATO, not least the close cooperation and partnership with the US."
Gram furthermore called for increased allied presence on Norwegian territory for the sake of joint drills and a projection of unity.
Defense chief Eirik Kristoffersen pledged that the US aircraft carrier will train a lot with Norwegian forces in the future, stressing "good friendship" within the alliance, but denied that Norwegian planes will land on board the aircraft carrier.
The last time a US aircraft carrier visited Norway was in 1959, so the future port call will be a historic event with an immense symbolic value, which was stressed by the US ambassador to Norway, Marc Nathanson.
"Here we have the world's largest aircraft carrier making its first visit to Oslo. It says something about the closeness the US feels to Norway, and hopefully Norway feels the same in return," Nathanson told Norwegian media.
He emphasized Norway's role as NATO's founding member and called the Nordic country a "critical ally" due to its proximity to Russia.
"If you are going to the Nordics, this is the country to go to," Nathanson added.
Christened in 2013 and formally commissioned in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, the USS Gerald R Ford is the largest warship ever built. In addition to the crew of 4,500, she accommodates 90 planes and helicopters.
Earlier this year, a series of revelation pieces published by US veteran journalist Seymour Hersh uncovered yet another side in the alliance between Norway and the US. Citing the Norwegian Navy's "long and murky history of cooperation with American intelligence," starting from the Vietnam War, Hersh suggested that explosives that shattered the Russian Nord Stream pipelines were planted by US Navy divers, assisted by Norwegian specialists, under the guise of the Baltops drill in the Baltic Sea. Hersh furthermore maintained that "much of the secret planning and training" for the sabotage attacks on the pipelines "took place in Norway."
22 February 2023, 14:19 GMT
Amid an incessant Western media chorus oddly blaming Russia of obliterating its own pipeline worth $20 billion and preliminary reports hinting at the involvement of "state actors" and "pro-Ukrainian groups," the Kremlin accused the West of an "unprecedented act of state terrorism" involving Nord Stream. While it didn't name any specific states, President Vladimir Putin hinted at the involvement of the "Anglo-Saxons" (a common way of referring to the Anglosphere in Russia).
