Thursday, March 26, 2009

Sevastopol Residents Protest U.S. Warship Visit

Sevastopol Residents Protest U.S. Warship Visit
(NSI News Source Info) SEVASTOPOL - March 26, 2009: About 500 demonstrators gathered on Wednesday in Sevastopol in Ukraine's Crimea to protest the visit of a U.S. frigate to the port, which hosts a key Russian naval base. USS Klakring (FFG-42), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, is a ship of the United States Navy named for Rear Admiral Thomas B. Klakring (1904–1975), who was awarded three Navy Crosses as commander of the submarine USS Guardfish (SS-217) during World War II. Klakring was laid down on 19 February 1982 by the Bath Iron Works Corp. Bath, Maine; launched on 18 September 1982; sponsored by Beverly Bohen, a niece of R.Adm. Klakring; and commissioned on 20 August 1983 at Bath, Commander Leonard O. Wahlig in command. As of 2006, Klakring is homeported at NAVSTA Mayport, Florida, and is part of Destroyer Squadron 14. In March of 2008, the ship was the subject of protests in Sevastapol, Ukraine. Klakring participated in Operation Earnest Will in the Persian Gulf in 1987 as the first air-capable, air-embarked ship. Klakring participated in Operation Prime Chance in the Persian Gulf during the "Tanker War". Klakring is one of the surface combatants in Larry Bond's 1993 technothriller Cauldron. The USS Klakring (FFG 42) frigate entered the Black Sea on March 20 and is closely monitored by Russia, whose Black Sea Fleet has its main base in Sevastopol. The U.S. warship is scheduled to stay in the city until Saturday before heading to Batumi in Georgia. "We welcome all foreigners who come here as tourists, but we will not tolerate the U.S. military in our city," said city council member Andrei Merkulov, one of the organizers of the rally. Locals in Ukraine's Crimea, which has a largely Russian-speaking population, frequently protest against visits by NATO ships. Last November, the USS Mount Whitney cut short its visit to Sevastopol amid similar protests. Ukraine has been pursuing NATO membership since pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko was inaugurated in January 2005. However, regular opinion polls show that the majority of Ukrainians continue to oppose NATO membership.

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