7th Fleet command ship docks in Manila

The command ship of the US Seventh Fleet docked in Manila yesterday in a port call that the ship’s commanding officer said was meant to strengthen the two countries’ military alliance.

The Philippines is a very important and strong (US) ally," Capt. J. Stephen Maynard told The STAR at the end of a brief press tour of the USS Blue Ridge. "We have great respect for what your government has been doing in fighting terrorism."

Last night Vice Admiral Jonathan Greenert, commander of the Seventh Fleet, hosted a dinner aboard his command ship for Philippine government and military officials.

The Blue Ridge had dropped anchor in Manila in 1998 — its first port call here since the shutdown of the US bases in the Philippines. It also stopped offshore for a few hours in March last year for meetings with Philippine military officers, according to Navy Capt. Dennis Williams, local liaison of the US Pacific Command.

The ship has 128 officers and 834 enlisted personnel, including over 100 Filipino-Americans. Maynard said women make up about one-sixth of the crew. Yesterday five of the Filipino-Americans were among those on hand to greet the visiting local media.

The Seventh Fleet is the largest of the US naval fleets, with an area of responsibility spanning 52 million square miles from the Western Pacific to the Indian Ocean. The fleet includes up to 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 sailors and Marines.

The Blue Ridge was commissioned on Nov. 14, 1970. It was deployed for the evacuation of Americans during the fall of Saigon in 1975. It served as command ship during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm from August 1990 through May 1991.