USS Harry Truman Enters the Mediterranean Sea - Reports

A US Navy carrier strike group led by nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman passed the Strait of Gibraltar, entering the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday evening.

The US aircraft carrier passed Gibraltar, heading towards the Eastern Mediterranean, the same location from which in the spring of this year the carrier’s aircraft attacked targets in Syria, media reported, citing monitoring data from the International Automatic Identification System of vessels (AIS).

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Earlier, the aircraft carrier, with 5,000 sailors on board, left port in Lisbon, Portugal, where it previously spent four days due to celebrations of the anniversary of the end of the First World War. The ship’s crew members were allowed to get acquainted with the sights of the city, as well as take part in various cultural events.

In October of this year, the USS Truman became the first American aircraft carrier to cross the Arctic Circle entering the Arctic for the first time in nearly three decades. The last time an American aircraft carrier entered the Arctic was in September 1991 when the aircraft carrier USS America ​​took part in the North Star NATO exercises in the Norwegian Sea.

The USS Harry Truman and its strike group conducted independent operations in the Arctic West Fjord off the coast of Norway for two weeks, after which they went to the region of central Norway to take part in NATO’s Trident Juncture 2018 exercises, its largest since the Cold War, which took place in Norway and surrounding areas of the North Atlantic from October 25 to November 7.