FROM LIBERIA TO PALMA FOR U.S. WARSHIP

Joan Collins THE Port of Palma has welcomed the American Navy ship, the USS Mount Whitney which will be staying for a few days to allow its crew some relaxation during the course of its exercises with the Sixth Fleet. This ship is part of the coordination of the assault forces of the United States Navy, a mission it shares with her sister ship and some 50 other ships in three squadrons distributed between the Atlantic and the islands of Guam and Diego Garcia.T he USS Mount Whitney comes to Palma from Liberia where she was visited by the newly elected president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on January 17, the day after her inauguration. She thanked the crew for making the journey to support her country's inaugural ceremonies. In addition to Liberia, the Mount Whitney has operated in Somalia and the Persian Gulf. She takes her name from the highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range, at 14'491 feet the highest point in the lower continental United States. She is the first ship to bear this name and was the first US Navy ship to permanently accommodate women on board. As the most sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) ship ever commissioned, Mount Whitney incorporates various elements of the most advanced C4I equipment and gives the Joint Task Force Commander the capability to effectively control all units under his command from the ship. The ship's afloat communications capability is second to none. It can receive and transmit large amounts of secure data from any point on earth. With a displacement of 18'372 tonnes, an 8.8 metre draught, and a length of 194 metres by a width of 33 metres, the Mount Whitney has a crew of 821 and can carry a unit of 700 Marines. Her armament consists of missiles and artillery.