American GM frigate to call at Baltiisk Wed

KALININGRAD, August 3 (Itar-Tass) - The guided missile frigate Carr of
the US Navy is to call at the westernmost Russian port of Baltiisk, where
the main naval base of the Baltic Fleet (BF) is located, on Wednesday, for
the first time in 14 years, an officer at the BF press service has told
Itar-Tass.
The frigate will stay there until Aug 5. The program for the stay
provides for meetings between the ship's commanding personnel,
Rear-Admiral Alexander Nosatov, commandant of the naval base, and the
leadership of the city. The crewmembers of the Carr are to meet Russian
seamen, take part in soccer, volleyball, basketball competitions, and in a
tug-of-war. The American navymen will tour Baltiisk and Kaliningrad.
A naval flag hoisting ritual is to be performed together with the host
ship, the BF destroyer Bespokoiny. The American navy men are to lay a
wreath at the monument to the Soviet servicemen who perished while
storming the fortress city of Pillau (Baltiisk) in April 1945 during the
East Prussia offensive operation of Soviet troops. A reception for members
of war veterans' public associations of Baltiisk are to be held aboard the
frigate Carr.
The GM frigate Carr was commissioned in 1985. The ship is 138 meters
long, and 13.7 m wide; speed is 29 knots, and cruising range is up to
5,000 miles. The frigates has available missile, artillery. and
antisubmarine weaponry.
The US frigate was among three NATO ships presrnt at the International
naval show-2011 in St Petersburg.
The BF press service officer pointed out that a US frigate last called
at Baltiisk in 1997. It was the GM frigate Estocin.