A huge task force of 12 warships is setting sail for Syria in one of the biggest concentrations of US naval power since the 2003 Iraq invasion, it has emerged.
The giant nuclear powered USS Harry S Truman, carrying 90 aircraft and escorted by its five-strong strike group of destroyers and cruisers, is powering towards Europe and the Middle East.
A further four destroyers are believed to be in or near the Mediterranean already, including the Donald Cook, Porter, Carney and Laboon along with two nuclear-powered submarines, Georgia and John Warner.
The deployment of 12 US warships on one mission is a huge concentration of fire power, one of the biggest since six aircraft carriers supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It comes amid heightened tensions as Donald Trump continues to consider launching airstrikes on Syria in retaliation for a chemical gas attack in a rebel-held town on Saturday. Russia has threatened to take down any missiles launched at the Assad regime's forces using its fearsome S-400 defence system.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has reportedly moved his military assets to Russian bases in the country in the hope that the US and its allies would be reluctant to launch strikes anywhere near Vladimir Putin's forces.
Donald Trump had said earlier in the day that Americans won't have to wait long for a response to Saturday's horrifying chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town that left at least 40 dead and others gasping for air.
But at least two of his top advisers couldn't agree on whether there's sufficient proof to blame the atrocity on dictator Bashar al-Assad's government, leaving the possibility of a retaliatory attack an open-ended question.
America's allies and adversaries alike were awaiting a signal from the White House about whether Trump will follow through on his warning that missiles 'will be coming,' potentially putting Russian troops in harm's way.
At close of business, the White House said that Trump had just concluded a meeting with his national security team and would be speaking again later to the heads of government in France and the U.K.
'No final decision has been made,' press secretary Sarah Sanders said. 'We are continuing to asses intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners and allies.'
The USS Harry S Truman and its support ships were due to leave Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on Wednesday.
It is accompanied by the cruiser USS Normandy and destroyers USS Farragut, USS Forrest Sherman, USS Bulkeley and USS Arleigh Burke.
Also among the strike group's ships is the German frigate FGS Hessen, a state-of-the-art vessel specialising in air defense.
US Navy officials said the Hessen is the only type of ship in the Western world with three kinds of surface-to-air missiles. Its radar has a detection range of more than 200 nautical miles for air targets.
Already in position is the USS Donald Cook, an American destroyer equipped with up to 60 Tomahawk land attack missiles.
It was not clear whether Trump and U.S. allies would wait for the results of the investigation before deciding on a strike.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress he believed there was a chemical attack in Syria, but added a short while later that the United States had not made any decision to launch military action. He also suggested he was examining ways to prevent any strikes from triggering a broader conflict.
'I don't want to talk about a specific attack that is not yet in the offing ... This would be pre-decisional,' Mattis told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
Moscow is estimated to have dozens of aircraft at its Hmeymim air base in Syria including fighters and bombers, as well as 10 to 15 warships and support vessels in the Mediterranean.
The Syrian government and Russian forces in Syria possess truck-mounted surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons systems.
Nervous world stock markets showed signs of recovery after Trump's signal that military strikes might not be imminent.
Britain's May won backing from her senior ministers to take unspecified action with the United States and France to deter further use of chemical weapons by Syria.
May had recalled the ministers from their Easter holiday for the meeting to discuss Britain's response to what she has cast as a barbaric attack that cannot go unchallenged.
Russian ships had left the Tartus naval base in Syria, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian lawmaker as saying. Vladimir Shamanov, who chairs the defense committee of the lower house, said the vessels had departed the base for their own safety, which was 'normal practice' when there were threats of attack.
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