U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Anaid Banuelos Rodriguez(WASHINGTON) — A U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser was forced to execute emergency maneuvers on Friday after a Russian destroyer came between 50 and 100 feet of the American ship, the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet said.
The USS Chancellorsville was operating in the Philippine Sea at approximately 11:45 a.m. on Friday when the Russian ship DD572 “maneuvered from behind and to the right of the Chancellorsville, accelerated, and closed to an unsafe distance” of between 50 and 100 feet, Seventh Fleet said in a statement.
“This unsafe action forced Chancellorsville to execute all engines back full and to maneuver to avoid collision,” the statement continued.
Russia’s Pacific Fleet argued it was the American ship that changed course without warning, forcing the Russian ship to execute an emergency maneuver to avoid collision.
The Russian statement also said that the ship, the Admiral Vinogradov, also broadcast a protest on an international frequency to the U.S. ship, telling it that its actions were unacceptable.
Video taken of Friday’s incident shows Russian sailors in bathing suits sunning on the ship’s back deck.
The incident follows another interaction — this time between U.S. and Russian aircraft — that the U.S. Navy deemed “unsafe.” Earlier this week, a U.S. P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft experienced an “unsafe” and “irresponsible” intercept by a Russian fighter over international waters above the Mediterranean Sea.
In late May, U.S. Air Force F-22 fighters intercepted Russian aircraft that had entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for the second day in a row.
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