North Korea Threatens to Sink USS Carl Vinson: Reports

SAN DIEGO, CA -- North Korea has threatened to sink the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which was recently diverted to put it closer to the Korean Peninsula, it was reported Monday.

Officials in Pyongyang contend that the placement of the USS Carl Vinson was "an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade the North," NBC News reported.

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a U.S. nuclear- powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," according to commentary in the North Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

The USS Carl Vinson Strike Group left San Diego Jan. 5. Earlier this month, it was diverted while en route to Australia and ordered to sail to a station in the Western Pacific Ocean in closer proximity to North Korea, according to Navy officials.

President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network earlier this month he was "sending an armada" toward the Korean Peninsula.

The Carl Vinson Strike Group includes the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, embarked Carrier Air Wing 2, Arleigh Burke-class guided- missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy, and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain. The strike group has been joined by two Japanese destroyers, according to news reports.

By City News Service

Image via U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons