US Navy Dispatches 3rd Ship To Deliver Relief To Georgia

The United States is sending a third ship, the USS Mount Whitney, to the Black Sea to deliver humanitarian aid for Georgia, the U.S. Navy said Thursday. The Mount Whitney, flagship of the Sixth Fleet, will join the guided missile destroyer USS McFaul and the Coast Guard cutter Dallas in delivering relief supplies, it said. The Mount Whitney "is currently on-loading humanitarian relief materials in her home port of Gaeta, Italy, and will proceed to Georgia later this month," the fleet said in a statement. "The ships will deliver thousands of blankets, hygiene kits, baby food and infant care supplies to save lives and alleviate human suffering," it said.USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)The McFaul departed from Crete Wednesday for the Black Sea and is expected to be in Georgia within a week. The Dallas is scheduled to follow it from Souda Bay, Crete. "The Russians have been informed along the way about our activities and our intentions," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. U.S. military transport planes also have been delivering relief supplies to Georgia on a daily basis over the past week. Whitman estimated the value of the aid provided since the start of the conflict between Russia and Georgia August 7 at $10.7 million.