DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710040392

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   24 lines

FULL STEAM AHEAD TO THE MED AND PERSIAN GULF

BILL TIERNAN photos/The Virginian-Pilot

April Clark of Portsmouth, above left, watches as the carrier George

Washington backs away from Pier 11 of the Norfolk Naval Station at

8:30 a.m. Friday. Leondra Chavis of Chesapeake, Barbara Herod and

Keneshia Judge, both of Jacksonville, Fla., joined Clark at the

pier. The G.W., below, will lead a 14-ship battle group, which

includes the amphibious ready group headed by the assault ship Guam,

to relieve the John F. Kennedy battle group. Other Norfolk-based

ships on the cruise are the guided-missile cruisers Normandy and

South Carolina, amphibious transport dock Shreveport and dock

landing ships Oak Hill and Ashland. Also participating are the Aegis

guided-missile destroyer Carney, destroyer John Rodgers and

guided-missile frigates Underwood and Boone; the fast combat support

ship Seattle; and the fast attack submarines Toledo and Annapolis. KEYWORDS: DEPLOYMENT

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