The USS Mount Whitney on Tuesday left Gaeta, Italy, to take part in next month's Large Scale Exercise 2021, the Navy announced.

The U.S.-only event, meant to demonstrate integration abilities and new maritime capabilities, will mimic war at sea and include 36 vessels, including ships, aircraft carriers and submarines, according to a Navy press release.

The units taking part in the overall event will be spread over 17 time zones, according to Navy officials.

The USS Mount Whitney, with a crew of sailors and civil service mariners, is one of two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships in service with the Navy.

The Mount Whitney serves as the command ship for the U.S. 6th Fleet, Joint Command Lisbon and Striking Force NATO.

"Command-at-sea forms the foundation of our naval service," Vice Adm. Gene Black, commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, said in the release.

"LSE will test our commanders across the spectrum of naval warfare from the tactical to the strategic, integrating the Marine Corps to demonstrate the world-wide fleet's ability to conduct coordinated operations from the open ocean to the littoral," Black said.

The event — scheduled for Aug. 3-16. — will involve six Navy and Marine component commands, five numbered U.S. Fleets and three Marine Expeditionary Forces.

The Navy said the war games were the largest scale naval and amphibious exercises "conducted since the Ocean Venture NATO exercises launched in 1981 during the Cold War."

Ocean Ventures '81 included 120,000 troops, 250 ships and about 1,000 aircraft in exercises conducted across the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic and Norwegian seas.

USS Ross completes 11th patrol, returns to Naval Station Rota in Spain
 Washington DC (UPI) Jul 27, 2021 –

The USS Ross has ended its 11th patrol in the 6th Fleet area of operations and has returned to port in Rota, Spain, the U.S. Navy announced on Tuesday.

With the port arrival on Monday, the ship ends a cruise that saw a series of naval operations spread throughout Europe end Africa.

"Our Sailors have met every challenge to meet mission and successfully complete patrol," Cmdr. John D. John, commanding officer of Ross, said in a Navy press release. "I'm excited to get everyone home safe so we can reconnect with our loved ones."

The patrol began with the British-led Fleet Operational Sea Training this spring. The vessel's voyage then took it to the North Sea for an exercise displaying the vessel's missile blocking system.

The vessel also took part in the African Lion exercise outside Morocco and stopped over in Souda Bay, Greece, for the crew's first "liberty port" since the COIVD-19 pandemic began.

In late June, the USS Ross took part in the 12-day Sea Breeze 2021 exercise in the Black Sea, which involved 32 NATO nations.

The USS Ross also stopped in Ukraine where it hosted Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenksy.

"It was an honor to pipe the president of Ukraine on board," Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Sean Van Horn, who was part of the receiving line, said in a Navy press release. "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am privileged to have done it."