2 US Battleships Spotted off the Coast of Kaliningrad!
Kaliningrad is a small enclave on the relatively tight Baltic Sea. It is isolated from the rest of Russia. That is not NATO’s fault. It is surrounded by NATO countries that are zero inches away. And Sweden is across the sea just a short distance away. If Russians don’t like to be near NATO and their close partners, it seems they will just have to leave Kaliningrad.
When I was in the service we used to follow Russian ships, cruise beside them, even helped each other on occasion. US and Russian ships have pretty much always been in close proximity to each other. Even our subs know where their subs are and visa versa. So we keep a pretty close eye on each other at sea. Since the 1700s, the US Navy has guaranteed that the world's oceans would be open for free trade. I don't know if we wanted that distinction but it's a fact today.
Putin likes to talk about "historic lands." Consistent with his claim to Ukraine (though with much more validity), he should turn Kaliningrad back to Germany, Poland and/or Lithuania, all of which have far superior claims to ownership of the area than Russia does. Historically, Russia never ruled that area. Instead, it was the home of the "Old Prussian Balts," a tribe most closely related to Lithuanians, for at least a thousand years. They lost control to the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. However, the area came under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for hundreds of years following the defeat of the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1410. Thereafter, Prussia was a mere vassal state of the Commonwealth. 250 years later, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (and Elector of Brandenburg) disavowed his vassal duties, and overthrew the Polish-Lithuanian sovereignty in 1660. For the next 285 years, what is now Kaliningrad was ruled by Prussia/Germany. No Russian presence until Stalin conned Churchill and Roosevelt into letting Russia take half of East Prussia at the end of WWII.
I drove across the Ben Franklin Bridge today from Philadelphia, PA and saw the US Battleship New Jersey (tourist attraction) still parked off the Camden, NJ Waterfront. Impressive the New Jersey could sail at 500 mph to the Baltic areas.
There are no more battleships on active duty anywhere, and the correct term is warships. What a reaction! Loved it. For someone who knows NOTHING about navies & ships, this was a total eye-opener so all you Navy people should appreciate that this clip, as bad & frustrating as it might be to you, is actually helping people learn a little about ships. All we ever hear about is missiles, planes, tanks and land & air stuff. Once in a while there's a mention of a ship somewhere dispatching a missile.
