Sailing into harm's way

With an abrupt change of orders, a Pacific carrier group heads to the Persian Gulf, doubling U.S. naval presence just as more Mideast tension flares | Lynn Vincent

SAN DIEGO—Floating pier-side and cloaked in a pre-dawn chill, the USS John C. Stennis looks almost friendly. Atop the aircraft carrier's towering super-structure, signal flags the color of gumballs flutter near radar antennas that spin like ice skaters tilting toward the stars. Just below them, white lights outline a giant "74," the ship's hull number, casting a welcoming glow on the sailors working on the wharf below.

The Stennis stretches more than three football fields along Pier L at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. From the officer's brow, a brass bell double-clangs three times and a loud-speakered voice echoes into the dark: "Commander Carrier Strike Group Three, departing."