Russian warship sails through Panama Canal

[holy king]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7768743.stm

Russian ship sails through Panama

A Russian warship has sailed through the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II.

The Admiral Chabanenko had earlier completed manoeuvres with Venezuela's navy, coinciding with a Latin American tour by the Russian president.

The 50-mile (80km) canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was shut to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Correspondents say the Russian ship is sending a symbolic message in what the US sees as its sphere of influence.

Ties between the two superpowers have become strained because of Washington's plan for a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic - something Moscow is firmly opposed to.

Panama said the passage of the ship had no political significance, as the canal is "open to all the world's ships".

Spoiler :

First since 1944

The warship entered the canal on Friday night and docked at Rodman, once the base for all US naval activities in South America, on Saturday.

It will stay in Rodman for five days.

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The canal journey, the naval exercises and President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the region have been seen as aimed at strengthening Russia's influence in the region.

In the naval exercises, about 1,600 Russian and 700 Venezuelan sailors on four Russian ships and 12 Venezuelan vessels took part in the VenRus 2008 joint exercise.

They had originally been scheduled to last three days, but both Venezuelan and Russian officials said the manoeuvres had been successfully completed in one day.

The first and only time Soviet warships used the Panama Canal was in 1944, when the USSR and US were fighting as allies against Hitler, the Russian embassy in Panama told AFP news agency.

Four Soviet submarines crossed the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific after undergoing repairs, it said.

 

[philippe]

VenRus

VENUS, would havesounded way better.

this actually shows how significant this event is.

not.

 

[Berzerker]

Geez, I'm surprised it took that long

 

[Defiant47]

It means nothing.

 

[Perfection]

Geez, I'm surprised it took that long

Well, the first three they tried to send there rusted out and sank.

 

[innonimatu]

They're just getting back, over those warships sent through the Bosporus during the war in Georgia...

 

[plarq]

"Four Soviet submarines crossed the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific after undergoing repairs, it said. "

Soviet Submarines?

 

[Berzerker]

what happened to their Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok after Russia's war with Japan in 1905 ? Maybe we've been keeping em out to protect the canal hehe

 

[Annex]

I thought they claimed the arctic for themselves. They should be using the northwest passage.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

what happened to their Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok after Russia's war with Japan in 1905 ? Maybe we've been keeping em out to protect the canal hehe

The Soviets never tried to do anything in the Pacific, because they knew they could never win. The vast vast majority of their navy was oriented towards Atlantic action.

 

[Berzerker]

Soviets didn't exist in 1905

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

You said since, so I assumed you were referring to Soviet actions after 1917 in the Pacific, since you couldn't possibly have been referring to an instiution and deployment more than a hundred years out of date.

As for 1905, there was no Russian fleet at Vladivostok, the fleet that engaged at Tsushima Straits had to sail all the way around the world to get fight Japan.

 

[Berzerker]

No, I'm thinking of a Russian fleet that left Vladivostok after the war and took a beating around the tip of S Africa and barely made it into Spain.

 

[silver 2039]

The Soviet Union is back in buisness people, and this time its here to stay....now where is that Simpson's episode with zombie Lenin? I can't find it on youtube it would have been most fitting.

Anyway this is no different than them flying their old bombers around. Symbolic gesture for the folks back home with little force backing it.

 

[woody60707]

Umm, why does this matter? The US gave the Panama canal back way before I was ever born. Being a Post-coldwar child (errr,..I wasn't old enough to remember), I guess I have a hard time understanding the importance of all this. If the BBC just said "Russian ship sails through Panama Canal for a Russian, Venezuelan joint exercise" I wouldn't have bated a eye.

I guess noting it was the 1st Russian warship was cool. But that's my 1st thought to reading that, "Cool". Or "Why it take so long?" Really, does anyone really think OMG ZOMG, Teh Russians used the Panama Canal. lol

 

[Gelion]

Boo-hoo!

 

[Winner]

I am surprised the Russian navy managed to get so far - it's quality must have improved!

 

[Enkidu Warrior]

As for 1905, there was no Russian fleet at Vladivostok, the fleet that engaged at Tsushima Straits had to sail all the way around the world to get fight Japan.

The Russians did have a naval presence in the region at Port Arthur. It was this fleets destruction in the Japanese surprise attack that forced the Russians to send the Baltic fleet all the way around the world only to have that fleet destroyed as well.

 

[silver 2039]

The Russians did have a naval presence in the region at Port Arthur. It was this fleets destruction in the Japanese surprise attack that forced the Russians to send the Baltic fleet all the way around the world only to have that fleet destroyed as well.

I can't imagine how they thought that tactic was a good idea or would be successful.

 

[plarq]

I can't imagine how they thought that tactic was a good idea or would be successful.

White supremacist thought that Asians suck