USS Nitze stops on edge of Bosphorus Strait

USS Nitze (DDG-94) stopped on the edge of the Bosphorus Strait, on its way to make a port call in Türkiye.

It’s the closest a US warship has been to the Ukraine-Russia war since it started nearly a year ago, according to USNI News.

Nitze was seen by ship spotters at the lower edge of the strait. Türkiye closed the Bosphorus Strait to warships on February 28, 2022, four days after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Since the closure, only warships with ports on the Black Sea, which includes Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and Turkish ships, can enter.

The last American warship to transit the strait was USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), which left the Black Sea on December 15, 2021. The ship entered the Black Sea in November 2021 following a port visit in Bulgaria, USNI News previously reported.

US 6th Fleet confirmed in a tweet that Nitze anchored off Instabul’s coast ahead of a scheduled port call at Gölcük Naval Base.