EAST CHINA SEA (Aug. 28, 2021) The U.S. Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3), left, conducts an underway replenishment with the United Kingdom Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort-class combined fleet stores ship RFA Fort Victoria (A 387) while the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) follows in the East China Sea, Aug. 28, 2021. Fort Victoria and The Sullivans are deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility as part of the United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group. As the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed fleet, U.S. 7th Fleet employs 50-70 ships and submarines across the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. U.S. 7th Fleet routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific Region. (US Navy photo by Pat Garber)