European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday june 6, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 5 the Ark Royal Britain s latest aircraft Carrier is Lowed by logs through inc thames hirer Barrier for the in Royal tradition first Ever visit of m Carrier to London. The Coll Marks the launch of the first Ark Royal 400 years ago. Navy boosts persian Gulf Fleet strength Washington up the Navy will escalate ill presence in the persian Gulf to nine ships that will include cruisers destroyers and frigates officials say. Seven . Warships Row Are Pai Roling inc Gulf including the command ship of the Middle East Force the Lasalle Pentagon officials said. The number docs not include the crippled guided missile frigate Stark or the destroyer tender Acadia both anchored in Bahrain. Three ships were leaving Friday and saturday to relieve three others now in the Gulf and the Pentagon identified them As two Sisters of he Stark the Koa King and the Flatley. The third is the guided missile destroyer Kidd he Lead ship or a claw of four vessels built in 1978 and1979 that were ordered by the Shah of Iran before his overthrow in 1979. The Navy withheld identification of the three ship until families of the More than 600 sailors aboard them were notified that the vessels were headed for a danger  notifications an unusual step were undertaken As a Courtesy to the families because of the iraqi missile attack on the Stark on May 17. Other officials speaking on condition they nol be identified said current planning for . Naval forces in the Gulf is to bring the number of ships to nine including the Lasalle and two guided missile cruisers before escort duly of 11 re flagged kuwaiti Oil tankers begins. The cruisers Are Likely to be any of the nine Leahy class ships the officials said. All of them were commissioned Between 1962 and 1964 with a Standard weight of about 5,700 ions and armed with surface to surface and anti aircraft missiles two 20mm cannons and the Phalanx anti missile Catling gun. Jacksonville expands pavement for Auto imports Jacksonville Fla. A officials at the nation s largest port of entry for imported cars and trucks arc laying new pavement to accommodate a flood of vehicles that Are getting a Cool greeting in this country lately. By the time the fiscal year ends on june 30, Jackson Ville port authority officials expect a record 608,000 cais and trucks will be unloaded from ships an 8 per cent increase from last year s record s65.000 imports cars Are parked everywhere at the spa s Blou Tisland Marine terminal in the St. Johns River near downtown Jacksonville which officials say has a capacity of 31,000 vehicles. Sally Steuber spa spokeswoman said there was plenty of room for More. There could soon be As Manyas 50,000 cars on the Island because of expansion she  s a Nice problem to have added Cliff Mendoza spa Deputy managing director. We re laying pave mint As fast As we can the lots May be so full because sales of imports Are Down and the vehicles Are sitting longer on inc docks said Thomas o Grady an Auto analyst with integrated automotive resources in Wayne a. Sales of japanese cars which carry higher Price tags because of the Dollar s drop in value against Hie yen was Down 11.7 percent in the first four months of 19s7 and German car sales declined 24. 5 percent. Prices on japanese autos have risen 15 percent in the past 14 months said o Grady. Although sales Are sluggish the japanese manufacturers continue to ship cars to Jacksonville to meet the country s Export quota. Dealers can Only handle so Many. The rest tend to Back up on us said Vic Mcnair executive vice presi Dent of world cars inc., an Auto processing company. It charges the Auto companies for storing cars that Don t move off the docks another reason for the Blount Island congestion is new business for the port. Mazda has relocated from docks near downtown to Blount Island. In addition. World cars has picked up contracts with Hyundai Suzuki and Ford motor co s Lincoln Mercury Merkur division. The port is expect ing its first korean built Ford fiestas later this month. The port went through a scare last year when Bow of North America stopped shipping cars through Jack Sonville saying Industrial fallout was damaging the paint on cars. It rerouted 16,000 cars last year to Brunswick a. Klan ready to March again at site of 5 killings in 1979 Greensboro ,