USS Clarence E Walsh

The USS Clarence E. Walsh was a fictional U.S. Navy warship in the video game Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. It plays a major role in the second half of the game.

Historical background
The Walsh was a highly advanced warship about the size of a frigate or a destroyer. It cost about $80 billion to build as it was specialized in information warfare. The USS Walsh was equipped with the most advanced equipment specialized for this purpose. It also sported a number of missile launchers and . It was commanded by Captain Arthur Partridge, a good friend of NSA Splinter Cell Agent Sam Fisher. It was first deployed in June 2007 amidst growing tensions in Far East Asia. The U.S. was defending Japan's creation of an Information Self-Defense Force (ISDF) from China and North Korea, who opposed Japan's actions. The Walsh was deployed to the Yellow Sea by U.S. Secretary of Defense Frank Mason in order to convince China and North Korea to back off from Japan, as they had been harassing Japanese cargo vessels. The ship was also present off the coast of Peru, where its crew assisted Sam Fisher in infiltrating a guerrilla camp owned by the "People's Voice", a group holding American computer engineer Bruce Morgenholt hostage. The Walsh also sent Fisher into Panama City to rob the MCAS Bank to find out more about their financial support for Hugo Lacerda, who led the "People's Voice". The ship then began its intended deployment in Far East Asia.

The Walsh remained on standby to monitor hostile actions from China and North Korea. However, while the crew was celebrating Independence Day on July 4, 2007, a North Korean anti-ship missile sank the vessel, killing the entire crew. At least 141 U.S. Navy Sailors were killed on board the ship. The USS Walsh was unsuccessful in shooting down the missile because their anti-missile systems were disabled by an electronic warfare attack. This act of terror ignited a massive political crisis in East Asia, pushing the nations in the region to the brink of war. North Korea denied that the missile attack was launched intentionally, and China supported this claim. Military forces on the Korean peninsula built up their forces along the 38th Parallel, as North Korea threatened to retaliate by attacking South Korea with a force of over 200,000 soldiers.

Later, Sam Fisher traveled to , Japan to spy on his friend Douglas Shetland, the CEO of Displace International in the U.S. Displace was suspected by Third Echelon to be a major instigator of the crisis in Asia, so Fisher went in to find more answers. He eventually discovered that Shetland forced famed computer engineer Abraham Zherkezi to cripple the Walshs defensive systems and to force-launch the missile behind North Korea's back. Shetland, however, murders Zherkezi before Fisher can capture him in order to hide the evidence, and escapes to an unknown location. To make matters worse, North Korea invades South Korea with full force, forcing the U.S. to intervene. The Walsh incident was getting dangerously close to starting World War 3.

Soon afterwards, in a strange turn of events, Third Echelon discovered that the electronic warfare attack passed through Seoul, South Korea and originated in Japan, prompting Fisher to go in and find out what the Japanese involvement was. Much to his horror, The Japanese I-SDF and Shetland were both responsible for the attack on the Walsh, and were engineering World War 3 so that Displace could profiteer from its PMC activities and so that Admiral Toshiro Otomo, head of the I-SDF, could remilitarize Japan. Otomo would do this by blackmailing the Japanese government into agreeing to these terms by threatening to launch a North Korean missile at Japan, further prompting World War 3. Fortunately, Fisher Killed Shetland and after foiling the I-SDF's plans, captured Admiral Otomo. After Otomo confessed to his crimes, the war in Asia ended, and the Walsh incident was put to rest.
 
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