United States defence boss addresses fleet confusion

"The Carl Vinson Strike Group cancelled a previously planned port visit to Australia and is continuing on track for all assigned missions in the Western Pacific", a statement said.

The United States ratcheted up its rhetoric ahead of North Korea's military parade and failed missile launch over the weekend.

The Trump administration cited the deployment of the naval strike force, which includes the carrier and four warships, as a clear warning to North Korea, which was said to be planning a nuclear test last weekend in conjunction with a national holiday.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its three accompanying warships would soon embark on its trip toward the East Sea of South Korea, having completed its joint exercise with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, according to the US and Korean officials.

The USS Carl Vinson strike group includes the flagship aircraft carrier, its air wing, the destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy, and the cruiser USS Lake Champlain.

"I think we were asked very clearly about the use of a carrier group in terms of deterrence and foreign presence and what that meant".

"We were doing exactly what we said, and that is, we were shifting her, instead of continuing in one direction as she pulled out of Singapore, she's going to continue part of her cruise down in that region, but she was on her way to Korea", he said Wednesday.

The USS Carl Vinson's crew is getting an extra month at sea as the strike group sails toward the Korean peninsula following much confusion over its initial orders.

The expected arrival of the ships flashed across front pages in East Asia, where many were concerned of a preemptive USA military strike on North Korea, the New York Times reported.

Following the announcement, Trump and some of his top aides highlighted the deployment as part of the administration's response to Pyongyang's recent missile tests.

It was supposed to be steaming toward North Korea more than a week ago, an "armada" signalling American resolve. Pence arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday from South Korea.

Babbage said it was also possible the United States administration had made a decision to give China a little time to put its own pressure on North Korea before sending the carrier strike group north: Trump met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on April 6 and 7 and spoke by phone on April 11, and may have wanted to give the Chinese some breathing space to before "rattling the bars", Babbage said. "Very powerful. We have submarines".

The redirection had sparked fears about a preemptive U.S. strike should North Korea conduct a nuclear weapons test.

A senior administration official blamed the staggering error on a "miscommunication".

US President Donald Trump said last week he had ordered the strike group to head for Korean waters. "The Carl Vinson Strike Group is heading north to the Western Pacific as a prudent measure".