The Limited U.S. Navy Presence During the Crisis

What U.S. Navy force was present in the region during the Suez Crisis?

Not very much during the crisis itself; the United States increased its regional basing afterward.

The American naval presence in the region was not especially large during the crisis and grew afterward. This limits the plausibility of an immediate American fleet confrontation as the main source of pressure on Britain and France. The naval balance of 1956 differed from the stronger permanent American posture that developed later in the Mediterranean. Washington's immediate leverage rested more on politics and finance than on a large local fleet.