The men and materiel were dispatched by US Pacific Command, with many of the aircraft heading for Thailand and Sri Lanka, two of the worst hit countries.

Logistical problems hampered a massive humanitarian relief operation Tuesday along Asia's devastated shores as the death toll from a huge earthquake and deadly tidal waves surged past 55,000.

"We have diverted the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier and its five ships. They left Hong Kong yesterday and they are en route to the Golf of Thailand," said Major Guillermo Canedo, a Pacific Command spokesman in Hawaii.

"We are dispatching assessment teams to several of the nations that were affected. They will be working with the local government, the US embassies and the NGOs to determine how the US military can best assist," Canedo said.

He said the command had dispatched six Hercules C-130 cargo aircraft loaded with food and water. The planes were loaded in Okinawa, Japan, and are headed to Utaphao in Thailand.

Nine P3 aircraft have also been assigned to fly to Utaphao to help in the relief effort.

Five KC-135 stratotanker aircraft, also filled with aid cargoes, are en route to Thailand and Sri Lanka, he said.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier that 12 C-130 transport planes with relief supplies were heading for the stricken Asian nations.

Aside from the USS Abraham Lincoln and its five ships, the USS Bonhomme Richard with six ships are steaming to the Bay of Bengal. Canedo said it would take about six to seven days for that navy group to arrive.

The USS Bonhomme Richard is carrying a "significant number of helicopters that can be used for search and rescue," he said.

"The sailors and marines aboard these ships, roughly 15,000," he said.

The quake Sunday, the biggest in 40 years, rocked the seabed off Indonesia's Sumatra island, sending huge waves across the Indian Ocean.

Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India were among the countries worst hit by the natural disaster.