The US Navy has ordered all its ships in the huge port of Hampton Roads, Virginia, out to sea to weather the approaching Hurricane Irene which is heading toward the US coast.

"Ships will make final preparations overnight in anticipation of getting underway early August 25 (Friday)," a Navy statement said.

Vice Admiral Daniel Holloway, commander of the US 2nd Fleet, said that the decision to send the ships from Hampton Roads is based on Hurricane Irene's current track that indicates the storm will produce at least 50 knots of wind and a large storm surge.

"Our ships can better weather storms of this magnitude when they are underway," said Holloway. "The forecasted destructive winds and tidal surge is too great to keep the ships in port. There is a much greater potential of not only the ships being damaged, but also the pier infrastructure. Having the ships underway also makes them ready and available to respond to any national tasking, including any needed disaster response efforts in the local area after the storm has passed."

Hurricane Irene pounded the Bahamas Thursday en route toward the populous US east coast, punishing the nation of small islands with heavy rain and powerful winds.

Irene is a category three hurricane on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, and is forecast to strengthen to a category four storm with winds of 135 miles (217 kilometers) per hour by the time it reaches the US coast over the weekend.