Ship Log HMCS Toronto

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...

Over the past two weeks Toronto has rounded the Cape of Good Hope, practiced asymmetric warfare, and conducted a port visit in Victoria, Seychelles. During that time, Mike and I went back to a day-worker schedule and focused on our OOD package. After rounding the Cape, the CO authorized the wearing of earrings for 48 hours. He also opened sickbay for those who wanted to get their ear pierced for the occasion. I figured that this would be the only 48 hours of my life where I’d be wearing an earring, so I went to sickbay. For a $20 donation to charity I got my ear pierced with a rather large acupuncture needle after about 10 seconds worth of freezing from an ice cube on my earlobe.

On our way up to the Seychelles between Africa and Madagascar the XO tasked me with captaining a “migrant boat” for an asymmetric scenario. Myself along with three others dressed up as pirates and were given a radio, a C7, and a flare gun. Because the task group didn’t know what to expect, there was a good chance it would pass us by – hence, the flare gun.

Our job was to wait for a warship to see us, pretend like we were passed out from lack of food and water, and basically watch for any holes in their security. We sat out in a zodiac for about an hour, waiting for the task group to come upon us. We watched them come up, steam past, and then keep going. When the ships were on the horizon I decided it was high time we fired the flare. There was no initial response, and it was at this point I realized we should’ve brought more than just one flare.

Eventually the Dutch ship, Evertsen, came back and began circling us. It took them a little while to launch a boat, but when they did they reacted exactly as they should’ve. They gave us food, water, and fuel. They asked us about our C7, which was laying haphazardly in the boat. We told them it was for self-defence against pirates. We were traveling from Madagascar to Somalia. When asked our nationality I took a minute to think and then responded with “Madagascarian”. They then inquired which city we came from, to which I replied “Cleveland”.

They searched the boat, and then sent us on our way. If they hadn’t searched the boat I was to give them an envelope addressed to their CO that said “BOOM” inside. Fortunately for them they were very cautious.

A few days before that, the fleet conducted a drag race that ran 3.33 Nm. The tiny Danish ship, Olfert Fischer, leapt out in front of the pack and led for the first mile or so, with Toronto in second, Normandy in third, and the Evertsen dead last. The tanker, Spessart, was positioned at the finish line. Toronto broke into the lead about a third of the way into the race and led the way until the Normandy’s 4 GTs kicked in. After that we were toast.

We arrived in the tropical paradise that is the Seychelles on the morning of the 14th. Toronto held a beautiful cocktail party that night, where Lt(N) Noseworthy entertained everyone from the stewards to the President of the island country with his rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. The following day I was on duty, and thankfully, things were relatively quiet. On the third day in port, we were forced to move out to anchor by the port authority to give room for a container ship. Once that was finished, most of the crew went ashore to conduct the Terry Fox run. There were 118 participants from throughout the fleet and, all told, we raised around $5972 CDN multi-coloured bucks. Immediately after the run, the group came back and was greeted with 6 large tubs of the infamous moosemilk. What better way to cap off a good 10k run than with a nice cold glass of moosemilk?

I spent the rest of my time in the Seychelles on a beach in front of a hotel. I was able to rent a sailboat and go out for a short spin while some of the other guys rented jet skis. A lot of the crew went scuba diving and apparently some of them actually got to swim with a whale shark, among the thousands of other types of fish in the area. A few guys chartered a boat to go deep-sea fishing and brought back a 7 foot sailfish!

We weighed anchor on the 18th and headed out for the coast of Somalia. Personally, I could’ve gone for a few more days on the beach, but I don’t get paid this much just to lie in the sun.

Toronto went out under water restrictions, because we couldn’t run the RODs (Reverse Osmosis Desalination plant that makes fresh water) whilst in harbour at anchor. It’s alright, showering is overrated anyways. For the next 3 weeks Mike and I will continue to chug away at our packages while we stand 1 in 2 as “on-call” SEOSS operators.

Again, I hope there isn’t too much to write home about from this extremely dangerous area of the world.

HMCS Toronto from HNLMS Evertsen

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...

Picture from Day One of exercise AMAZOLO includes SAS ISANDWLANA, NRP ALVARESCABRAL AND USS NORMANDY again with HMCS TORONTO.

Embarked onboard all the NATO vessels (except FGS SPESSART and HDMS OLFERT FISCHER) are representatives from both the South African and international media. I am currently embarked on the HNLMS EVERTSEN, along with numerous other media members.

The ships met with the South African taskforce (SAS AMATOLA, SAS ISANDLWANA and SAS ´MANTHATISI) at a position west of Cape Point around 13h00. For the remainder of the afternoon they were involved in a photo exercise where the ships had to do various fleetwork manoeuvres, which resulted in them sailing quite close to each other.

Upon completion of the photo exercise the ships detached in a classical starburst formation (imagine all 9 ships sailing very close to each in the same direction and then ´bursting´ from there into different directions).

After that there was an evolution where SAS MANTHATISI sailed past the ships that were all sailing behind each other. During this sail past the submarine dived and showed her various masts to assist the bridge crews in identifying the various configurations. The rest of the evening will be spent in active submarine exercises where the surface ships are to try and detect the submarine. We trust that the crew of SAS MANTHATISI will pose a challenge to the other ships whilst they try to detect her.

The crew and captain of HNLMS EVERTSEN are very accommodating and friendly. The ship itself is quite impressive at 144 m in length and a displacement of 6500 tons. She is an air defence and command frigate of the ZEVEN PROVINCIEN CLASS. She has a crew of only 165 and boasts some of the most advanced air defence sensors and weapons in the world. The ship itself is very spacious, mainly due to the fact that she is designed for, but not used as, a command vessel. This means that there are many compartments designed for the use of command staff members that can be used for something else. She was commissioned in 2005, which means that she is quite modern.

Some interesting features onboard include a dedicated bakery that bakes fresh bread and rolls daily, an internet café with 3 computers permanently connected to the internet, a games room with Playstation and Xbox consoles and a satellite phone where sailors can phone home for 10 minutes at a time.

The Royal Dutch Navy is a large Navy with more than 16 500 members and more than 30 vessels. The Officer Commanding HNLMS EVERTSEN, Cdr. Rob Kramer, indicated that the Royal Dutch Navy is busy transforming from a blue water navy with a large frigate fleet to a brown water navy focusing on expeditionary operations. To this extent her frigate fleet of nearly 20 vessels has been reduced to less that 8.

Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day with more activities between the ships, a helicopter transfer to SAS AMATOLA, boarding exercises and more. The media will fly off SAS AMATOLA Tuesday evening, while the Exercises will continue until Friday.

A further update will follow.

One of Two offical photos of Exercise

HMCS Toronto (Rear Right Flank)

Day 2 of Exercise AMAZOLO (04 Sep 07) was the day on which the South African Navy (SAN) measured itself against the best in the world – and won!

The SAN submarine, SAS ‘MANTHATISI managed to penetrate an anti-submarine screen of 7 ships (which included the VALOUR CLASS frigates SAS AMATOLA and SAS ISANDLWANA) undetected and “sank” the high value target that the screen was trying to protect. After this she turned on the protecting screen and managed to “sink” the balance of the remaining surface ships.

The South African media, and indeed the public at large, are celebrating the fact that the SA Navy has proven to be equal – and in some instances superior – to some of the best Navy vessels afloat. The new vessels acquired by the South African government are proving their worth and the SA Navy are using them to reaffirm its ability to effectively protect South Africa’s maritime interests off the Cape of Storms.

The significance of this for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and the SAN in particular is profound. The force-multiplying effect of a submarine was clearly demonstrated during this exercise. This proves that the area off Cape Point is an ideal submarine hunting area – and our submarines crews are good hunters indeed!

In addition to the successes achieved by the submarine, there were also other serials where both the frigates and the WARRIOR CLASS Strike Craft, SAS GALESHEWE performed very well indeed. Both frigates participated in a number of complex anti-surface evolutions. There were also a simulated attack by the SAS GALESHEWE, boarding exercises between various ships (SAS AMATOLA was “boarded” by marines from NRP ALVARES CABRAL) and helicopter exercises.

The Minister of Defence, Mr M. Lekota, flew to SAS AMATOLA and hosted a media conference for the various media members embedded on the NATO ships. During the media conference he reaffirmed that the SA Navy is a force to reckoned with. Speaking about the feats of SAS ‘MANTHATISI, Mr Lekota said: “To be able to frustrate detection by NATO nations is no mean achievement, it speaks of the excellence of the equipment we acquired for this purpose”.

The regard that the crews of the NATO vessels have for the SAN has also increased tremendously during the past few days. The successes achieved by the SAN clearly demonstrates the high level of training and the proficiency of our crews the properly handle the advanced ships and weapon systems that we can boast with in the SAN.

The rest of today (05 Sep 07) will comprise of more exercise serials such as gunnery exercises where the ships will shoot at a simulated air and surface target, as well as other fleet work evolutions.

Search for the Bonhomme Richard

Search for the Bonhomme Richard
(the second attempt-June 1979)

Undaunted or either crazy, I returned again to search for Jones' ship in June of 1979. This time, profiting from the previous year's gullibility, I worked with Eric Berryman who had a score of connections and put together a terrific team of people.

Colonel Walter Schob and Wayne Gronquist handled the day-to-day logistics. Peter Throckmorton was on hand as our in-house marine archaeology expert. Bill Shea from Brandeis University operated the magnetometer. All the above became good friends and trustees of NUMA.

Manny and Margaret Thompson of Bridlington gave enormously of their time and support. Elaine Friedman stood in as chef. Ed LaCoursiere from Klein & Associates ably watched over the side scan sonar while Willie Williams ran the mini-ranger navigation unit.

The big prize, though, was Jimmy Flett our Scot skipper. A man couldn't ask for a finer friend. Along with Jimmy came the Arvor II, a bonny boat built in Buckie, Scotland.

Karen Getsla-Auman was our resident psychic. The journalists who accompanied the expedition were Timothy Foote, Jan Golab and Jean Jordan, all warm, fascinating people.

The research on the Richard came from Mr. Norman Rubin and Mr. Peter Reavely, leading experts on the battle and the ship. Rubin projected the rate of sinking and estimated the condition of the ship after two hundred years on the sea bottom. Reavely supplied valuable historic data gathered in England and spent a few days with us during the expedition.

Armed with proper research and a solid crew, we conducted a far more efficient operation than the previous year. This was also the first year we carried the NUMA Eureka flag. We also flew the Explorers Club flag.

The big problem we faced on the hunt was that the Richard did not sink immediately after the battle that ended at approximately 11:00 P.M., Thursday evening, on the 23rd of September, 1779. She went down 36 hours later around 11:00 A.M., on Saturday, September 25th.

Jones, with all his writings on the battle never suggested a direction nor a vague location of the sinking. Descriptions by him and two crew members merely described how she slipped under the waves with no hint of an approximate distance from shore.

It was supposed Jones' small fleet along with his prizes, the British Countess of Scarborough and the battered Serapis, whose mainmast and mizzen were shot away, drifted for a day and half while the crews made repairs and the Americans desperately tried to save the Richard. This, of course, was a logical assumption.

Sometime in the nineteen fifties a fisherman pulled up the remains of a French musket thought to have been used by a French marine on board the Richard. This occurred six miles from shore. He also stated a wreck was in the general area. Reavely was convinced this had to be our lost ship.

Our best data, which gave us an excellent insight on the drift of the Richard was a matching drift of the Arvor II. Knowing the weather and exact changes in the tide during September of 1779, courtesy of Admiralty records, the Arvor II began drifting from the estimated battle area on comparable tides for thirty-six hours. Incredibly, weather and wind condition very nearly matched those Jones encountered. The experiment showed that the ships should have wound up at least thirteen miles northeast of Flamborough Head at the end of thirty-six hours.

We then laid our search grid accordingly, which is depicted along with the drift pattern in the accompanying diagram.

Almost 116 square miles were covered. Nearly sixteen ships were discovered, but most all were post nineteen hundred wrecks. Karen, our psychic, put us on a target which did not prove to be the Richard, but did turn out to be a sunken Russian spy trawler that had, unknown to our intelligence services, gone down in a storm. Our anchor brought up part of her rigging which was stamped with Cyrillic markings. We turned over the position to the Royal Navy, who clamped a classified lid on it. We, of course, never heard another word.

When the search was nearly over, Peter Reavely found evidence in the Hull city archives that turned my thinking to a new search area.

Report from Bridlington, September 24, 1779

'At 9 A.M. the French (Jones) ships were seen from Flamborough Head at the ESE with the Serapis and another ship supposed the Countess of Scarborough. The Serapis has lost her mainmast, bowspirit end and mizzen topmast and otherwise shattered. At 10:00 A.M. the fleet was laying ESE from the Head distance 2 leagues.'

The 10:00 A.M. sighting is the only firm position given after the battle. The tidal flow bears it out. A British league was about three miles.

York Chronicle, September 24th, 1779

'All Friday they were seen off Scarborough at a great distance repairing their damages, which were thought to be very considerable, and at SE by S with our two ships in tow.'

The reference to our "ships in tow" is important.

Bridlington Saturday Morning, September 25th, 1779

'...the ships were seen hovering off Flamborough Head all yesterday. Towards evening seemed to bear away to sea. They were thought to steer about ESE but as their distance was much increased could not be exactly ascertained. It is generally thought the American ships are withdrawing to the Texel...9'oclock, an express just got in from Flamborough. The fleet collectively has disappeared. As the wind has been but to the SSE the ships tis probable, they steered about ENE.'

Jones did indeed head for the Texel despite the SSE winds. This report says the fleet bore away to sea and their distance was much increased just before sunset.

Letter Published in London by an Observer

'He (Jones) was seen most of Friday with his fleet and the two ships taken, but in the evening stood off to sea, but as the Serapis and his own vessel were so much crippled, the other ships would be obliged to take them in tow.'

Again, 'stood off to sea Friday evening, and ships under tow.'

There is much more information, some it conflicting, that can be gained from my original files. At this writing Peter Reavely and I do not agree. He believes the wreck lies only six miles from Filey Bay. I am convinced she's farther out.

My theory is that Jones did not drift around until the Richard sank. I believe that around 10:00 on Friday morning after the battle, he took the ships in tow and tried to get the hell out of there before he was attacked by a larger and undamaged British fleet. This seems the logical thing to do.

If he was six miles ESE of the Head by 10 o'clock, he could easily have sailed another six or more miles by 7 o'clock in the evening, making a total of twelve miles from the Head.

(Note: We must assume land sightings were guessed in statute miles while sailing distances were measured in knots.)

Now, if Jones sailed at only one knot for the next fifteen hours, he could have been as at least twenty-five miles from shore at the time of the sinking. We know from the log of the Serapis in an entry immediately after the Richard's sinking that the fleet was on an ESE heading, speed about one and a half knots.

Cussler's Conclusion

The debris and ballast mound of the Bonhomme Richard lie somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-five miles out to sea from Flamborough Head. I've marked the search area in a diagram. Unfortunately, if I'm right, we're looking at a search grid of nearly 500 square miles since I can't say with any degree of accuracy whether Jones' ships were north or south of the head when the Richard sank. He should have been to the south of the head, but the winds might have kept him to the north. He was forced to beat and tack against unfriendly winds before arriving at the Texel in Holland. At least Norman Rubin agrees. He has always felt the Richard rests far off shore.

This reasoning could also be one of the reasons she hasn't been dragged up by a fisherman's net. The main fishing beds are closer in shore. I do have a piece of oak beam a fishing boat caught up in with her nets at thirty-two miles out, slightly north of the Head. But I've been unsuccessful at having the wood rings dated by experts with any accuracy.

Unless there is an expedition that can run twenty-four hours a day off and on for at least six weeks with decent weather, the only hope of the famous old ship being discovered is by a fisherman. And then, there is the danger of a Danish fish meal trawler dragging its monstrous scoop over the ballast mound, spreading and mashing it into the bottom sand.

I have advertised a reward of $20,000 to any fisherman who can lay NUMA on the wreck, but with little success. Most fishermen, if they dredge up any debris from wrecks, are not interested and simply look upon any find as a nuisance

We gave it a good shot in '79. Everyone worked hard, and it showed at the end. I made a short, two day stab at finding the Richard again during our North Sea Expedition of '84, using plots by two respected psychics. But we came up dry.

I would die a happy man if the Bonhomme Richard and the ship described in the next section were found by NUMA while I still breathe. But, the odds are long against me. My only small satisfaction is that we cleared the fog a bit for the next team to launch another search attempt.

Bonhomme Richard was not found, then in July 1986 another attempt began, with twenty sea cadets helping to locate the wreck. As the ship had drifted for 36 hours before sinking, locating its wreck would be difficult even with electronic search equipment.

One problem was that another wreck was thought to lie on top of Bonhomme Richard, this being a 4000 ton merchantman which had sunk in 1918. Again, it was not found.
This year an Anglo-American team, using 35 years of research material plus the latest computer technology have conducted yet another search some 15 nautical miles off Flamborough Head.

Though they expressed confidence in locating the Bonhomme Richard. To date nothing has been found and they will need hundreds of thousands of pounds if they are to return next year to continue the search. If they do eventually succeed then another problem will arise. The ship was loaned to the Americans by the French, but it was never paid for after it was lost. So who owns it now?

Quest for the Bonhomme Richard

The US Navy is to launch a major expedition off the coast of East Yorkshire next year to locate the wreck of one of its very first warships.


The Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, sank somewhere off Flamborough head after winning a sea battle against the British warship, the Seraphis, in 1779.

For decades historians have argued over the exact location of the wreck. But now, the US Navy has joined forces with scientists and other experts, to pinpoint the precise position of the wreck on the seabed.
"We know it's somewhere off the Flamborough Head area but the exact spot is yet to be determined."

Dr. Bob Nieland, US Navy archaeologist

Dr. Bob Nieland is the US Navy's leading archaeologist, he explained why they are so keen to find the old warship. "John Paul Jones, the captain of Bonhomme Richard, used to be referred to as the father of the US Navy.

"He was certainly one of the most prominent figures in the US Navy's history and his body lies in the crypt at the Naval Academy. So this is probably the most important wreck to the US Navy."

Navy officials and scientists will arrive in Bridlington in June 2006 and will spend six weeks scanning the seabed for signs of the Bonhomme Richard.

"We know it's somewhere off the Flamborough Head area but the exact spot is yet to be determined." Said Dr. Bob Nieland.

"The technology for surveying shipwrecks and finding them is advancing very rapidly. We hear of new shipwrecks being found almost weekly.
Breaking waves
The US Navy are confident in pinpointing the wreck

"Basically, we will use state of the art technology, marine magnetometer, new types of sonar beams and survey the most promising area with the highest probability.

"The first phase would be to survey an area and analyse the information and compare it to any wrecks that we find. An 18th century shipwreck, magnetically and with the sonar imagery, should look a lot different from a WW2 sunken vessel." added the doctor.

If the wreck is found, items could be recovered from it and taken to the US Naval academy in Maryland.

Retired US Navy captain Jack Ringelberg(photo right), who will lead the expedition, said he is confident that they will find the wreck ending years of speculation over where it actually lies.

"We've probably put the best team together in this area and as far as their ability is concerned, I'm very confident and optimistic that they will find something."

The Ocean Technology Foundation

International sea exercise targets security

To make the seas safer, 11 countries participated in a technology-driven exercise coordinated from Key West to test joint response to terrorism, drug smuggling and piracy.

KEY WEST -- C. Clark Miami Herald
In 2002, a French oil tanker was blown up by terrorists in the waters off Yemen, killing a crew member and sending 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.

Sanaa, October 6: A boat packed with explosives rammed and badly holed a French supertanker off Yemen on Sunday, a week before the second anniversary of the terrorist attack on the US warship Cole, the French embassy said.

Twelve of the 25 crew had been "recovered" and hospitalised with injuries, but the others remained unaccounted for. Sixteen of the crew were Bulgarian.

"The oil tanker was rammed by a small boat stuffed with explosives," as it came by an off-shore terminal in the Arabian Sea, vice consul Marcel Goncalves said.

"It seems to be an attack in the same style as the US Cole," he said of the destroyer blown up by suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Aden harbour almost exactly two years ago on October, 12, 2000.

The only reason a similar incident hasn't happened in U.S. coastal waters is ''luck,'' U.S. Navy Reserve Capt. Andy Bjork says.

Bjork was in Key West recently to lead an 11-country maritime exercise whose mission is to make the world's seas and ports safer through international cooperation.

''We need to be proactive to prevent a 9/11 on our seas,'' Bjork said.

A big step toward that: Compiling a global picture of the location of all commercial vessels at any instant, which is already being done with the world's aircraft.

''Whatever could happen on an airline could happen in commercial shipping,'' Bjork said. ``A biological weapon tucked away on a container ship or the disruption of the shipping lanes or a strategic port could be devastating.''

But getting that big picture is much more difficult for ships. Radar can track aircraft for hundreds of miles, but radar can only follow ships for 20 to 30 miles because of waves and the Earth's curvature.

Bjork said a lot of progress was made during the 12-day annual exercise called TransOceanic XXII, which rotates among the participating countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and the United States.

Last week, officials from the participating countries ended a weeklong analysis of the exercise in Norfolk, Va., by voting Mexico as its 11th full-time member. Mexico was an observer this year.

FIRST STEP

''This is the first of many steps we are taking to put in place a maritime awareness program,'' Mexico Navy Capt. Jorge Ballado said in an e-mail. ``We are excited to join.''

During the Key West-coordinated exercise, more than 200 military personnel tested their joint response to scenarios of terrorist attacks, drug smuggling and piracy.

''It's not like we had SEAL teams in a couple of small boats run up a beach with M16s,'' Bjork said. The exercise's weapons: computers, communication systems and cooperation.

''This is the most exciting part,'' Bjork said as he pointed to a laptop with a screen that displayed a map of the east coast of the Americas and a slew of symbols representing real-time positions of commercial and military vessels.

''We've never had such a complete picture of the maritime domain before,'' Bjork said. ``It may seem simple, but it's a huge, huge effort.''

Bjork said it took the terrorist attacks on 9/11 for the United States to understand the need for tougher airport and airspace security.

It took another couple of years for countries to see the same need for tougher port and ocean security nationally and internationally.

''Building proactive solutions for future threats is always tough to communicate,'' Bjork said.

The exercise was coordinated at the Joint Interagency Task Force at Key West's Truman Annex. ''Everything we are doing is absolutely unclassified. Sharing information is critical,'' Bjork said. ``Before, data wasn't shared. Either people didn't think it was important or for proprietary reasons.''

Jose Sepulveda, a captain in the Chilean navy, said: ``The cooperation is on the increase. And the only barrier so far is time enough to get together and share experiences, establish points of contacts and maintain a permanent flow of information.''

The emphasis is on tracking the tens of thousands of commercial ships: container freighters, liquid gas tankers, fishing vessels and cruise ships. Bjork said it would be nearly impossible, with current technology, to track all recreational vessels.

U.S. Navy Reserve Cmdr. Joaquin Martinez, a Miami native and director of operations for the TransOceanic exercise, said much of the data on commercial ships' locations is garnered from public information.

''Lloyd's List has an incredible database, where everything insured is tracked,'' Martinez said. ``Evergreen Shipping Line has a very active system.''

COMMON SYSTEM

Bjork said no country's navy can keep track of the world's ships alone. But each country can provide its piece of the puzzle, now being put together using a common computer system.

''We have a number of limited resources that we can apply to the bad guys,'' Martinez said. ``But now we might be able to narrow down the picture and say we know 20 percent where the bad guys could be. We don't have to waste our resources on the 80 percent of vessels we know are fine.''

The communication among countries was improved this year with the use of TrIM, a computer-based instant-message system that translates in English, Portuguese or Spanish.

''It doesn't handle slang very well,'' Martinez said. ``But otherwise it's a very effective communication tool. In the past we had a very structured, formal messaging system that required a lot of manual managing of paper stuff. This allows more real-time communications, like what you would expect in a business environment, walking down the street with a Blackberry.''

Goodwill from RMN during OSTEX

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has expanded the scope of its Operational Sea Training Exercise East (Ostex) to also include providing humanitarian service to residents on isolated islands in Sabah.
During the five-day exercise which ended today, the RMN set up a one-day medical camp at Pulau Libaran which received overwhelming response from the residents.

RMN Chief for Region 2 Admiral Datuk Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said the health camp offered health checks and dental treatment for local residents.

“We had anticipated only 150 people, but the response was overwhelming as by the end of the day, about 500 people, including from neighbouring islands, came for the service,” he told reporters after closing the exercise here today.

The camp was manned by two doctors and 15 medical assistants from the Medical and Dental Corps of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM).
Ahmad Kamarulzaman said such activities, besides helping to build the people’s confidence in the ATM, also helped to ease the burden of the local residents in having to go for health checks.

In view of the overwhelming response, he said RMN would include the medical camp in its future exercise.

Ostex East was conducted in the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. A total of 300 RMN personnel were involved in the exercise which also involved the use of four vessels, two combat boats and a Super Lynx helicopter.

USS Radford Test Platform For Zumwalt Class

Later career and collision

Former crash crew Sailor returns after 46 years

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


Let’s journey back to 1961. Disney’s “101 Dalmatians” and Elvis Presley’s “Blue Hawaii” hit the movie theaters. On the radio, The Shirelles have a hit with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and Ricky Nelson is the teenage heartthrob. TV viewers turn the channel to watch “The Twilight Zone.”

At NAS Whidbey Island, Dennis Sandall is on the job with the Operations Crash and Rescue Crew as an apprentice Sailor.

He had arrived on station in December 1960 for a nine-month stint, where A3D Skywarriors and P2V Neptunes ruled the runways.

“The experience here was the best I had in my entire four years in the Navy,” said Sandall of Manteca, Calif. The last time he saw the air station was in August 1961, when he left to serve the remainder of his enlistment as an engineman aboard Navy ships.

Now at 65, coincidentally, the same age of NAS Whidbey Island is today, he recently returned to see how the base has changed.

He made the side trip here en route to Alaska, where he and his wife were vacationing. Before catching an Anacortes ferry to Canada, Sandall was determined to see the base again.

NAS Public Affairs arranged for a windshield tour and a few surprises, including a visit to NAS Whidbey’s Fire Station No. 71 on the flight line.

Sandall had brought pictures of his active duty days with the Crash Crew which was then housed in the basement of building 385.

Fire Inspector Alan Sprouse and firefighter driver operator Thomas Becker of Navy Region Northwest Fire & Emergency Services showed Sandall the recently completed multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art crash crew facility. Sandall also got a ride in the Oshkosh T1500 fire truck for a comparison of the old MBY crash and rescue truck that he drove here in 1961.

While watching an EA-6B and F/A-18 Hornet take off from Runway 14/32 in the front seat of the T1500, Sandall shared a few of the accidents he responded to. Among them was an A3D that had missed the arresting gear and veered off the runway into the dirt with no injuries to the aircrew.

But one in particular was tragic. “I remember an A3D that crashed off the runway after losing an engine on takeoff,” said Sandall. “It crashed into the woods. There was no time to find the keys for the gates, so we drove the crash truck up over the fence and over small trees. Two died, but two survived.” According to the base newspaper “Prop Wash,” that A3D accident occurred in March 1961.

In another mishap, Sandall said his crew had to foam the runway when a P2V landed wheels up at night.

“Hearing these planes again really turns me on,” Sandall says with a smile. He is now retired from 38 years as a civilian heavy duty truck mechanic.

As NAS Whidbey Island celebrates its 65th anniversary of operations, it’s the memories such as Sandall’s that keep veterans coming back to remember the people they worked with and the mission they supported. It’s no wonder that the air station is often called the jewel among military installations.

USS Ford Back Home After 5 Months

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


EVERETT — The U.S. Navy band played "When the Saints Go Marching In" and a throng of spectators squealed in delight while waving tiny American flags.

Aided by a tugboat, the USS Ford eased up to the Naval Station Everett pier.

Men in white uniforms stood at the warship's rails, occasionally waving when glimpsing a loved one awaiting the arrival of the ship Thursday after a nearly five-month deployment in Southeast Asia.

Fireman Nick Shoemaker was the luckiest of the 220 sailors aboard the Ford. The Mariner High School graduate won a ship lottery to get off the vessel first and kiss his longtime girlfriend, Danielle McClory.

McClory, 19, also a 2006 Mariner graduate, didn't care so much about the first kiss. She's just glad Shoemaker is home.

"I haven't seen him in a long time," she said.

Shoemaker's father, Randy Shoemaker, was able to join his son in Hawaii and travel across the Pacific on the Ford with his son. Family members frequently make the trip from Hawaii to the Northwest aboard naval ships at the end of deployments.

That was a bonus, said the sailor's mother, Pennie Shoemaker.

Randy Shoemaker comes from a family with a proud tradition of military service, Pennie Shoemaker said. Her husband wasn't able to sign up for the Navy because of a health issue, she said.

"Now his son gets a taste of something he never had," Pennie Shoemaker said.

The Ford, a guided-missile frigate, is one of three of the Oliver Hazard Perry class warships assigned to the naval station. By chance, it was picked to go on a cruise to Southeast Asia, commanding officer Cmdr. Michael Taylor said.

The ship had only six weeks' notice that it would deploy on what the Navy calls a Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training trip in Southeast Asia, Taylor said. Another Everett ship had been scheduled to go, but encountered problems with its rudder, and the Ford went in its stead.

Taylor was anxious to go, even though the ship had returned from a long cruise off South and Central America in July 2006.

"It's considered to be one of the best deployments on the books these days," Taylor said.

The ship worked with navy personnel from a dozen nations in Southeast Asia, drilling on ship, land and sea. It conducted a series of exercises, often with crew members exchanging positions on other nation's ships.

The exercises are designed to foster strong international relations with those nations, and to bolster the forces in the area, Taylor said.

Some of those navies have older ships, but Taylor said he learned that the sailors there are professional.

"They are good," he said. "We learned a lot."

The ship visited such places as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Jakarta and Saipan, traveling more than 21,000 miles.

Meanwhile, four new fathers also got off the ship early to greet babies born during the deployment.

One of those was Petty Officer 3rd Class Mark McKee, who got to hold 2-month-old son Quinn. His wife, K'Lee McKee, said she hates deployments but has a lot of help from family and friends in Tacoma.

The couple's other children, Homer, 1, and Kyra, 3, were dressed in sailor outfits for the homecoming.

Also on the pier, Kylie Farthing, 2, let out ear-piercing screams as she got a look at her dad still aboard the ship. Her mother, Karrie Farthing, just moved to Everett from Ohio and was looking forward to greeting her husband, Petty Officer 3rd Class Alan Farthing.

"She's her daddy's daughter," Karrie Farthing said of Kylie. She talks about her ship-bound husband a lot at home. Kylie and her older sister respond to her talk.

"That's all they talk about," she said.

The separations are tough, but "easier to handle when I have my kids. So it's OK," Karrie Farthing said.

Mesa Verde (LPD 19) undergoes Sea Trials for US Navy

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


PASCAGOULA, Miss.: The Northrop Grumman-built amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde (LPD 19) successfully maneuvered the Gulf of Mexico waters last week, demonstrating her unique capabilities to the U.S. Navy.

"The ship performed well and the trial results demonstrate the progress we are making with this ship class,'' said Philip Teel, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector. "Make no mistake, LPD 19 will provide our sailors and Marines with a reliable and capable platform to perform their mission of defending freedom.''

"The completion of acceptance trials is a major step towards bringing LPD 19 into the fleet, and we look forward to ship delivery later this month,'' said Rear Adm. Chuck Goddard, the Navy's program executive officer for ships. "Mesa Verde performed very well on trials, and its condition and performance is a testament to the craftsmanship of the shipbuilders. I expect this trend to continue as the company completes the rest of this incredibly capable class.''

Mesa Verde's mission is to embark, transport and land elements of a landing force in a variety of expeditionary and special operations missions. She will be commissioned in Panama City, Fla. on Dec. 15, 2007.


Northrop Grumman's third amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde (LPD 19) just completed successful acceptance trials for the U.S. Navy. The ship will be delivered later this month and will be commissioned in Panama City, Fla., on Dec. 15, 2007.

"I am well pleased with Mesa Verde's performance on acceptance trials,'' said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Shawn Lobree, LPD 19's prospective commanding officer. "This highly capable ship passed all major testing events and is ready to be delivered to the Navy. As I have often said, it takes teamwork to build such a sound ship, and this is a testament to years of hard work by the Northrop Grumman/Navy team.''

Mesa Verde is an LPD 17-class ship. The ship is 208.4 meters (684 feet) long, 31.9 meters (105 feet) wide, and will replace the functions of the LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113, and LST 1179 classes of amphibious ships. This new ship class affords the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group with the technology and flexibility to launch and recover amphibious landing craft such as the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), operate an array of rotary-wing aircraft, and carry and launch the U.S. Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

US to help Mozambique protect coastline

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


The commanding officer of the first American war ship to dock in Maputo for 30 years pledged on Wednesday that the United States navy stood ready to help Mozambique protect its coastline.

"We are in Mozambique to discuss with the local military authorities the possibility of establishing a partnership with a view to assisting the national navy to protect its territorial waters and coasts," Commander Dean Vesely told AFP.

Under the partnership, the US navy will coordinate with the Mozambican authorities to combat drug trafficking, illegal fishing and any hostile military activity.

"Two years ago, we signed similar agreements with certain countries on the Atlantic coast and we would like to do the same thing with countries on the east of southern Africa," he said.




The frigate, USS Forrest Sherman, docked on Monday in Mozambique with 315 officers and 277 seamen on board for a one-week visit.

It is expected to leave Mozambique for South Africa.

Ceremony For USS Wahoo WWII Sub

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


Lost at sea for more than 63 years, the USS Wahoo (SS-238) and her crew are coming home to Vallejo - at least in spirit.

On Oct. 11, St. Peter's Chapel will host a memorial service to honor the men lost at sea on the Wahoo, built at Mare Island and launched on Feb. 14, 1942.

In addition to honoring the Wahoo crew, the service also will honor all submariners who have served in the U.S. Navy and especially those who have been lost in submarines, said event coordinator Myrna Hayes of Vallejo.

The final resting place of the legendary World War II submarine remained a mystery until last year. That's when the U.S. Navy confirmed as the Wahoo a wreck located in the Soya (La Perouse) Strait between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Russian island of Sakhalin.

The Wahoo completed seven war patrols and is credited with sinking 27 ships. The submarine was lost at sea on Oct. 11, 1943 with her crew of 80 men.

A Japanese aerial bomb likely sank the Wahoo, said Charles R. Hinman, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park director of education & outreach. He added the submarine was seen leaving waters around Japan on the surface, making it vulnerable to attack.

The St. Peter's ceremony falls on the same day a much larger
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service, called "On Eternal Patrol," takes place at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park at Pearl Harbor on Hawaii.

The St. Peter's memorial service will feature a historical slide show, music, and an opportunity for those attending to share memories and recollections.

Events will begin with a 1 p.m. flag-raising event at Morton Field, followed by the St. Peter's Chapel ceremony from 2 to 4 p.m. After a reception, Hayes would like to conduct a wreath-laying ceremony at 5:30 p.m. in the Mare Island Strait.

Mare Island's legacy of building and servicing submarines is a source of pride for Vallejo residents, Hayes said.

"There's tremendous pride they took in producing ships for the war and tremendous pain and loss they felt when an entire vessel and her crew were lost at sea," she said.

At the time the Wahoo was launched, Mare Island workers were building and launching ships and submarines at record pace, said Jim Kern, director of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum. Some 50 submarines were built at Mare Island, including the nuclear-powered vessels, he said.

The discovery of the sunken Wahoo has launched a revival of interest in them and a submarine veterans group has begun meeting at the museum, he added.

Traces of the Wahoo around Vallejo are evident. Morton Field on the former Naval base is named after the submarine's commanding officer Dudley "Mush" Morton, Kern said. This summer also marks Morton's 100th birthday.

The memorial service is free. Seating in the Chapel is limited, so confirmation of attendance is suggested. For more details call Hayes at 557-9816 or 649-9464.

More information about Mare Island's ties to the Wahoo and the memorial service will be posted at www.mareisland.org after Sept. 24th.

For more details on the Pearl Harbor Oct. 11 service go to www.oneternalpatrol.com.

The USS Wahoo Mare Island Memorial is hosted by Arc Ecology, a San Francisco based non-profit organization.

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX), has selected Distributed Energy Systems' (Nasdaq: DESC) hydrogen generation business to develop and supply electrolysis cell stacks that produce breathable oxygen within nuclear submarines. As a first step in this relationship, the parties have entered into a contract for cooperative development of a cell stack suitable for the next generation U.S. and British Navy submarines. The contract, which extends through fall of 2008, involves development work valued in excess of $1 million.

Distributed Energy Systems' cell stacks will enable the water electrolysis-based oxygen generation systems to split water into its hydrogen and oxygen elements. Once these new cell stacks are successfully developed, Hamilton Sundstrand anticipates Distributed Energy Systems will supply production versions to Hamilton Sundstrand for use in new nuclear submarine programs for which Hamilton Sundstrand oxygen generating systems may be selected.

Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea, a business unit of Hamilton Sundstrand, designs and manufactures oxygen generating systems, atmosphere monitoring instruments, and propulsion systems for the U.S. Navy and international navies. This undersea expertise complements its extensive space heritage in space suits, life support, power management and distribution, actuation, and thermal management systems provided to NASA and their international partners for human and launch systems since the Apollo era.

"We selected Distributed Energy Systems as our supplier for this key military equipment as a result of their advanced technical capability in electrolysis, their manufacturing expertise and the proven reliability of their equipment," said Larry McNamara, director of Strategy and Development for Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea. "We believe this relationship will provide a long term benefit for Hamilton Sundstrand's advanced life support systems and technologies for our Navy customers."

Distributed Energy Systems has an 11-year track record of developing, producing and marketing electrolysis systems for the on-site production of hydrogen in commercial, industrial and research applications. Capabilities include high and low pressure oxygen and hydrogen, with the elements produced by the cell stacks usable either in a process, in the gaseous form, or as a source of energy.

"Continuing to work with Hamilton Sundstrand on this important defense industry project is a vote of confidence in our technology and the people who have developed and continue to refine it," said Robert Friedland, senior vice president of Distributed Energy Systems and head of its hydrogen business. "Moving forward with this program, we expect to achieve long-term benefits for our nation's defense, as well as for our company and Hamilton Sundstrand."

With 2006 revenues of $5 billion, Hamilton Sundstrand employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Windsor Locks, Conn., Among the world's largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products, the company designs, manufactures and services aerospace systems and provides integrated system solutions for commercial, regional, corporate and military aircraft. It also is a major supplier for international space programs. United Technologies provides a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.

Distributed Energy Systems Corp. designs, develops, and manufactures proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrochemical products that meet a variety of market needs for hydrogen generation and advanced energy storage applications. Distributed Energy Systems' HOGEN(R) hydrogen generators produce hydrogen from electricity and water in a clean and efficient process using its proprietary PEM technology. Markets served by this technology include industrial hydrogen, vehicle fueling, backup power, military and aerospace, and renewable energy storage. For more information, visit http://www.distributed-energy.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained herein concerning anticipated product developments and future business opportunities may be deemed to be forward-looking information. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, failure to perform contracts for customers profitably, or complete development of products, failure of products to achieve commercial acceptance, inability to expand production facilities, manufacture products at commercially acceptable costs or establish distribution relationships, the impact of competitive products, and other factors detailed in the reports on Form 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K that United Technologies Corporation or Distributed Energy Systems may file with or submit from time to time to the SEC.

Contact: Dan Coulom

860-654-3469


SOURCE Hamilton Sundstrand

Navy raising CANES in system migration

The Navy is moving to a new information technology environment called the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services, or CANES.

CANES is inspired by the service-oriented architectures being implemented by the military and private industry. But the Navy intends to accept a greater level of risk while migrating to its new environment, Rear Adm. Kenneth Deutsch, director of warfare integration at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, told government and industry representatives in Washington last month.

SOAs deploy loosely coupled, reusable application components to create new IT capabilities. This replaces traditional integration architectures, which require point-to-point interfaces between networks and systems.

CANES seeks to solve the same problem, Deutsch said. “If I showed you a complete interface diagram, it would be a total black screen.”

The migration to CANES will differ from the typical SOA deployment in that the Navy will be relying less on its older capabilities while making the transition. Instead, it will seek to rapidly insert new capabilities while it is implementing its new architecture.

“What we are proposing increases risk in the near term,” Deutsch said. “We are willing to accept that risk if it means providing more capability to the fleet. We are not necessarily risk-averse in this case.”

He added that the current way the Navy procures and installs systems is unaffordable. “Over a 14-year period, we would have to pay out $2.6 billion just to maintain current capabilities,” he said. “This is a function of how we procure, acquire and test systems. That is a shipwreck.”

“CANES is very much moving forward,” said Stacy Cummings, director of strategic planning at the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence. “We are proceeding using existing programs of record and funding sources.”

She added that the main problems are not technical issues but “on the acquisition and business side.”

Deutsch agreed that governance is the main challenge. “How do I do it quickly, and how do I afford to do it if I have a flat-line budget?”

The new program seeks to consolidate onboard networks to no more than two or three, Deutsch said. “We want the minimum required to host applications and to conduct our business, which is war.”

Rapid capabilities insertion lies outside the normal acquisition process, Deutsch said, “but it is authorized by DOD Acquisition Directive 5000. Without it we could not keep up with threats.”

Deutsch expects full support for CANES from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and in Congress. “They always like new business practices that drive out waste on the Hill,” he said.

Deutsch said he expected to see rapid progress beginning in 2010 and a full-blown common-computing environment in place by 2011.

Naval group urges refit for Canadian subs to patrol Arctic

Naval group urges refit for Victoria-class subs to patrol Arctic 16 hours ago

OTTAWA (CP) — The Navy League of Canada says the federal government should refit the country's often maligned Victoria-class submarines for limited under-ice operations if it is serious about defending the Arctic.

The defence group's national deputy director, Jerod Riley, says the biggest military threat faced in the North comes from foreign submarines.

The ability to track them and neutralize them should be a key plank in any defence strategy, he said.

The navy conceded last week that the country's new Arctic patrol ships, announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper with much political fanfare in July, won't be designed with sonar - or have the ability to hunt submarines.

Capt. Ron Lloyd, in an interview with The Canadian Press, said the navy would have to rely on other means to keep track of underwater intruders.

Riley said the Victoria-class submarines, which have had a controversial, glitch-filled history, could be refitted with an air-independent propulsion system.

As it stands, only nuclear-powered submarines are capable of remaining submerged under Arctic ice for long periods of time. But conventional subs, like the diesel-powered Canadian boats, can be designed from the outset - or refurbished - in order to allow for limited Arctic operations.

When the former Liberal government bought the four second-hand boats from the British in 1998 the stated intention was to outfit them with an independent propulsion system powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The technology, however, has not panned out and the idea was quietly dropped.

The navy has struggled to put the submarines, mothballed by the Royal Navy in the early 1990s, into active service. The biggest blow to the program happened in October 2004 when the last of the boats, HMCS Chicoutimi, caught fire on its maiden voyage to Canada, killing one crewman. Other submarines have had hull rust and leaking problems.

All of the bad press is one of the reasons the navy is reluctant to upgrade the propulsion system, Riley said.

"There's also simply not enough money in the system to make it happen," he said. "The mission in Afghanistan is draining the Defence Department's budget."

German shipyards are the leaders in refitting submarines with an air-independent propulsion systems, delivering 122 boats to 16 different countries over the last 30 years.

Over the last few years Sweden refurbished three of its older boats on its own with a hybrid liquid oxygen-diesel engine that allows the submarines to operate underwater for 14 days at a stretch without surfacing to recharge batteries.

The head of the Senate Security and Defence committee dismissed the notion of upgrading the Victoria-class.

The navy's program to bring HMCS Victoria, HMCS Windsor and HMCS Corner Brook up to Canadian standards, as well as repair the fire damage on Chicoutimi, is behind schedule and would be set back further, said Liberal Senator Colin Kenny.

He also questioned whether Canada wants to be hunting submarines in the Arctic, given that many of the so-called intruders would be allies, such as the United States and possibly Britain.

Riley said the real concern would be submarines belonging to rogue nations, not allies.

Kenny said he's not convinced the Conservative government's heavy military emphasis in the Arctic is necessary, given that the waters surrounding the archipelago will ice-free for perhaps three months a year.

Harper announced in July the purchase of six to eight armed, medium icebreakers, a deepwater port and an Arctic training centre for the army.

"It's one of the screwiest ideas to come out of this government," said Kenny.

Establishing a Canadian presence in the North has more to do with economic development and getting companies up there to explore for resources than with building bases and ships, he said.

He said the new Arctic ships will be more important for patrolling the Atlantic and Pacific coasts than they will be in the Arctic

Boston Ship Repair setting up a Phila. operation

Boston Ship Repair Inc., which has worked on some of the world's largest cruise ships and other vessels during the last decade, is setting up a second operation in Philadelphia.

The new yard, to be called PennShip Service L.L.C., is expected to employ a core group of 200 workers, more at the peak of big projects, and to strengthen the region's maritime supplier and service companies. Final lease documents were being reviewed and signed yesterday.

PennShip is leasing the site next to the Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, which has delivered six new cargo ships since it began operations in 2000. Aker Philadelphia is now building three ships a year and has a backlog of new orders.

The sites are part of the old Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1996.

Boston Ship Repair has been owned for two years by Dimeling, Schreiber & Park L.P., a private-investment partnership based in Center City. Joseph E. Driscoll, a partner in the firm, declined to discuss plans. "There's very little to talk about until we get some business going. It's purely a start-up operation," he said.

But he said his partners were excited about the opportunity. He called the success of the adjacent shipyard "a wonderful story. Many thought we would never see a ship built here again. The hope is that we benefit each other."

For 10 years, ending last year, Metro Machine Corp., of Norfolk, Va., repaired Navy ships at the site PennShip will develop.

City and state officials had been actively seeking to replace Metro with a shipbuilding or ship-repair firm that would make the Aker shipyard a stronger magnet to attract maritime service and supply firms to the region.

PennShip has leased Drydock 3 and Pier 6 along with adjacent land, said John Grady, senior vice president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., which manages the site for the city.

He declined to disclose terms of the lease, saying that information would help competitors in bidding situations.

Even before the lease was signed, maritime industry executives said PennShip was actively seeking ship-repair and overhaul work from commercial and government ship owners.

The drydock it is leasing is 984 feet long and 114 feet wide. It was built by the Navy before World War II and is one of the largest in the northeastern United States. Large ships are floated, massive gates are closed and then water is pumped out, allowing workers access to a dry hull, propulsion gear and rudder for repair, painting and overhaul.

The PIDC is looking for another maritime firm to develop the smaller Drydock 2 area, once part of the Metro Machine operation.

The PennShip deal is part of "our continued commitment to develop the industrial and maritime industrial assets that we acquired from the Navy," Grady said.

The Navy base and shipyard, on the Delaware River at the foot of South Broad Street, employed 11,000 shortly before the Pentagon announced in 1991 that it would close. The PIDC has in the last decade attracted about 75 companies to the site, a mix of industrial, office, distribution and research-and-development enterprises.

About 7,000 people now work at the old base, including 2,500 in Navy groups that remained active here - a large engineering complex, propeller shop, foundry and inactive-fleet maintenance unit.

News From Philadelphia Inquirer

Navy General Library Program Offers Digital Library Access Anytime, Anywhere

CLEVELAND, OH -- (Market Wire - Sep 19, 2007) -- Navy Knowledge Online has enhanced its digital library with hundreds of educational and entertaining eBooks for Sailors, Marines, and their families to download. After announcing the addition of download video in August, the Navy's digital library has been so popular that they're expanding to include high quality content in all digital formats: audio books, music, video, and now eBooks. The Navy's digital library collection can be viewed at http://navy.lib.overdrive.com, but registered users must checkout and download through https://wwwa.nko.navy.mil.

Thousands of Navy personnel have checked out titles from the digital library, which is accessible worldwide. It allows users to download a wide variety of titles for listening and viewing on a PC or laptop, and then transfer to portable devices, such as Pocket PCs, Smartphones, and dozens of compatible MP3 players. The titles automatically expire at the end of the 10-day loan period and are returned to the Navy's digital library.

The new collection of eBooks offers nearly 400 titles, with heavy emphasis on foreign language and graphic novels. Foreign language learning audio books are consistently one of the highest circulating subjects in the Navy's collection, and the addition of eBooks in more than 10 languages was highly anticipated. Popular graphic novels, such as "The Time Machine" from Stone Arch books, and best-selling "Dummies" books for investing, grant writing, and small business, are also available to download.

"Our foreign language eBooks are the perfect enhancement to our foreign language learning audio collection which has been extremely popular with our users," commented Nellie Moffitt, Navy General Library Program Manager. "We were also looking for something entertaining, and what better than digital comic books, graphic novels, and juvenile fiction for all to enjoy?"

The Navy launched their digital library in 2005. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel and their families have global access to download audio books, eBooks, music, and video from one system, provided by OverDrive, the leading provider of digital media services for libraries.

Questions regarding this service should be directed to Sfly_nglp@navy.mil

Canterbury in weekend exercises

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


The Navy has been carrying out exercises on the country's newest military ship in Wellington this weekend.

HMNZS Canterbury is due to leave the capital this morning after almost a week berthed in Wellington Harbour.

Chief Officer Tony Miller says the crew have been using their time in Wellington to carry out exercises with the Army, including loading vehicles onto the ship ready for transportation.

Tony Miller says the ship is now heading to Napier to carry out the next phase of exercises.



The Multi-Role Vessel CANTERBURY is the first of seven new ships built for the Royal New Zealand Navy under Project Protector. She is affiliated to the Canterbury Region. She was built at the Merwede Shipyard in the Netherlands, under contract to Tenix. CANTERBURY’s design is based on a commercial RO-RO ship, Ben-My-Chree in operation in the Irish Sea.

CANTERBURY will have diesel-electric propulsion and a maximum speed of just over 19 knots. She will provide a sealift capability for the transport and deployment of equipment, vehicles and personnel, and capable of transferring cargo and personnel ashore in benign conditions (up to sea state 3) when port facilities are not available. CANTERBURY has two 59 tonne Landing Craft Medium (LCM) capable of carrying 50 tonnes at 9 knots with a range of 250 nm.

Particulars of CANTERBURY
Displacement: 9000 tonnes
Length overall: 131 metres
Beam: 23.4 metres
Speed: 19 knots

Complement: Core ship's company: 53
Flight personnel: 10
Government agencies: 4
Army ship's staff: 7
Trainees: 35
Troops: 250
Total: 360

Propulsion: Diesel engines
Flight deck: Space for two helicopters

Armament: 25mm and two .50 calibre machine guns

Helicopter capability

The NH90 Helicopter has been selected as the NZDF’s preferred medium Utility Helicopter to replace RNZAF’S Iroquois. Up to four NH90’s can be carried onboard the MRV for deployment ashore in support of Army operations and disaster relief activities. The MRV is also capable of operating the SH-2G Seasprite and the helicopter deck is able to handle a Chinook-size helicopter.

Navy will have to learn to fight terrorists and pirates: admiral

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...

OTTAWA (CP) - The Canadian navy needs to learn how to fight terrorists and pirates, says the top commander.

As the army has been forced to fight a brutal counter-insurgency war in Afghanistan, Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson says the navy must prepare itself for conflicts where "threats are whatever your imagination can conceive."

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Robertson said an attack on an Israeli warship last year was the wake-up call.

Most of the 80 crew members of the Israeli corvette Ahi-Hanit were having dinner below deck on a sweltering, sleepy Friday evening 14 months ago when - seemingly out of nowhere - a Chinese-designed sea-hugging missile slammed into the warship's helicopter deck.

The explosion and fire killed four sailors, but the shock waves of the surprise attack by Hezbollah could be felt well beyond the waters of Lebanon.

It was the nightmare scenario that had kept commanders in established navies all over the world awake at nights.

"Here we have a group that's not a nation, armed with mach-(speed), sea-skimming missiles," said Robertson.

"A year ago, no one had foreseen the idea that weapons of that kind could have proliferated to a non-state actor."

Sophisticated armaments in the hands of violent militias and even terrorist organizations represent the biggest emerging threat not only to 21st century navies, but to merchant shipping as well, say experts in maritime warfare.

Hezbollah fired three radar-guided shore-to-sea C-802 missiles that day. One exploded just after takeoff, the second struck the Ahi-Hanit and the third exploded and sank a Cambodian-flagged cargo ship. The high-tech weapons, with a range of 120 kilometres, were apparently supplied by Iran.

In case anyone believed the July 14, 2006, missile strike was a fluke, or even a lucky shot in the dark, U.S. intelligence agencies recently reported that the Shiite militia in Lebanon was boasting openly that it had tripled its store of Iranian-built C-802 missiles.

The threat of seaborne terrorism came brutally into focus in October 2000 with the al-Qaida attack on the USS Cole as it sat in berth in the port of Aden, Yemen.

The suicide bombing killed 17 American sailors, but it was carried out with a relatively unsophisticated speed boat packed with explosives.

Rob Huebert, a defence analyst, says Hezbollah's landmark attack heralded a new and more dangerous age of maritime warfare.

"Most of the anti-missile capability our frigates and destroyers have is predicated on shots being taken at them by enemies who are over the horizon. But what happens when you get small vessels within sight - or even disguised?" he said.

"I'm thinking of a scenario where you've got all of these little Iranian speedboats and all of a sudden everyone on cue stands up and lets loose with small, cheap missiles. Can you overwhelm the system with numbers?"

Huebert said defence planners will have to pay more attention to so-called close-in weapons systems.

"It's going to be challenging to meet that kind of threat," said Huebert, a University of Calgary conflict studies professor.

Robertson said that from a planning point of view the navy can do that by setting to sea with the "right mixture of surface ships and submarines."

Beyond the hardware, said Dan Middlemiss of Nova Scotia's Dalhousie University, improvements in naval intelligence will be needed.

"You work with your allies to know where this stuff is and where it's going."

There is already a strong network to track weapons of mass destruction, but Middlemiss said NATO and other Western allies may need to extend those intelligence-gathering efforts to "lesser weapons."

In the Ahi-Hanit incident, Israeli commanders blamed the crew for not being vigilant. But there were also lingering questions about why the country's extensive and high-tech intelligence network didn't pick up the existence of the missiles beforehand.

Just as pressing a concern is a perceived increase in high-seas piracy, especially in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

A series of well-timed precise attacks on container ships in crowded shipping lanes could lead to economic chaos in countries, such as Canada, that depend on maritime trade.

A month ago pirates seized a vessel chartered by the United Nations World Food Program in waters off eastern Africa.

"Piracy is enabled by the current state of the government in Somalia," said Robertson. "You've got pirates operating in a relatively unsophisticated manner in those calm waters of the tropics (and) they've been able to have quite an effect."

He said NATO recognized the menace a few years ago and recently dispatched a multinational task force to cruise the waters off the Horn of Africa, the first time the ships of the North Atlantic alliance have ventured there as a group.

Halifax-based HMCS Toronto is part of that fleet.

Royal Canadian Navy Dieppe

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...

Prior to 1910, the Canadian Government showed very little interest in naval affairs. However, with major conflict brewing in Europe, the Canadian Parliament was determined to organize a naval service. On 4 May 1910, under the authority of the Naval Services Act, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was born, adopting the structure and organization of the British Royal Navy.

In the beginning, the RCN consisted of only two second-hand British cruisers and a handful of volunteers. However, during the First World War, the RCN reached a strength of 9,000 officers and men.

During the years following the Great War, the RCN was drastically reduced in numbers, so when Canada declared war on Germany, September 1939, they immediately embarked on a rapid expansion program. One of their methods of expansion was to reactivate the Canadian shipbuilding industry. The RCN, at the beginning of the Second World War, was in the same shape as the rest of the Canadian Military, having been a low priority for the government for quite some time. However, by the end of the Second World war, the RCN was the third largest Allied Navy.

During the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy saw its share of battles, including the 19 August 1942, Dieppe Raid. During the Raid on Dieppe, the RCN showed a tremendous amount of courage, for as they approached the beach on that ill-fated day they were faced with immense German fire. They continued, however, to make their way to the beach, fearlessly coming to the aid of their fellow Canadians who were wounded and pinned on the beach by enemy fire. When the Raid was over, the RCN had amazingly suffered only one fatal casualty.

After the Second World War, the RCN experienced a rapid decline in size, but was rebuilt again in the early 1950s at the outbreak of the Korean War and achieved an enviable reputation as submarine hunters.

Get Your Ship Together Review

Former U.S. Navy Commander Michael Abrashoff attracted worldwide media attention for his success in turning around a struggling ship, the USS Benfold—the subject of his acclaimed bestseller, It’s Your Ship. Since then, he’s been a fixture on the business lecture circuit, spreading an empowering message that any organization can be turned around with compassionate but firm leadership. He is now nearly as popular a speaker as Rudy Giuliani, Jack Welch, or Jim Collins.

Abrashoff never claimed to have all the answers. He also knew that there were plenty of other creative leaders in the navy, army, air force, marine corps, and even the coast guard who could teach businesspeople how to motivate, inspire, and get great results under pressure. So he asked around, found some fascinating people in every branch of the U.S. military and the business world, and interviewed them about leadership and teambuilding. The result is Get Your Ship Together—a book that will be just as valuable as It’s Your Ship.

For example, Abrashoff introduces us to a working-class enlisted man who rose rapidly in the navy for his creative leadership under fire; an army platoon leader who fought in Afghanistan; the first woman to fly an Apache helicopter in combat; a former commander of the air force’s elite Blue Angels; and many other unsung heroes. Abrashoff distills their stories into fresh lessons that can be applied in the business world, such as:

• Make a contract with your people and honor it
• Develop your subordinates better so you can buy back a little quality of life
• Conduct the battle on your terms, not those of your adversary



About the Author
D. Michael Abrashoff served for almost twenty years in the U.S. Navy, culminating in a tour of duty as captain of the $1 billion warship USS Benfold. After leaving the navy, he wrote a bestseller about progressive leadership called It’s Your Ship. He lectures to business audiences around the country.

HSC Tarifa Jet

HSC Tarifa Jet was built in 1997 at the Incat
Yards in Tasmania, Australia.




HSC "Tarifa Jet" was delivered by Hobart-based InCat
Australia Pty. Ltd. in May 1997 and has most recently
operated as "Pescara Jet" for the Italian operator SNAV
on a seasonal route between Pescara, Hvar and Spilt in
the Adriatic Sea. The catamaran has an overall length of
86.62 meters, a beam of 26.00 m and a draft of 3.62 m.
Her gross tonnage amounts 4.995 GT. The machinery
consists of four Rouston 20RK270 engines with a total
output of 28320 kW (38,500 HP) allowing a maximum
service speed of 42 knots. 800 passengers and 185 cars
can be accommodated onboard; the spacious cardeck is
accessed via two stern ramps.
The HSC Tarifa Jet is a 86m fast catamaran ferry operated
by FRS Iberia S.L.

USS Albacore AGSS 569

Welcome Aboard — USS Albacore (AGSS-569)

The third Navy vessel to bear the name, the Auxiliary General Submarine (AGSS) Albacore holds a place in history as the first Navy-designed vessel with a true underwater hull of cylindrical shape that has become the standard for today's submarines worldwide.

Albacore at launching

Designed, built and maintained by the skilled engineers and craftsmen of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Albacore served as a sea-going test platform from 1953 to 1972. Albacore's teardrop-shaped hull was the prototype for the Navy's nuclear powered submarine force and was the first boat built specifically to operate underwater.

Prior to Albacore, submarines had been characterized as surface vessels that could submerge. With her revolutionary hull design and state-of-the-art systems, Albacore provided the Navy with an engineering platform to evaluate systems and design features before including them in future classes of submarine. Her motto was Praenuntius Futuri (Forerunner of the Future) and her mission was experimental.

Commissioned in December of 1953, Albacore was only 2/3rds the length of a World War II Fleet Boat and, when outfitted with her special high capacity silver-zinc battery, could out run a contemporary nuclear submarine. In 1966, she set the record as the world's fastest submarine having attained an underwater speed of nearly 40 miles per hour.

Used for testing control and propulsion systems, sonar equipment, dive brakes, escape mechanisms, and various innovative theories and equipment, Albacore was truly a unique Navy floating laboratory.

In September of 1972, Albacore was decommissioned and placed in reserve at the Inactive Ship Facility in Philadelphia. Ten years later, Portsmouth City Councilman Bill Keefe began an effort to return Albacore to her place of birth as a permanent display. It took two years, lots of paperwork and committee meetings before Albacore was towed from Philadelphia to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

In May of 1985, Albacore was maneuvered through a dismantled railroad bridge and a cutout section of four lane highway toward her final resting place. It took nearly six months and a system of locks before she finally was settled on a concrete cradle at Albacore Park.

Your tour of Albacore begins outside the entrance to the museum. There are a series of five outdoor podiums and panels with push buttons that are part of a self-guided audio tour. An additional eleven audio sites continue the tour inside Albacore. The narratives relate not only interesting facts about the boat but also include comments by former crew members of incidents that occurred while they were on board.

Albacore provides a unique opportunity to see where a crew of 55 worked and lived. You will see some of the unusual features of this prototype submarine and hear some of the experiences of her crew.

For information on how to get to Albacore Park, hours of operation and tour charges, please check the Visitor Center section.

Navy renews plan to demolish old ammunition-loading pier

NORFOLK - The Navy is moving forward with plans to demolish an old ammunition-loading pier in the middle of Hampton Roads that a Middlesex County man wanted to turn into a massive oyster reef.

The concrete structure has been out of use for about a decade, and was slated to be demolished
earlier this summer when Bob Jensen proposed keeping the structure for its oyster reef potential.

A Portsmouth firm, Construction and Cabling Specialists, was awarded the $1.8 million contract, said Terri Davis, public affairs officer for Naval Station Norfolk, which oversees the facility.


The Navy studied the oyster reef idea and tentatively supported it, but the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said liability issues prevented them from transferring ownership to Jensen.

Jensen said he will file a "cease and desist" letter, on behalf of the 1 million oysters already living on the concrete pilings of the pier, to try to stop the demolition.

But it appears that with the concerns of the VMRC and the Navy facing the end of the federal fiscal year at the end of September -- and a potential loss of the demolition funds -- the Navy is moving forward.

VMRC Commissioner Steven G. Bowman suggested in a letter to Jensen that the oyster-covered pilings could be placed at existing reef sites in the Chesapeake Bay. Davis said that would be up to VMRC, the contractor and Jensen.

Taiwan shows off new warship in Strait maneuvers

Taiwan's Defense Ministry displayed Wednesday for the first time to foreign media, including The Yomiuri Shimbun, a live-fire exercise involving
its new Kidd-class destroyer, recently purchase from the United States.

The exercise in the Taiwan Strait was apparently aimed at demonstrating Taiwan's determination to defend the island from China following increased Chinese naval activity in the sea around Taiwan, ministry sources said.

The exercise involved a fleet comprising the newest destroyer, Tsoying, three frigates and other vessels.

It included a simulated response to a port being blockaded by mines laid by the Chinese Navy, as well as, antisubmarine operations involving antisubmarine
aircraft responding to the approach of a Chinese submarine.

Liu Chih-chien, chief of the fleet command's political operations division, talked up the Taiwan Navy's combatcapabilities, arguing that past drills had been success-
ful in bolstering the navy's confidence it can guarantee security in the Taiwan Strait.

U.S. President George W. Bush approved the sale of Kidd-class destroyers to Taiwan in 2001, and four of the destroyers had been sold to Taiwan by
autumn last year.

The Tsoying is one of Taiwan's largest warships and is equipped with state-of-the-art antiaircraft missiles.

Putin fires Russia navy commander: media

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has fired
the commander of Russia's navy, taking to at least four
the number of top brass dismissed since he appointed a
new defense minister, media in Russia reported on Friday.

The Moscow Times, an English-language daily, said Admiral
Vladimir Masorin may have angered the Kremlin by
accepting a U.S. award in August without advance
permission.

The paper said Masorin had not followed the established
practice of asking Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov
before accepting the Legion of Merit at a ceremony in
Washington.

Defence ministry and Kremlin spokesmen refused to comment
on the reports, saying they had not yet seen a decree
ordering Masorin's departure.

A Defence Ministry spokesman played down any suggestion
of a connection between the U.S. award and Masorin's
reported departure, saying other top military had
accepted similar honors in the past.

Masorin had reached the age of 60, at which military
officers are required to tender their resignation.
However, Putin can extend their contracts until they
are 65 -- something he declined to do with Masorin.

Russia's navy will now be run by Admiral Vladimir
Vysotsky, the commander of Russia's Northern Fleet.

In February, Putin promoted Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov, a close ally viewed as a potential president
ial successor, to the post of first deputy prime
minister and named Serdyukov, a little-known tax
official from St Petersburg, to head the ministry.

At least three other top officers, including Air
Force commander Vladimir Mikhailov, the head of the
Defense Ministry's International Cooperation
Department Anatoly Mazurkevich and the head of
department in charge of armaments Alexei Moskovsky,
have lost their jobs since Serdyukov's appointment.

Kommersant daily suggested that Serdyukov was
clearing the ministry of officers loyal to Ivanov,
a former KGB agent.

Serdyukov is the son-in-law of Viktor Zubkov, a
former head of a financial watchdog whom Putin
named on Wednesday as his new prime minister.

Kommersant suggested that armed forces chief of
staff Yuri Baluyevsky could be next in line for
sacking.

Company searches Arthur Kill for lost silver bars

NEW YORK (AP) _ In 1903, a barge carrying about 8,000 silver bars belonging to the Guggenheim family spilled the precious cargo in the Arthur Kill, a busy shipping channel between Staten Island and New Jersey.

Most of the silver bars were recovered, but it's believed about 1,400 _ worth $6,000 to $7,000 each are still beneath the water.

Now Aqua Survey, a company in Hunterdon County, N.J., which specializes in environmental research, is trying to locate them, using advanced technology to map the waters.

The silver bars were being taken from the Port of New York to the Guggenheims' smelting facility in Perth Amboy, N.J., when the cargo went overboard.

A five-member team was out last week in a small boat in the harbor's Story's Flats, just north of the Outerbridge Crossing and south of the Arthur Kill landfill on Staten Island. It probed the murky bottom, usually coming up with thick mud and sediment nicknamed "black mayonnaise."

Ken Hayes, president of the Kingwood-based company, said they do not fancy themselves treasure hunters but rather scientists with curiosity.

The team has used advanced global positioning software, electromagnets and sonar equipment to locate about 270 potential targets. The software is designed to locate silver but not iron, making the search easier "though we could also just find a car battery," Hayes said ashe piloted a motorboat on the relatively calm water last week.

Late in the evening of September 27, 1903, a tow of 13 canal boats and the barge Harold left the East River docks in Manhattan, bound for the American Smelting and Refining Company plant at Perth Amboy, N.J. The tow was being pulled by the tug Ganoga, and only the Harold carried cargo – but what a cargo it was! Stacked neatly on her open deck were almost 300 tons
of silver-lead alloy ingots that had arrived from Mexico earlier in the week.

According to all accounts, the bay was flat and calm, with a bright moon. Harold’s position in the tow was dead aft and outboard, moored to the port side of one of the canal boats. The only crewman on board was Peter Moore whose only real job was to inspect the mooring lines once in a while and check to see that she hadn’t sprung any bad leaks – not too taxing and, in fact downright boring at times. Moore spent the evening talking and drinking with the canal boaters who eventually offered him a comfortable bunk on their boat. After one last check of his barge, Moore turned in for the night.

Somewhere around 2 a.m., a thunderous crash woke every man in the after end of the tow. Moore scrambled on deck with the rest of the men and looked over at the barge. Her lines were secure and she was riding all right, but in the bright moonlight he saw that her load of silver ingots was gone!

Background into incident

Shaky and confused, Moore made his way forward over the other canal boats to report the incident to Ganoga’s captain, a pilot named Hennessey. He stood in the bow of the lead boat shouting and waving at Hennessey, but couldn’t make himself understood over the rumble of the tug’s big engine. Eventually, he gave up and went back to bed, later saying he thought that the smelter owners must have sent another tug to take Harold out of the tow and substitute an empty barge in her place. Apparently Moore hadn’t noticed that around 200 bars of silver still lay on the deck. The loss wasn’t discovered until the Ganoga arrived at the smelter the next morning.

The Guggenheim family, who owned the silver, demanded an explanation. Their insurance agents demanded a full investigation. And everyone demanded top security and secrecy over the entireincident. Both Moore and Hennessey were interrogated at length by the insurance men as
well as agents of the Baxter Wrecking Company, who’d been hired to locate the silver. But Moore’s testimony was next to worthless, and Hennessey’s was sketchy at best. They knew the crash had occurred about 2 a.m., but neither man had bothered to take bearings or mark the position in any way. The best guess was that the incident – whatever it had been – happened somewhere between Elizabethtown and Perth Amboy, a distance of twelve and one-half
miles, on a possible path more than a mile wide.

What they did know, because there wasn’t any other possible explanation, was that all that silver was somehow dumped in the river – nearly 6,900 bars of seventy-five percent silver. There are a couple of ways it could’ve happened.

When Harold left the East River docks she had nothing in her hold and almost 300 tons of ingots
stacked on deck, six to eight feet above the water line. If Captain Hennessey was trying to save time by cutting corners in the channel, she could have bumped a sandbar off one of the many points of land that jut out into the sound along Ganoga’s route. Being top heavy, she would have flipped like a tippy canoe.

Or, since she was know to leak a little, she might have had sufficient water in her bilge so that a
swell or even the wake of a passing ship could have caused the load to shift suddenly, making her
roll. In either case, as soon as the silver slid overboard, Harold would have come back on an even
keel.

Keeping as low a profile as possible, the Baxter crew began searching the vast expanse of water
using wire drags and sounding leads. Secrecy was of the utmost importance. In 1903 the waterfront dives along the New York-New Jersey shore were full of lawless, desperate men who lived by preying on others. Robbery and murder on the waterways were commonplace, and more than one barge captain had his throat slit for the sake of a few buckets
of coal. The lives of the Baxter crew would be in serious jeopardy if word of the silver got out.

For nine days they cruised the barge’s route,trying not to draw attention to themselves. Finally, on October 5, tapping along the bottom in an area known as Story’s Flats, the crew hit metal.Immediately, the salvage vessels Fly and John Fuller were dispatched to the scene.

For ten days they managed to salvage without drawing undue attention – first by digging with an
orange peel bucket, then by sending divers down to find and pick up individual ingots. Slowly they recovered about 85 percent of the lost treasure.

The insurance company paid off on the estimated 1,000 bars that remained on the bottom. Surprisingly, there have been very few reported attempts to find them.

It’s surprising because the “Silver of Story’s Flats” is a treasure rivaling those of the early
pirate ships – but is more accessible and doesn’t involve any of the red tape of dealing with
foreign governments. Each of the estimated 1,000 ingots weighs 75 pounds and consists of 75
percent silver. At today’s prices, they’re worth roughly $6,000,000.

The last attempt to get the silver – now settled deep into the mud of the badly polluted Story’s
Flats – was made by The Big Apple Silver Mine Inc. of New York City in the mid-1980s. They had to jump through all kinds of hoops – for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and a private group called the Natural Resources Protective Association of Staten Island. Big Apple eventually got the salvage permit, but were held up for four years by company problems. Last word was they
never got into the field.

International Explorations is gearing up to succeed where Big Apple failed. We’ve been
brought in as expert consultants by American WetWood, who have been researching the site and
securing permits for the past three years. We’re putting together a crew with a goal of anchoring
off Story’s Flats by the summer of 2007. With more sophisticated technology than was ever available before, and with a new piece of detection equipment designed and built by Tony Kopp, we’re confident that this expedition will yield something extraordinary.