29 African Countries: Naval Muscle On Somolia?

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

Chinese ships navigate Somalia’s waters

• Somali pirates continue to hold hostages
• Probing behind the Obama photo ops
• China strengthens trading ties in Africa
• Chinese investment in Africa soars
• Italy’s immigration debate intensifies
• Africans desire new strategic relationship with U.S.
• World weighs in on President-elect Obama
• Twenty-first century Africa: China, tech and upward mobility
• Violence surges in Somalia
• Week in review: Iraqi shoes, Gaza and Zimbabwe

A bombed ship in Berbera.

China’s navy announced plans to send at least three ships to Somalia to protect Chinese vessels from rampant piracy.

About 20 percent of the 1,265 Chinese ships that have passed through the Gulf of Aden this year have reportedly come under attack.

Bright Simons is an executive at the African nonprofit IMANI Center for Policy and Education. He writes at citizen journalism portal OhMyNews about China’s role in Somalia and the Asian country’s naval ambitions.

China, Somalia: Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

China’s He Yafei, second in command of the Asian Giant’s diplomatic corps, told the United Nations Security Council at a December 16th session on the Somali piracy crisis that Beijing may authorize an expeditionary naval force to the Gulf of Aden.

Two issues arise from this statement for observers of China’s foreign policy.

Firstly, it provides another piece in the puzzle of China’s blue water naval ambitions, by affirming the much suspected link between seafaring commerce and open ocean warfare in the minds of Admiral Liu Huaqing’s disciples at the top of the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army’s Navy).

Secondly, it projects Africa into the heart of China’s geopolitical ambitions by offering the possibility that the emergent world power might use the continent as a sounding board for the much anticipated blue water strategy.

The second point is much vindicated in the context of the historical situation in the Straits of Malacca, where China’s participation in regional anti-piracy efforts has been less than aggressive. Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and also Japan, whose trade is highly dependent on quietude in the Straits, have constantly had to look up to the USA for strategic backup in the event things get out of hand.

So, then, the question on everybody’s lips is: given the relative sanguinity China has shown about threats in its own backyard, why is the PLAN pushing the pliant Foreign Service into a blue water scheme off the shores of Africa?

To attempt to answer that question, one must first explore into a bit more detail the concept of blue-water geopolitics.

Not many countries can effectively, like the U.S. of today and the USSR of yesterday, circulate battle stations around the planet by relying on a Navy with truly global reach.

The United States can at a moment notice dispatch an ‘Aircraft Carrier Group’ to nearly any naval theater anywhere on the planet in a few days or weeks at most. The group will usually consist of the Aircraft carrier itself, a floating hangar cum runway from which some 100 fighter jets may be maintained and supplied in a continuous aerial tactical scenario, and a couple of frigates and destroyers backed by amphibious special force units and perhaps a splattering of submarines.

Frigates and destroyers are great for protecting and supplying expeditionary forces as well as for pummeling the coastlines of enemy states. Like all battle cruisers, a few ballistic missiles in the mix make these perfect launching pads for broad-front attacks as well as for surgical maneuvers, involving amphibious vessels and tactical squadrons.

Simply put, if China wants to be in a position where it can clamp down on a full-blown civil war in the Sudan, for instance, and prevents such from imperiling its energy security interests it will need a blue water navy.

Got To Be A Simple Solution: Too much at Stake?

How about some world coordinated effort. All ships have or should have satellite tracking. World coordinated convoy shadowing. Do we need to really trade with African countries through the use of ships? Unforunately yes!

Does the lack of any navy in more than 20 African costal countries help? No, but Russia would love to build another bargain basement 350 frigates for these nations. Even Canada would have a go at this.

Stop sinking the old ships. Retro 30 year old ships can still knock a punch along with their marines on board, even a sea harrier at the back.

Only the Northern African nations of Algeria,Eygpt, Libria, Morocco, Tunisia along with South Africa can assume any capabilities to shadow assigned ships and shipping lanes.

There may have to be armoured shipping convoys created. But only time will tell if 28 of the most powerful nations with a navy want to play their cards such as China is doing.

Along with the media heap of Russia coming to the rescue with a diplomatic ballad of force there really is no one other than the "good olde USA" to come to the rescue. Diplomacy has to be reunited and maintained with all. Tough sailing ahead for sure.

Little Guys For Low Budgets

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



Russia has become the go-to provider of short range, low cost, warships. Currently, Russian shipyards are building nearly $6 billion worth of warships for foreign customers (India, China, Algeria, Vietnam and Indonesia). A typical ship in this building is the Stereguschyy class corvette (one in service, with three more building.) These are small ships (2,100 tons displacement), costing about $125 million each. These "Project 20380" ships have impressive armament (two 30mm anti-missile cannon, one 100mm cannon, eight anti-ship missiles, six anti-submarine missiles, two eight cell anti-missile missile launchers).

There is a helicopter platform, but the ship is not designed to carry one regularly. Crew size, of one hundred officers and sailors, is achieved by a large degree of automation. The ship also carries air search and navigation radars. It can cruise 6,500 kilometers on one load of fuel. Normally, the ship would stay out 7-10 days at a time, unless it received replenishment at sea. Like the American LCS, the Russian ship is meant for coastal operations. The navy wants at least fifty of them.

But there other Russian shipbuilding projects that don't fit the overall pattern. The main one here is the conversion of a retired Russian carrier, the 44,000 ton Gorshkov, into the INS Vikramaditya for India. This ship was supposed to enter Indian service this year, but has been delayed until 2012. The Russians admitted that this project suffered from shoddy workmanship, poor management and the loss of blueprints for the ship. These have to be reconstructed.

The new deal will cost $2.5 billion. This includes the purchase of the Gorshkov, and Russian shipyards performing repairs, modifications and upgrades. Another $800 million is to be spent on aircraft, weapons and equipment. Building a Gorshkov type carrier today would cost about $4 billion, and take several years more.

The Admiral Gorshkov entered service in 1987, but was inactivated in 1996 (too expensive to operate on a post Cold War budget). The Indian deal was made in 2004, and the carrier was to be ready by 2008. But a year ago reports began coming out of Russia that the shipyard doing the work, Sevmash, had seriously miscalculated the cost of the project. The revised costs were more like $1.1 billion for the $700 million refurb. The situation proceeded to get worse, with Sevmash reporting ever increasing costs to refurbish the carrier.

The Indians were not happy, and at first insisted that the Russian government (which owns many of the entities involved) make good on the original deal. India sent its own team of technical experts to Russia, and their report apparently confirmed what the Russians reported, about shipyard officials low-balling the cost of the work needed. This is a common tactic for firms building weapons for their own country. It gets more complicated when you try to pull that sort of thing on a foreign customer. The Russian government will cover some of the overrun cost. The Sevmash managers who negotiated the low bid are being prosecuted.

Most Russian shipbuilding projects work out. The Russian ships are simpler than their Western counterparts, and for coastal work are adequate. You get what you pay for, unless you are refurbishing a major ship that the Russians never quite got the hang of.

Russian Nary Gets Time Off For Good Behaviour

12 hours ago: Russian destroyer Admiral Chabanenko sails into Havana's bay December 19, 2008. The Russian warship arrived on Friday for the first time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, as Russia flexed its muscles close to the United States and showed off its warming relations with former Cold War ally Cuba.Thank Goodness. "Are there pirates in the Caribbean?" "Not like in the Indian Ocean."

"We have no bananas."; "No eggs left and no money to buy any."; "Have you no decency?";"You made it..was it 1991?"; "Did it with no help.";"I don't know about this Cuba."; "Is Home any better?"; "I'll get you there in no time."; "3 more months of this!";" Oh! Boy."; "You signed on for 6 months."; "The Water is good no?"

Brand New Internal NAV systems for Canadian Navy

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

Canadian Destroyer undergoes first trials with Northrop Grumman inertial-navigation and data-distribution system

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., 28 Oct. 2008. A Canadian Navy destroyer just completed the first sea trials with a new-generation inertial-navigation system (INS) and data-distribution network supplied by Northrop Grumman Corp.

The Iroquois-class destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan, is the first naval ship to go to sea with the MK49 ring-laser gyro navigator (RLGN) INS and Navigation Data Distribution System (NavDDS). The systems were developed by Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine business unit.

The Sperry Marine MK49 RLGN provides precise real-time 3D position, heading, speed, and attitude reference data for the ship's navigation and combat systems. The NavDDS is designed to provide a network backbone integrating INS data seamlessly with other sensors and systems throughout the ship, says a representative.

"The RLGN-NavDDS combination represents a major advancement in the state-of-the art integrated navigation technology on modern warships," says J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Sperry Marine. "The successful sea trials aboard HMCS Athabaskan provided a clear demonstration of the mission-enhancing capabilities of the MK49 and NavDDS systems for the Canadian Navy.

"Sperry Marine is under contract with the Canadian Navy to supply RLGN and NavDDS systems for 12 Halifax-class frigates, three Iroquois-class destroyers and four Victoria-class submarines," continues DaCunha. "The recently completed ship trials are an important milestone in this program, opening the door to rapid deployment of this breakthrough technology across the remaining Canadian Navy surface and submarine platforms."

The 129.9-meter (426-foot) helicopter-equipped ship is a multi-mission platform with advanced anti-submarine, area air defence and command and control capabilities.

European Union: Time To Stand Behind Safe Marine Trade

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

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- European Union governments say they will deploy additional warships off the coast of Somalia to fight piracy.

Germany will send a frigate, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said. France has already dispatched a frigate and Spain has sent an observation plane. The goal is to have an EU fleet of three warships, a supply ship and three naval surveillance planes, Jung said.

``We have to take effective action against pirates,'' Jung told reporters today at an EU meeting in Deauville, France. ``We have to first push back the pirates, restore security on the high seas and make free maritime trade possible again.''

Attacks by pirates have surged this year off Somalia, and are running at close to one a day. Commercial shippers have warned they may start routing cargo around Africa, passing the added fuel and time costs on to clients. They've asked for help from Western navies, noting that joint patrols by the Malaysian, Indonesian and Singapore navies have almost eradicated piracy in the Straits of Malacca, the world's previous piracy hotspot.

The EU force, the bloc's first naval crisis-management mission, would go into action by the end of the year, French officials said. France holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for greater international effort to fight piracy.

Anti-Terror Mission

Several EU countries, including France, Britain, and Denmark, already have warships in the Indian Ocean as part of Task Force 150, an anti-terrorist mission with the U.S, Canadian, and Pakistani navies. In the past 10 years off the coast of Yemen, skiff-borne suicide bombers have attacked a U.S. warship, the USS Cole, and a French oil tanker.

Around 60 boats have been attacked by pirates this year in waters off Somalia, the International Maritime Bureau says, and at last 200 sailors are being held hostage.

Warships from Task Force 150 do intervene to prevent pirate attacks on commercial vessels, though piracy isn't the fleet's main mandate.

``If they stumble upon something, they will chase them away, but won't engage in hot pursuit,'' said Sam Dawson, press officer for the London-based International Transport Workers Federation, which along with five shipping associations signed a joint statement this week asking for more protection.

U.S. warships are also shadowing a Ukrainian ship that was hijacked last week with its cargo of T-72 battle tanks, and a Russian warship is en route to the area.

Use of Force

Foreign powers may ``use force'' to free the ship as long as they coordinate with Somalia, Mohamed Jama Ali, the Somali foreign ministry's acting permanent director, told the Associated Press today.

Each country has its own set of rules. French naval commanders have captured 12 Somali pirates in two operations since April and sent them to mainland France to be prosecuted. The Danish navy has disarmed pirates, and later set them free on the Somali coast. The British navy has rules of engagement that prevent them from arresting pirates.

German-owned ships suffered the most attacks last year, registering 43 of 263 global incidents, according to the IMB. Germany has the world's largest container fleet and the third- largest merchant fleet.

``We would welcome strongly a joint European initiative and hope it falls into place very soon,'' said Max Johns, a spokesman in Hamburg for the German ship-owners associations. ``We are currently in talks with all parties of the German Parliament because we have a peculiar problem in Germany with the fact that the German navy has very tight legal restrictions on how they can help against pirates.''

William The Conqueror on Peter The Great

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


Predictable Scenarios are a Rats Tail of Charm


One of the predictable outcomes of the mess in Georgia is that the Russians, peeved by what they saw as US involvement in their bowl of chili, would proceed to mess with our bowl of chili. They decided that Hugo Chavez was the right man for the job, being easily impressed by small numbers of airplanes and possessed of enough oil money to make for a reasonable arms buyer.

God knows Hugo loves it. This latest news must have made him utterly speechless with self-important joy, the news that the Russians were sending a flotilla of four warships on a "goodwill cruise" that would just by happenstance include a visit to Venezuela. One imagines Hugo putting on his skipper's hat and begging the Russians to let him take the helm of the Peter the Great.

I detect a minor ripple of consternation out there in Fear-Land. Back in the 1970s someone (I think it was William F. Buckley) started the "Pearl Harbor Association for Keeping Our Eyes on the Soviet Fleet." The fear factor isn't as high today, but this Russian flotilla is causing altogether too much underwear-bunching, in my opinion.

Only two of the ships have been named in news reports. One is the Peter the Great, a hulking nuclear-powered Kirov-class battle cruiser. Another is the Admiral Chabanenko, one of the Udaloy class of anti-submarine ships. The other two are not named, which suggests that they are fairly minor in nature. I like to think they're a couple of old, worn-out ships from that bizarre K-named jungle of Soviet warships from the 1960s and 1970s - Kynda, Kresta, Krivak, Kara, Kanin, Kashin... But since they aren't named, I don't know.

The Udaloy ASW destroyer is pretty fair as ASW destroyers go, but it's not the sort of thing that's liable to upset the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere. It's probably a little better than a basic Spruance, but not in the league as any of the Arleigh Burkes. Its main defects on a worldwide cruise of that sort would probably be relatively short range and no particular area AAW or ASuW capability.

The Kirov doesn't suffer from those weaknesses. By any standard, the Kirovs are powerful surface combatants with an excellent mix of long-range anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and anti-ship missiles. They're huge by modern standards, the size of smallish battleships, and unlike the majority of Soviet warships that were suited only for the "Battle of the First Salvo", they possess a degree of durability and staying power that no other Russian warship can touch. Let's put it this way: Peter the Great could single-handedly defeat the combined navies of all of South America, and probably in a single afternoon, and without having to reload.

Does payload indicate a lengthy struggle at only 36mph break speed?

This isn't hyperbole. The ship is huge for a modern warship - 25,000 tons - and large size (really, large displacement) means that the ship can carry multiple weapons systems that provide overlapping capability. The ship is extremely well-armed, to say the least - I won't recite the numbers because they're meaningless to most people, but suffice it to say that the Peter the Great can attack aircraft, surface ships and submarines alike at long range.

So why doesn't it bother me more than it does? All of a sudden there's this heavily-armed Russian behemoth cruising around in our hemisphere, and it doesn't bother me?? No, not a bit. And I'll tell you why (you were wondering if I would, weren't you?). Because, like every other surface warship built since about 1920, this mighty nuclear battle cruiser can't protect itself indefinitely against air attack. The list of mighty warships that have gone to Davy Jones's Locker courtesy of air attack is long and distinguished: Ostfriesland, Arizona, Nevada, Hornet, Prince of Wales, Repulse, Yamato, Musashi, Tirpitz, Sheffield, Ardent, Arrow, Coventry... And a US carrier task force would quickly add the Peter the Great to the list.

Mind you, it would be an interesting tactical problem. What is the best way through the ship's interleaved and overlapping air defense systems? Would a program of steady but low-count standoff ASM (e.g. Tomahawks) attacks eventually expend its missile ammunition? Or would a much more intense attack with weapons like Harpoons overload its fire control systems and lead to quicker neutralization? Or would a regime of jamming and anti-radiation missiles eventually blind it and leave it vulnerable to close-in attack? I imagine this is the sort of problem that would keep a group of US naval officers amused for an hour or two, discussing various ways into and out of the tactical problem, but at the root of the matter is the basic fact that given halfway competent leadership of the carrier, the Russian ship is doomed unless the battle starts with the carrier already within range of the Kirov's missiles. But that's why we stipulate "halfway competent leadership".

No trains or automobiles, except in the case of lost loved ones


So it doesn't worry me. It might even be an interesting tactical problem for the US Air Force, which I don't think has had much opportunity to bomb boats since the glory days of the Fifth Air Force in World War Two.

Why, I ask, would the Soviets have bothered building a ship as large and expensive as the Kirov if they were that vulnerable to air attack? I think there were three reasons for them.

First, the Soviets wanted prestige. They wanted to match the US Navy's impression of power, but lacking aircraft carriers of their own, they concluded that maybe a novel nuclear battle cruiser would be good for prestige. Lousy for the budget, but good for brochures.

Second, the Soviets wanted a ship that could survive the Battle of the First Salvo. It was easy to imagine, in the 1970s, the entire deployed Soviet fleet either being wiped out or missile-expended in a single afternoon, leaving them with basically nothing but submarines. These big new battle cruisers would give Soviet surface action groups a measure of stamina and durability they didn't have up until then.

Third, I believe that the Soviets intended for the Kirovs to serve as dedicated escorts for the proposed Soviet aircraft carriers, but when the carriers were never finished, the doctrinal purpose of the Kirovs went away too.

So here we are. The Cold War is over, most of the Kirovs aren't in commission any more, and the best of the lot, the Peter the Great, is propping up the macho pretensions of Hugo Chavez. One imagines that Admiral Gorshkov is spinning in his grave.

Afterword: Why Kirov? Why that name? There is a city of Kirov, but it's an inland transportation hub and I can attest to the fact that it's pretty grey and bleak and doesn't in any way call the ocean to mind. I think the ship was actually named after Sergei M. Kirov, the party boss of 1920s Leningrad who proved to be too charismatic and popular for Stalin's taste. Stalin reportedly had him assassinated, then marched as the chief mourner in his funeral - a touch that would have made Trotsky wince if in fact Stalin hadn't had him.

Sources: Jane's World International - Fighting Ships

Brits and Norges keep Russian Convoy Alert

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

MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - A long-range sortie of the Russian naval task group to the Caribbean has drawn close attention from NATO, a Navy spokesman said on Saturday.

A naval task force from Russia's Northern Fleet, comprising the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko, and support ships, left a naval base in northern Russia early Monday to conduct training exercises in the Atlantic, including joint naval drills with the Venezuelan navy in November.

"Patrol aircraft from the Norwegian Navy have flown four times near the Russian task group in the Norwegian Sea," Capt. 1st rank Igor Dygalo said, adding that the movements of the Russian convoy are also closely monitored by the U.K. HMS Argyll frigate.

During the current tour of duty the Russian warships would participate in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan navy in the Caribbean on November 10-14, in line with the 2008 training program and in order to expand military cooperation with foreign navies.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who recently visited Russia, earlier confirmed that Venezuela would hold joint naval exercises with Russian warships in the Caribbean and said the Russian navy would receive a warm welcome in the Latin American country.

Russia announced last year that its Navy had resumed and would build up a constant presence in different regions of the world's oceans.

A task force from the Northern Fleet, consisting of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class large AWS ships Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as auxiliary vessels, conducted from December 2007 to February 2008 a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic.

US Coast Guard Moves Forward on Social Media

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





It's interesting already that there some high traffic social networking websites for the various military services already in use.

I myself use social media and networking tools. I'm using services available from mainstream media as well as the Google services/tools and other web companies.

I've seen and heard opinions from people in various branches of service. Some are retired or have had limit experience in campaigns.

I'd like to start using Photobucket, Flickr, Picasa more and more. Mapping services are also of use to this blog.

The Navy Times article

Navy Retrofits For A Scot ....Not for Shipmates?

Some Crews Will Spend More Time Away from Home Now while in Retro Port


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


MULTI-million-pound refit work on a Westcountry warship has been switched from Devonport to Scotland for the first time, sparking concerns among unions and defence experts.

The Royal Navy frigate HMS Campbeltown left her base port in Plymouth last week bound for France and exercises off the Scottish coast. She is currently heading into Rosyth for a 12-month overhaul.

It is believed to be the first time that a refit of any Type 22 frigate has been undertaken outside Devonport since the ships entered service in the 1980s.

Roger Darcy, GMB convener and chairman of the Industrial Trade Unions in the dockyard, said there was "concern" at the loss of work.

"We are now working for a company [Babcock] that is responsible for ship refitting at Rosyth and Devonport," he said. "There has got to be an element of trust now that we get a fair allocation of the work.

"Babcock has allocated the work based on maintaining the skills base at Rosyth because of the carrier work that is going up there."

Mr Darcy said that the unions were "reluctant" to see any work moved from Devonport, particularly as "the sword of Damocles" was still hanging over workers.

He added: "The problem we have still got locally is that we still don't know how many jobs are likely to go."

However, he said the situation "could work to our advantage from next year" with aircraft carrier work due to start at the Scottish yard.

Iain Ballantyne, editor of Warships International Fleet Review, was equally surprised by the move. He said: "It does seem extraordinary bearing in mind the experience that Devonport has in refitting Type 22s since they entered service.

"It is the first one I can remember for years, if at all, that is going to be refitted in a Scottish yard. It does seem amazing that Devonport Management Ltd (DML), before Babcock took over, were extremely worried about the number of surface warship refits to keep key workers on nuclear submarines employed between submarine refits. They were facing an absolute crisis over that.

"The question is why is there no longer a need for surface warship refitting in Plymouth?"

Babcock paid £350 million for DML in July 2007. However, the firm announced plans to axe up to 600 posts – more than 10 per cent of its Plymouth workforce – in February this year, saying the move was in response to a drop in Royal Navy submarine work.

The switch to Rosyth is also likely to prove unpopular with HMS Campbeltown's crew, many of whom live in Devon and Cornwall. A skeleton crew will have to be maintained during the refit, forcing many to spend long periods away from home.

A spokesman for Babcock Marine said the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean was currently in refit, while two others were in the pipeline.

He added: "HMS Campbeltown's refit at Babcock Marine in Rosyth is part of an ongoing programme of warship upkeep periods, agreed through the Ministry of Defence's Surface Ship Support arrangement which aims to provide industry with levels of work which sustain future capability to meet MoD support requirements.

"Babcock Marine at Devonport is currently completing the refit of HMS Ocean, which will be followed by the refit of HMS Albion in October 2008 and HMS Westminster in March 2009."

HMS OCEAN OUT TO SEA FOR TRIALS

Japanese protest basing of U.S. nuclear carrier

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

YOKOSUKA, Japan: Slogan-shouting protesters lined the harbor and flag-waving supporters crowded the dock as the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington arrived at its new home port south of Tokyo on Thursday.

The giant warship's arrival, delayed by a fire aboard the ship in May, brought out hundreds of supporters and demonstrators, though the two groups were kept well apart and no clashes were reported.

The George Washington, which can carry a crew of 5,600 and 70 aircraft, will become the U.S. Navy's only carrier with a home port outside the United States. The carrier Kitty Hawk, which it replaces, is to be decommissioned.

The demonstrators say the ship poses a threat to Tokyo because of the possibility of an accident in its nuclear reactor. They also are opposed to the increase in sailors who will be deployed to Yokosuka as a result of the ship swap, and say the carrier could make Yokosuka a target if hostilities break out between the United States and another country.

"We should not have a nuclear reactor, surrounded by ammunition and highly flammable jet fuel, located right outside of our most populated city," said Masahiko Goto, a local lawyer who has led protests against the ship.

But Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter said the deployment of the ship demonstrates the U.S. commitment to its alliance with Japan and to the U.S. 7th Fleet, which is based here.

"The 7th Fleet serves to defend Japan and deter war throughout the region," Winter said in a welcoming ceremony with brass bands, hot dogs and baby-kissing. "By providing one of our newest and most capable carriers, the George Washington, to the 7th Fleet, we are demonstrating our commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance."

The new Japanese foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, also welcomed the carrier, but noted the Japanese concerns over a nuclear accident.

"We will continue to do all we can to assure that it is safe," Nakasone said.

The U.S. Navy says that the George Washington will give the 7th Fleet greater range and better striking capabilities. Along with the 7th Fleet, the largest in the Navy with about 60 ships and 20,000 sailors, there are about 50,000 U.S. troops deployed throughout Japan under a mutual security pact.

The Kitty Hawk was conventionally powered, and the deployment of the George Washington has raised concerns among antinuclear groups, who say it should not be based so close to Tokyo, which is about 45 kilometers, or 30 miles, to the north.

Such concerns were heightened when the U.S. Navy disclosed in early August that the Houston, a nuclear submarine, had leaked water containing radiation during several calls to Sasebo and Okinawa, in southern Japan, and Yokosuka between July 2006 and April 2008. A navy investigation found the leak posed no danger to Japan.

Concerns over safety were also raised after a fire broke out aboard the George Washington in May. The fire, which is believed to have been caused by smoking in an unauthorized area, resulted in dozens of injuries and an estimated $70 million in damage.

Japanese constitution mocked by America not true. Japan needs to defend itself along with helping it's allies for the greater humanitarian purpose.


This video below talks about Japans role to fuel ships in the Indian Ocean a bit. Any issues relating to joint ventures with other countries seem to be upsetting to some. This is because of the Japanese constitution and because of the Nuclear powered carrier. The Kitty Hawk was not nuclear powered.

Don't bring your ships into port but we'll do that else where (refueling) . Just how many natural gas carrying ships come in and and out of Japanese ports. Oh that's liquid natural gas. It's not nuclear munitions or other explosives like aircraft fuel, etc. Right.

Japan has an agreement in place since 1995 with America

supposedly because of past tension with Taiwan. Japan knows that the Middle East is also an important part to keep stable. The Navy has to get to the Middle East quickly when called upon.

Russia Can Look for Opportunity Whether There Is Some Fun or Not

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

Russia has every right to exercise its fine champaigne and caviar.


Personally I see this as a brouhaha for the Russians to laugh it up a bit. So their plan would be like any Russian celebration, get in bed with as many partners for the duration of these economic crisis while the United States has to get themselves out of their economic woes.

It not that bad for Russia to get some business deals in the gas and oil sectors down. Gazprom, Russia's leading company and the world's largest exporter of energy, has signed an undertaking with the Venezuelan government to take a 15% stake in the development of two offshore oil and gas zones in the Caribbean.

Can't be all that bad when Canada is talking to Russia about energy deals.. But I guess that's expected when your biggest friend and ally is the United States being in the middle of elections. So Canada is as well. So there is a bit of apprehension and tension because they are still our government.

The cut and paste from Mineweb.com looked promising


But three months later things are different now; a little fuzzier with elections closer, the environment shutting down wells in the Gulf of Mexico, the financial bale out in the beginning stages.

For real reasons unknown to most why the leaders and officials of Venezuelan and Russia get to be entertained through dinner parties with possible first hand views in the simulated naval training exercise we and myself can only speculate.

Cowboy or no Cowboy mentality this is the best position Putin is in. Secure your future energy needs.

What are the Brits and French doing ? or for that matter all the other nations.

Sea power

— In the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 – the largest naval battle since Trafalgar – the Russian fleet sailed 18,000 miles (33,000km) to Port Arthur in the Pacific, where it was outmanoeuvred and destroyed by Japanese forces.

— During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the Soviet Navy conducted 180 voyages on 86 ships to transfer weapons to Cuba.

Will they follow with the observation ships or subs. As far as I know satellites do a good job in good weather.

This really is of no concern. Their not getting into "break water" with the Russians.

Does Russia not supply natural gas to Britain's homes. According to The Telegraph UK more than 40% of England's electricity comes from natural gas fired plants.

American's need to "Drill More" is one slogan being thrown around during the U. S. election campaign.

Well we need alternatives. Still natural gas is needed and Russia expects to sustain itself. Who will get richer by all this? Putin is now the nurturing mother bear to some.

Let's hope that the Russian Navy makes it the whole way through all of this pomp and circumstance. Nothing wrong with Navy food and all the ink signing deals. Pleasant dreams in deed.

Sources: Mineweb.com, Chicago Tribune ,The Telegraph UK.

What does this all mean to the rest of the world?

Time will tell, but one thing is certain. The squadron of Peter the Great is no laughing matter.

Ghosts And A Bucket Of Junk

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...for Tour to United States NavalShipbuilding Museum Online. Located in historic Quincy, Massachusetts.

Ghosts and a bucket of junk up your alley?. Well only the brave will love looking for ghosts on the USS Salem CA-139. Details are at The Mass Paranormal Tour

Use Podanza to ALL HANDS RADIO in iTunes

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Russia Gives Nato 21 Days To Leave

Nato has til Sept. 19 to Leave Black Sea ?

BRUSSELS, Sept 10 (Reuters) - NATO said a group of four allied warships was leaving the Black Sea as planned on Wednesday after conducting what it called a long-planned schedule of exercises. "The Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG 1) successfully completed its planned visit and is leaving the Black Sea today," the alliance said in a statement of the deployment, which prompted Russian accusations of a NATO naval build-up close to Georgia.


"Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Joshua 1:9

The United States was pursuing a delicate policy of delivering humanitarian aid on military transport planes and ships, apparently to illustrate to the Russians that they do not fully control Georgia’s airspace or coastline.

The policy has left American and Russian naval vessels maneuvering in close proximity off the western coast of Georgia, with the Americans concentrated near the southern port of Batumi and the Russians around the central port of Poti.

It has also left the Kremlin deeply suspicious of American motives.

Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, said at a briefing in Moscow that under the agreement, Turkey, which controls the straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, must be notified 15 days before military ships sail into the sea, and that warships could not remain longer than 21 days.

"The convention stipulates a limited number of vessels," he said.

"That is, the same state cannot deploy a certain group without any limit."

He said any sustained NATO deployment would require rotating ships through the straits.

It was unclear on Wednesday how many NATO ships were currently in the Black Sea.

Snippet From NY Times

Russia warns Turkey on U.S. ships in Black Sea

Russia said U.S. ships could only stay in the Black Sea for 21 days according to the Montreux Convention, and warned if they do not leave by then Turkey would be responsible.

Russia's deputy military chief Anatoly Nogovitsyn said the NATO warships' entrance to the Black Sea is a "serious threat to our security," Hurriyet daily reported on Thursday.

He said under the Montreux Convention, signed in 1936 on the status of the Turkish Straits, the warships can only stay in the Black Sea for 21 days.

"If the NATO ships continue to stay in the Black Sea after the expiration of 21 day-period, then I would like to remind you that Turkey would be responsible," he added.

The U.S. warships are spearheading a humanitarian aid mission to Georgia, a U.S. ally that wants to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Clashes erupted in the Caucasus after Russia responded to Georgia's military operation to regain the control in the breakaway region South Osstia.

The U.S. ships are carrying nuclear missiles that can hit Russian targets as far away as St. Petersburg, Nogovitsyn said, according to Hurriyet. Russia has dispatched its own ships to track the U.S. vessels.

Northrop Grumann Delivers Littorial Naval Ship

Lockheed Martin said it delivered the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to the U.S. Navy on Thursday, about a year after it was originally scheduled.

"This is a truly exciting day for the Navy. Today marks a critical milestone in fulfilling the need and realizing the vision we began just a few years ago," Capt. James Murdoch, the LCS Program Manager said.

"Despite our challenges, the Navy and industry have continued to press on to build and deliver the first ship of a unique class, a ship class that will give our Nation our own asymmetric advantages against future maritime threats."

"I am extremely proud of all the men and women of Lockheed Martin, Marinette Marine, Gibbs & Cox and Bollinger whose hard work has successfully delivered Freedom to the fleet," said Dan Schultz, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Maritime Security & Ship Systems business.

"Our team is prepared to build more of these agile warships to give the Navy unsurpassed capabilities and dominance in the littorals."

The 378-foot Freedom -- a survivable, semi-planing steel monohull -- will help the Navy defeat growing threats and provide access and dominance in the littoral battlespace. Reaching speeds over 40 knots and displacing 3,000 metric tons, Freedom is a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and the potential for a wide range of additional missions including maritime interdiction and humanitarian/disaster relief.

In 2004, the Navy awarded a contract to the Lockheed Martin team to develop the first LCS. Construction began in February 2005 and Freedom was christened and launched in September 2006.

This represents less than half the time typically required to design, build, launch and deliver a first-in-class combatant. Freedom successfully completed sea trials in August 2008 and will be commissioned on November 8, 2008 in Milwaukee, WI and eventually homeported in San Diego, CA.

The Project has been dogged by cost overruns from both defense contractors building the ships, Lockheed and General Dynamics

The Pentagon overhauled the program last year, but is still unsure of how many more to build as cost estimates are now more than twice the initial projections of $220 million per ship.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Navy said it was unhappy with bids submitted by Lockheed and General Dynamics for three more LCS ships, and asked both companies to go back and provide more information.

The Navy had planned to award new LCS contracts -- two ships to the winning bidder and one to the other -- by early August, but officials have been tight-lipped about any award date.

The Lockheed Martin-led industry team for LCS also includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox, ship builders Marinette Marine, a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, Inc. and Bollinger Shipyards,and others.

Russian Caribbean Naval Exercise Not Too Far Off

CARACAS (Reuters) - Several Russian ships and 1,000 soldiers will take part in joint naval maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea later this year, exercises likely to increase diplomatic tensions with Washington, a pro-government newspaper reported on Saturday.

Quoting Venezuela's naval intelligence director, Salbarore Cammarata, the newspaper Vea said four Russian boats would visit Venezuelan waters from November 10 to 14.

Plans for the naval operations come at a time of heightened diplomatic tension and Cold War-style rhetoric between Moscow and the United States over the recent war in Georgia and plans for a U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Cammarata said it would be the first time Russia's navy carried out such exercises in Latin America. He said the Venezuelan air force would also take part.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, has said in recent weeks that Russian ships and planes are welcome to visit the South American country.

"If the Russian long-distance planes that fly around the world need to land at some Venezuelan landing strip, they are welcome, we have no problems," he said on his weekly television show last week.

Chavez, who buys billions of dollars of weapons from Russia, has criticized this year's reactivation of the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet, which will patrol Latin America for the first time in over 50 years.

The socialist Chavez says he fears the United States will invade oil-rich Venezuela and he supports Russia's growing geopolitical presence as a counterbalance to U.S. power.

Chavez has bought fighter jets and submarines from Russia to retool Venezuela's aging weapons and says he is also interested in a missile defense system.

U.S. seizes cocaine-laden sub off Costa Rica

Officials capture drugs worth $187 million after dramatic nighttime raid

Recycle Navy Ships Better Than Sinking

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

Former Navy ship arrives at docks

HMS Intrepid will be recycled at Canada Dock

A former Royal Navy assault ship which served in the Falklands War has arrived in the Port of Liverpool.

The 12,000 tonne HMS Intrepid was due to arrive in Canada Dock on Monday, but finally arrived on Wednesday.

It is due to be dismantled and recycled by a team of 50 dock workers over a period of five months.

Some dock workers have refused to work on the project for health and safety reasons, but the ship's owners said it would comply with strict guidelines.

The ship is owned by Leavesley International, which will also carry out the work.

There is no shortage of ships out there waiting to be responsibly dealt with Leavesley International

The firm has secured both Liverpool City Council planning permission and the Environment Agency's Waste Management Licence.

Stuart Halsey, Project Leader and Head of Business Development for Leavesley International, said it would be the first of many ships to be recycled in Liverpool.

"There is no shortage of ships out there waiting to be responsibly dealt with," he said.

"Their recycling is an inherently sustainable activity where over 95% of the vessel's material can be reprocessed.

"We see Leavesley International being a permanent fixture in the Port of Liverpool."

Frank Robotham, Marketing Director of Peel Ports Group, which owns and operates the Port of Liverpool, said: "The decision by Leavesley to locate this innovative recycling contract in the Port of Liverpool grafts another centre of excellence onto an already vibrant maritime sector."

HMS Intrepid was built in 1964, decommissioned in 1991 and earmarked for disposal in 1999.

Another Destroyer To Go Down :HMCS Annapolis

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

The 371-foot Destroyer has a helicopter deck and hangar plus an exterior Bridge on the upper deck. It is the Seventh ship to sunk by this group. They have also submerged a Boeing 737- 200 by crane just off Chemainus, on Vancouver Island, on Saturday January 14, 2006.

The exact co-ordinates are: Latitude 48 56.142N; Longitude 123 43.130W

Planned to be sunk near Vancouver in 2009, the Annapolis is certain to become one of the most unique and popular additions to the fleet of ARSBC artificial reefs on the British Columbia coast.

The Annapolis project is a co-operative effort of the Artificial Reef Society of B.C., Canadian Artificial Reef Consultants, BrandLive Promotions, many sponsors, and with the support of dive shops & operators around Vancouver.

The ship is planned to be sunk in Howe Sound in 2009.

Canadian Ships Returning Home After Four Months

CHENNAI: Two Canadian warships, which had docked at the Chennai Port on Wednesday morning as part of a three-day stopover here, would be engaged in a one-day naval exercise with the Indian Navy.

The two ships – Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Calgary and HMCS Protecteur – would conduct a passage exercise off Chennai coast in the Bay of Bengal involving communication, manoeuvring, station keeping, search and seize operations and exchange of personnel.

At a media briefing on board the Calgary, Commander Kelly Larkin said the ships Canadian patrol frigate and logistics support ships are on their return journey around the globe after a four-month counter terrorism deployment to the Arabian Sea as a part of a multinational coalition known as Combined Task Force (CTF) 150.

The last Canadian warship visit to India was in 2006 when Calgary’s sister ship HMCS Ottawa stopped in Goa while returning home from the same mission. Calgary, Iroquois and Protecteur are 22nd, 23rd and 24th Canadian ships to serve in the Arabian Sea region since September 2001.

A multipurpose platform, the Calgary carries Harpoon missiles, Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, 57 mm Bofors gun and suitable anti-submarine warfare capabilities, along with a Sea King helicopter.

The combination of its varied and proven weapon and sensors system coupled with a state of the art damage control and machinery control systems makes Calgary one of the most advanced warship designs in the world.

The peacetime role of HMCS Calgary will include a variety of important missions, including search and rescue, training deployments, sovereignty patrols and combined operations with our allies.

Protecteur is the Canadian Navy’s only supply ship stationed on the Pacific Coast. Her role is to provide Canadian and Allied warships with fuel, food and supplies. Mobility and time on station are essential factors in the conduct of effective operations at sea.

Supply ships substantially increase the warfare capability of Canada’s Maritime Forces by enabling warships to remain at sea for longer periods without returning to port for fuel, supplies and maintenance. She is a large vessel displacing nearly five times the tonnage of one frigate. This allows her to carry enough provisions to supply a task force of six destroyers for six weeks without having to return to port for re-supply.

Sell The Victory A Silly Idea or Not

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


HMS Victory will remain part of the Royal Navy. We will not be giving her away or decommissioning the ship. It is currently run by the Navy and retired Navy personnel show the public around the ship.

The consultation is designed to produce a relationship between the RN and any of the options below which secures the necessary funding and the long term good health of the vessel, without the Royal Navy and the public losing control of the ship.

We are committed to securing her future and want to make sure that she is as well looked after as possible in her old age. That is why we are looking at a range of funding options for the continued support and ongoing maintenance of the ship.

Considerable expenditure will be required over the coming years to maintain her material state, and we will consider options that will secure these funds. These will include: maintaining the current status quo; alternative public ownership by another Government Department or Non Departmental Public Body; a new independent Charitable Organisation, either a company limited by guarantee or a charitable trust; or an existing Charitable Organisation.

In her 243rd year, HMS VICTORY is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and as such has numerous and complex maintenance requirements. The review will seek an arrangement which guarantees this future material support. Contributing to the development of Naval Heritage in Portsmouth , continuing access for the public and maintaining her status as flagship to the Second Sea Lord are all important conditions of all the options under review.

Defence Minister Baroness Ann Taylor said:

HMS Victory will remain part of the Royal Navy. Nothing will change in that respect. The objective for this study is the sustainability of HMS VICTORY as a museum ship and commissioned Royal Navy warship. Continued access depends on extensive works being carried out over the coming years. An examination of the full range of options will seek to ensure that HMS VICTORY is preserved in a sound condition in her home port of Portsmouth for generations to come.

Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Alan Massey said:

The review will openly and equally examine all the options available to us to ensure that HMS Victory continues her distinguished Naval career in the best possible state. We are consulting across the full spectrum of stakeholders and interested parties and their views will play an important part in the recommendations that flow from the review.


A veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS VICTORY is a vital part of our heritage, not only for the Navy and the people of Portsmouth but to the country as a whole and the MOD is committed to securing her future. The review will be aim to identify the option that best secures the long term material, financial and cultural viability of this much-loved ship.

Explosions Near US Navy Base

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


TOKYO (AP) — A U.S. naval base may have been the target of two explosions that rattled a nearby residential area just south of Tokyo, police said Saturday.

No one was wounded in the late Friday blasts in a neighborhood about half a mile from the Yokosuka Naval Base, according to a statement by the Yokosuka Police Station.

Investigators found evidence of two possibly rocket-propelled bombs at the site in Yokosuka, police said, without elaborating.

Local news reports said police were investigating if the blasts were aimed at the U.S. base. A Yokosuka police spokesman confirmed this was the nature of the investigation.

The spokesman, who declined to be named citing department policy, could not verify media reports that the roof of a house in the neighborhood was damaged in one of the explosions.

Yokosuka Naval Base officials have not released a statement and were unavailable for comment Saturday.

Earlier Friday, the U.S. Navy announced that the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was scheduled to arrive Sept. 25 in Yoyosuka, its new home port, about 30 miles south of Tokyo.

The planned arrival of the carrier has drawn criticism from Japanese living near the base who are opposed to the U.S. military presence in Yokosuka and the increased number of American sailors the ship would bring to the area. There are also concerns about a possible accident or leakage from the aircraft carrier's nuclear reactor.

The U.S. Navy disclosed in August that the USS Houston, a submarine, had leaked water containing radiation during several calls to Sasebo and Okinawa in southern Japan and Yokosuka between July 2006 and April 2008. But a Navy investigation concluded the leakage posed no danger to Japan.

Entertaining Navy Gun Competiton

The Canadian Navy used a different gun and system to haul the gun and limber. There were two ramps, and a block and tackle system that the sailors used to slide across the rope to the other side.

The Gun was modeled after a British 6pdr rather than modeled after a Royal Navy 4.7 Inch Naval Gun. It had no rear carriage.

Both that and the Naval Ladder display were staples of the Royal International Nova Scotia Tattoo for two decades before the Gun Run and the Ladder display stopped.

Canada Navy to escort Somalia food aid ships

[Above photo] Airforce officer from the Canadian marine Mr.Carol Dupuis[L] shows the world food programme country director for Somalia Mr.Peter Goossen some parts of the helicopter that was on board of the naval ship the Mv.Ville de Quebec that has docked at the port of Mombasa in aiding the world food food programme to send relief food to Somalia.

The World Food Programme on Friday announced that it had resumed transportation of relief food to Somalia after the Canadian Navy offered an escort.

Ships carrying food aid will now be escorted by a Canadian warship.

“The situation in Somalia is grave with over three million people in need of food. There are only 3,000 metric tonnes of food there against a demand of 45,000,” WFP country director for Somalia Mr Peter Goossens said.

Navy Zuwalt Destroyer Program Ends

PORTLAND, Maine—Growing costs and vulnerability to anti-ship missiles sank the Navy's once-heralded "stealth destroyer," a highly advanced warship designed to slip close to the shore unnoticed and pummel targets with big guns boasting pinpoint accuracy.

Faced with cost estimates upward of $5 billion per ship, the Navy had no choice but to let its prized Zumwalt destroyer program end after the first two ships are built, analysts said Wednesday.

Congressional investigators long had been concerned that the Navy tried to incorporate too many new technologies on an untested platform. The originally envisioned 32 ships dipped to 12 and then seven as costs grew.

"I don't think this thing was a shock because fundamentally the whole program was a big fat target for many years," said Jay Korman, defense analyst at The Avascent Group.

Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday after additional briefings that the Navy plans to build nine more of its current Arleigh Burke destroyers, possibly with some added capabilities that went into the newer warship.

After talking with Bath Iron Works president Dugan Shipway, Collins said the General Dynamics subsidiary on the Maine coast would need to build seven of those nine ships to make up for the loss of the Zumwalt program. Instead, she said the Navy has promised only that a "majority" of the ships will go to Bath, which is building one of the two Zumwalt DDG-1000 destroyers.

That sets the stage for a battle between the Maine and Mississippi congressional delegations for the additional Burke ships.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to get a good outcome for the skilled workers at Bath Iron Works. They're my top priority," said Collins, R-Maine.

Northrop Grumman's Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi will build the second Zumwalt destroyer.

Wall Street didn't seem alarmed by the decision. General Dynamics shares rose by $5.82 to close at $89.27 on the New York Stock Exchange after the company reported higher earnings; Northrop Grumman closed at $68.12, up $1.41.

The DDG-1000's growing cost came as the Navy is trying to expand to a 313-ship fleet. Officially, the ships are to cost roughly double the $1.3 billion price of a Burke destroyer. But estimates for the first two run as high as $5 billion.

Loren Thompson, an defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, said the Navy can't afford the DDG-1000 but it can't afford to stop building ships, either, if it wants to achieve its shipbuilding goals and maintain a shipbuilding infrastructure.

Another problem with the DDG-1000 design was its potential vulnerability. Bombarding the shore with guns is cheaper than using missiles, but the ship would be vulnerable to attack if it came within 100 miles of shore to use its 155-millimeter guns, Thompson said.

"The Navy should have understood a long time ago that putting a $3 billion destroyer off the coast of a hostile country so that it could use gunfire was a dangerous proposition," he said.

Finally, there was no known threat to justify the warship.

Winslow Wheeler from the Center for Defense Information said the ship's demise was because of "cost, complexity and irrelevance."

"Please tell me what this thing would do today, if it were available in Iraq or Afghanistan?" the defense analyst said. "Talk about something that's totally out of control. This thing is a national embarrassment, that's what it is."

For years, it has been one of the Navy's prized programs. It has a low profile and composites in its superstructure for stealth. It also features a form of electric drive propulsion, new combat systems and a new hull form.

Displacing about 14,500 tons, the ship is 50 percent larger than a Burke destroyer but will have half the crew thanks to automated systems.

"I still believe that the ship offers capabilities that the Navy lacks and needs, but it's up to the Navy to determine its military requirement," Collins said.

Neither shipyard had been officially briefed as of Wednesday. The Navy had no official comment on its plans, either for scrapping the Zumwalt program or for building additional Burke destroyers.

"One thing is for sure, we stand ready to build it, whatever it is," Nicholas Chabraja, General Dynamics' chief executive, said Wednesday in a conference call.

Northrop Grumman expressed a similar sentiment.

"We are positioned to support the U.S. Navy to execute the shipbuilding plan which they identify as best meeting their operational requirements and addressing the needs of our nation," spokeswoman Jerri Dickseski said in a statement.

Mexican Navy Seizes Cocaine Sub

The Mexican navy says it has seized nearly six tonnes of cocaine found inside a 10m-long (31ft) makeshift submarine in the Pacific Ocean.

A naval spokesman said they had known about such submarines but this was the first time they had seen one. US intelligence helped in the operation.

Four Colombian crew members have been taken into custody.

In a separate development Mexico's army seized at least 12 tonnes of marijuana in the city of Tijuana.

The haul is the largest since President Felipe Calderon sent thousands of troops to the region along the border with the US.


The submarine had been carrying its cargo from Colombia towards the coast of Mexico when it was intercepted on Wednesday. It took the navy two days to tow it to shore.


The cocaine was inside sealed packages on board the sub. The US Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, revealed on Friday that US intelligence had led Mexican forces to the submarine.

"We shared information with the Mexican navy, but the Mexican navy acted alone. It was actually their seizure, their marines, their helicopters and naval vessels that captured the submarine," Mr Chertoff said on a visit to Mexico City.

Mexican Vice-Admiral Jose Maria Ortegon Cisneros said that the drugs were in 257 packages wrapped in black plastic.

He said that the submarine was equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) and a compass.

"This is going to force us to intensify our aerial surveillance, because the freeboard (distance from the deck to the water) of this sub is not detected by radars or any type of electronic detection device," he told reporters in Salina Cruz in the state of Oaxaca.

"Four people were detained. Based on their statements they say they left from Colombia. They did not specify from what port. Three of them are from Buenaventura and the other from a town in the centre of Colombia."

He added that the navy had stepped up patrols in the area where the sub was seized.

The crew claimed to be fishermen forced by drug cartels to move the cargo, said Vice Admiral Cisneros. They said they had sailed from Colombia about a week ago.

'Symbolic' victory

Meanwhile, the 12 tonnes of marijuana seized in the border city of Tijuana was the single biggest haul of the drug since President Felipe Calderon sent more than 25,000 troops to the region last year to tackle trafficking.

Officials said that about three tonnes of the drug were found in a stolen car on Thursday while the rest was discovered on Friday.

So far in 2008 the Mexican army says it has confiscated more than 500 tonnes of marijuana in the state of Baja California alone.

Mr Calderon came to power in 2007 promising to rid Mexico of organised and drug-related crime.

But the BBC's Americas editor, Emilio San Pedro, says that despite celebrations at the military barracks in Tijuana, this seizure - no matter how large - is mostly a symbolic victory as it is far from a death blow to the cartel bosses.

Authorities say the traffickers are extremely organised and far from willing to give up their lucrative enterprise, which earns them tens of millions of dollars every year.

Navy Gets It's Share & More with Dale Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Navy Team Up To Promote Boot Camp

The U.S. Navy and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Friday announced the formation of the Dale Jr. Division, an 88-person boot camp division at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois. To launch the division, Earnhardt Jr. will drive the JR Motorsports No. 83 Navy Dale Jr. Division Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 24. The national recruiting effort will be supported by a national advertising and marketing campaign. Recruits who sign up for the Dale Jr. Division will be commissioned by Earnhardt, who will again visit the recruits upon completion of their seven-to-eight week course. Also, Brad Keselowski, driver of the JR Motorsports’ Nationwide Series No. 88 Navy Chevrolet, will join the division during training to learn the boot camp basics (Navy).

Navy Enlists Earnhardt Jr.'s Help To Promote Recruitment Initiative

CALL TO SERVE: In Birmingham, Daniel Blank noted of the 10,000 people who will pass through a display on a typical race weekend, the Navy "anticipates on developing approximately 300 leads for recruits." The Navy spends around $6.5M from its publicly funded general advertising budget to sponsor JR Motorsports' No. 88 car "and to set up the interactive displays." Navy Motorsports Program Manager Andrea Ross, who estimated the Navy has "already received nearly $6[M] worth of advertising exposure after eight races," said, "What we're looking for in this program is brand awareness, recruiting and retention. At the end of the day, we look at all these metrics to decide if our participation in the sport is worthwhile. Where we are right now with our partnership with JR Motorsports, we feel it is." Chief of Naval Personnel Capt. Jack Hanzlik said of the Dale Jr. Division, "It's the first time we've ever partnered with a celebrity, industry leader, in a call to action service"

A warship built at Hunters Point is to be sunk

A once powerful guided-missile cruiser that was built at San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, fought in the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, and was then mothballed in Suisun Bay, is scheduled to be towed to sea today to be strafed, torpedoed and sunk by allied forces in the Pacific.

The Horne (CG-30) was named for a Navy admiral who began his career on sailing ships at the turn of the 20th century, and will be remembered by legions of former crew members who served on the ship during its quarter-century of service. The ship's passing echoes a bygone era when San Francisco Bay was ringed with naval bases and warships were often seen.

Capt. Tim Lockwood of the fleet ocean tug Navajo said he plans to tow the Horne beneath the Golden Gate this afternoon on its final voyage toward Hawaii, where a multinational exercise is scheduled to use the cruiser's steel hull and superstructure for target practice.

Navy ship from Bremerton to be sunk

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

BREMERTON, Wash. -- A Navy destroyer that had been mothballed at Bremerton for six years has been towed away.

The David R. Ray will be used for target practice and sunk next week near Hawaii in the Rim of the Pacific war exercise. The exercise will involve ships, submarines and aircraft from 10 nations.

The 31-year-old Ray had been based at Everett before it was decommissioned in 2002.

State Rep. Larry Seaquist of Gig Harbor was the destroyer's commanding officer from 1981-1983 when it operated several months in the Persian Gulf and traveled to the South China Sea. He says the crew nicknamed the ship the "Malacca Marauder" for the straits it passed through.


I personally think this not the best practice by any nation.This goes on with the Australian, Canadian Navies and others as shown in the videos.

USS Anzio Arrives in Zeebrugge, Belgium

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

ZEEBRUGGE,, Belgium (NNS) -- USS Anzio (CG 68) conducted a five-day port visit to Zeebrugge, following completion of Exercise Joint Warrior 08-1. Exercise Joint Warrior was a two week at-sea NATO exercise conducted in the North Atlantic.

Participants included more than 30 aircraft, warships, and submarines from NATO countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the United States.

While in Zeebrugge, Anzio hosted a reception on behalf of the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, Sam Fox. Guests included personnel from the American Embassy in Brussels and Belgian defense officials, including Belgian Minister of Defense, Pieter de Crem and Belgian Air Component Commander, Lt. Gen. Gerard Van Caelenberge. The senior U.S. Navy representative was Vice Adm. William D. Sullivan, the United States representative to the NATO Military Committee. This was the first visit of a U.S. Navy surface combatant in eight years.

For Anzio's Sailors, the five day stop in Belgium provided a quality of life port visit and their first chance to experience the culture and history in Northern Europe. Many Sailors took advantage of the excellent transportation system available to visit Brugges, Brussels, Ghent, Paris, and Amsterdam.

"I really enjoyed this port visit; the Belgians were very friendly and helpful. This was an excellent opportunity to purchase some Belgian chocolate and have some very nice meals," said Lt. j. g. Tiffany Emerson, Anzio's anti-submarine warfare officer. "I had time to see Belgium and travel to nearby Amsterdam before getting underway. It's nice to be able to explore and experience other cultures."

Anzio is the 22nd Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser and is the second ship to bear the name, after the World War II Battle of Anzio. Anzio is homeported in Norfolk, Va.

Grave mission for warships

Crews of three U.S. vessels to do cleanup of Deadmans Island

Three U.S. warships sailed into Halifax Harbour on Tuesday.

The USS Barry and USS Donald Cook are destroyers, and the USNS Big Horn is an oiler. The ships, based in Norfolk, Va., are expected to stay here for several days.

"They’re going to be sending work crews from the Barry and the Cook down to Deadmans Island to do a cleanup on the island so it’s ready for our Memorial Day ceremony next Monday," said Marcia Seitz-Ehler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate General in Halifax.

"They’re probably going to branch out and do some work on the other parks in town, too, because so many people volunteered to help. I think they have more people than can fit on Deadmans Island volunteering to help clean it up right now."

Sailors and marines will work today with equipment and materials provided by Halifax Regional Municipality. They will repair the path to and from the island and do some other maintenance on the memorial.

"Given the time, effort, and resources the city put into creating the park, we are happy to once again have a chance to contribute labour to help with the upkeep of the site," U.S. Consul General Harold Foster said in a news release.

For almost 200 years, the bodies of 195 U.S. servicemen who died in British custody during the War of 1812 and were buried in unmarked graves on the Northwest Arm island went unnoticed by their own government. But in May 2005, U.S. officials dedicated a plaque to the memory of the prisoners buried there.

Now the U.S. Consulate General in Halifax and local U.S. navy exchange officers hold an informal ceremony to honour those American servicemen every Memorial Day. This year, the ceremony will take place May 26 at 9:30 a.m.

The three American warships that just arrived in Halifax recently participated in Joint Warrior 08-1, a multinational exercise held in the North Atlantic.

Foggy Morning At Naval Station Norfolk

USS Newport News (SSN 750)

Crew members cross the brow of the Los Angeles class fast-attack submarine at Naval Station Norfolk on a foggy morning.

Maritime Coastal Defense Vessel Tows Swordfish

ISE’s Aurora Active Towfish was towed for the first time from existing route survey equipment belonging to the Canadian Navy aboard a Maritime Coastal Defense Vessel (MCDV) off the coast of Vancouver Island.

Built in the 90’s for coastal defense, the Canadian Navy’s MCDVs were equipped with Route Survey System (RSS) payloads consisting of a high performance multibeam sonar built into a variable depth actively controlled towfish, and a shipboard handling system.

However, over the years, the operation of the variable depth active towfish has become problematic. As the Navy’s successful Interim Remote Minehunting and Disposal System (IRMDS) currently incorporates ISE’s Aurora variable depth towfish, there was an opportunity to integrate the Aurora towfish with the existing RSS
handling device and demonstrate the resulting towing performance from an MCDV.

The integration of Aurora with the RSS handling system was extremely straightforward, requiring minimal modifications to the towfish docking mechanism, as shown above. This towing trial is part of the Route Survey System Life Extension (RSSLE) project’s definition phase. During the three days of towing, over 20 hours of towing was completed in conditions including 25 to 30 knot winds and sea states up to 4.

The Aurora towfish provided very stable performance during unfamiliar handling maneuvers, launch and recovery, and operations with both faired and un-faired cabling at a variety of cable scopes, speeds, and depths. This indicates the Aurora can meet the Navy’s towing requirements for the next generation of high performance mine hunting sonars.

The Aurora Towfish is owned by Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC) Atlantic, and has been a part of a working relationship between DRDC and ISE for over 20 years. It is an integral part of the Canadian Navy’s IRMDS program.

ISE is extremely pleased to be a part of the RSSLE program and looks forward to future integration. Based in British Columbia, Canada, ISE has been involved in the design and development of autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles and robotics for over 30 years. Working with North American and International customers, ISE’s experience is represented by over 210 underwater vehicles, 26 of which are AUVs, built and delivered to clients in 20 countries. The Aurora Towfish is controlled by an ISE common controller.