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.