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.

World War 2 Bomb Lost By Royal Navy

Royal Navy divers are searching for a huge World War Two bomb which has been lost off the Suffolk coast as it was being towed out to sea to be safely detonated.

The 1,000lb device, thought to be German and dropped in 1942, was washed ashore at Felixstowe, a week ago, and hundreds of homes were evacuated.

Bomb disposal experts attached the device to a floating frame to tow it two miles out to sea to destroy it. But strong tides dislodged the bomb and Royal Navy divers have spent six days trying to relocate it.

An exclusion zone has been imposed to protect boats.

A Royal Navy spokesman Lt Cdr Mark Hankey said the bomb had been "misplaced" when one of its lift straps broke.

"It was slight technical malfunction, but it had the effect of disconnecting the marker buoy," he said.

He added: "If the operation had gone according to plan, it would have been dealt with by now, but sadly it didn't. We are throwing as many resources at it as we can."

He said water visibility was "horrific" and it was difficult for divers to operate in the fast current.

The unit is using an unmanned computer-operated submarine called Remus to try to locate the device.

Lt Cdr Hankey said: "I am confident it will be found. Our chances of finding it have been significantly enhanced by the use of the unmanned underwater vehicle.

"Once it as been located, a charge will be attached to it and it will be blown up in a controlled manner when everyone is at a safe distance."

A Navy spokesman said he understood the depth of water was not sufficient for a minehunter vessel with a camera to operate.

It had also not been possible to track the bomb with a GPS receiver because it would not work underwater.

The bomb was discovered a week ago by a workman who accidentally scooped it up in his digger bucket while working on new £10 million sea defences.

Lt Cdr Hankey said: "It is important to stress that the bomb is a lot safer than it was because it is now offshore."

The bomb is thought to be well away from shipping lanes used by vessels going in and out of Felixstowe, the biggest container port in Britain.

A local resident, Karen Sarrow, 35, of Felixstowe, said: "It is just a fiasco that they have managed to lose this enormous bomb. They should be really embarrassed. People have been saying that it is like something out of Dad's Army."

Farewell At Last To Navy Father

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Not always Steady As You Go...

MARGRET Morse was eight when the local postman and his wife walked to her home to deliver a telegram saying her father had died on HMAS Sydney.

Yesterday Mrs Morse had a chance finally to say goodbye to Petty Officer Cook John Stanley Davey, who was one of 645 crew members who died with the Sydney in its battle with the German raider Kormoran off Western Australia in November 1941.

She was on the navy frigate HMAS Anzac for memorial services held over the wrecks of her father's ship and the Kormoran.

Wreaths were dropped, along with shell casings bearing names of the Australians and Germans who died.

Mrs Morse remembers her father as a great cook and a loving dad to his four children.

Petty Officer Davey was in the naval reserve and was called up four days before war was declared.

Mrs Morse recalled yesterday how he welcomed his family aboard the warship in Melbourne a month before the Sydney sailed off on her last patrol.

She remembers weeks of rumours that something terrible had happened to the Sydney, then one evening there was a knock on the door and the postman was there with the telegram.

"He waited until he'd closed the post office and he and his wife walked to our place. That's how we got the news."

Over the years Mrs Morse has read every book and newspaper article about the ship's disappearance. "I spent my childhood wondering."

Some of her friends believed rumours that Sydney's crew had been captured by the Japanese and expected their fathers to come home after the Japanese surrender.

German ambassador Martin Lutz yesterday dropped a wreath over the sunken Kormoran, on which 80 Germans died.

The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon, said the service was simple but moving. "The lesson is that ultimately defence is about sacrifice," he said.

Four Canadian Warships Depart on Two Missions

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

Almost half the sailors of the Pacific fleet, about 1,000 CF members, will see more of the world following Sunday’s departure of four warships on two separate missions.

HMC Ships Regina and Ottawa will be away for four months, taking the Great Circle Route to Japan where they will participate in both WestPloy and the Rim of the Pacific Exercises 2008 (RIMPAC).

HMC Ships Protecteur and Calgary have taken a different route, heading south through the Panama Canal to join the East Coast destroyer HMCS Iroquois. From there, they will make their way to the Middle East and the Persian Gulf for Roto 4 of Operation Altair, Canada’s naval contribution to the American-led war on terrorism. Sailing with them will be Cmdre Bob Davidson, who will assume command of the coalition fleet that consists of 12 ships from the U.S., Britain, Germany, France and Pakistan.

The 195-day mission will take them on an around-the-world voyage.

“I don’t think many sailors can claim to have gone around the world. Maybe only five or 10 per cent can say that,” said Protecteur’s Executive Office, Commander Yves Germain. “It’s a good claim to fame. It’s a good story to tell your children, at the cost of being away for over six months, but it’s a good story to tell.”

This tour of duty brings mixed emotions to many crewmembers in Protecteur.

Being extensively involved in Operation Altair, seeing more exotic ports of call as they circumnavigate the globe, and being able to put their years of training to use are all positive aspects of the trip, according to many.

But being away from friends and loved ones for over half a year is not easy, not for the seasoned sailor nor the new recruit.

Protecteur’s Commanding Officer, Cdr Sean Cantelon, agrees.

“I have two daughters, ages 12 and nine and they know enough about sailing time, we’ve discussed it; we’ve taken out a map and talked about it, but it certainly is causing stress and challenges. It’s not easy, not easy at all,” he explains.

To add to the stress, toward the end of the mission, he will hand over command of the supply ship to Cdr Ian Wood. Back home, his family will move to Ottawa, his next posting.

“My wife will sell a house, buy a house and move a family. Two children will finish another year of school and enroll in a new school in a new city, and all without my being there. It’s a pretty significant impact on the family.”

Crew morale and welfare during the deployment falls primarily on the shoulder’s of CPO1 Ron Mierau, Coxswain. With a 30-year career in the navy, he understands the emotional pre-deployment cycle.

“Everybody goes through emotional ups and downs with home life and family life and work life, so it is very stressful before a trip. Everybody is excited because this is a chance of a lifetime, going around the world. But six and a half months is a very long time to be away.”

CPO1 Mierau and his wife have two children. His daughter Hayley, 17, will graduate from high school when he’s away. “She’s the only one of our four kids whose graduation I’ll miss.”

She also turns 18 while her father is away, and his wife will celebrate a birthday as well.

But long before the ship set sail, CPO1 Mierau made arrangements to ensure there will be “special deliveries” for those special occasions.

The feelings of excitement that many of the crew has for this trip are definitely a counterbalance to the feelings of sadness and loss at being away for such an extended period of time.

The ship’s company will see many new cities and host many unique events during their days away, but CPO1 Mierau sums it up best for all when he says the part of this trip he is looking forward to most is just “being home.”

Underwater Images Of HMAS Sydney Shown

As Rough As It May Seem, It's Not always Steady As You Go...

SEEING the first images of the sunken HMAS Sydney provides some closure to the 66-year-old mystery, the son of one of the ship's crewmembers says.

The images were published today after being taken by a remotely-operated submersible deployed from the survey vessel Geosounder.

The Sydney wreck was found last month -- almost seven decades after it was lost with all 645 crew -- off the coast of Western Australia.

The Australian warship sank after a gun battle in November 1941 with the German mercantile raider Kormoran, the wreck of which was also found last month.

The images show a gun turret on the Sydney with a shell hole clearly visible between the two guns.

Another shows a gun turret with wreckage strewn over it, while a further photo shows a section of the deck with teak decking remarkably intact.

Brisbane man Royce Laycock, 70, was four years old when his father, of the same name, perished in the sinking.

Mr Laycock said the photos show the Sydney was the target of a precise attack from the Kormoran.
"They must have been blown out of the water,'' he told AAP after seeing the photos.

"I'd say the bridge would have gone first, and that's probably why there was no survivors.

"It's hit its water line, and then the guns have been wiped out. It's not random shooting, it's been precise shooting.''

A keen follower of the HMAS Sydney mystery, Mr Laycock has collected every piece of information he could over the years, and said the new images would bring some closure.

"I think that it will bring some closure to it, seeing the damage sustained,'' he said.

"It just wasn't a single torpedo on the boat that sort of broke it in two and it's gone down.

"It limped away but it must have been hammered right, left and centre.

"My father was a stoker who wouldn't have had one hope in hell of getting up on deck.''