Aussie warship turned into party boat for US rockers

IT will be all aboard HMAS XBox for Fall Out Boy fans when the navy turns one of its biggest warships into a party boat this month.

The US rockers will command the deck of HMAS Tobruk at Garden Island for an exclusive event to promote music-themed video games, with tickets distributed in competitions.

The concert is the second of the XBox Sounds banner "money-can't-buy" shows launched by Pussycat Dolls at the Sydney Opera House.

A spokesman for XBox Sounds said all expenses for the February 22 event were incurred on a "cost recovery basis".

"It's a free event but any costs will be incurred by Microsoft," he said. "The navy have been great, fantastic to deal with. It is something they have seen as a positive thing."

The RAN confirmed the cost arrangement was "a usual practice with defence events of this nature. A legal agreement is being drafted between Microsoft and navy to ensure there is no undue cost to navy for this event."

Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas approved the event on the basis it would convey the navy to a youth audience in a cost effective manner.

XBox will give away 400 tickets, with another 100 for HMAS Tobruk's crew of 140 personnel.

Don't Give Up The Ship!!

The final words of Captain Lawrence (October 1, 1781 – June 4, 1813) American Naval officer, are painted onto the USS Lake Erie (CG-70), seen here during a 2008 missile launch.

It really kind of makes you wonder if the business of the Navy and all the typical gripes that are associated with it stem from all the contingency plans needed.

There are really too many unforeseen problems caused because of shifts in government to start with. China is evolving it's military might, but with that Japan still has problems with US Marines, let alone China. I know you say what does that have to do with the Navy?

How about moving 18,ooo Marines and their families away from Okinawa because of safety issues and noise caused by having two new runways being build at the Naval Air Station for jets.

Hey Japan doesn't really like the problems caused by the Marines. So how long will take to get 18,0000 marines 3000km back to Japan from Guam? We all know there's an airwar with tons of missles launched before hand.

So whose life's are in harms way the Marines or Japanese Civilians?

Ports of Call Vow for Military Business

My second point being about just where to place a huge aircraft carrier for the sake of staving off any threats from Chavez. It's all about saving traveling time. Right?

Why should you send a $ 6 billion dollar carrier to Ft. Lauderdale? They have had enough problems with March Break mania college festivities. Does the area expect to makeup for the 37% over budgeted ship to gain in the end for the taxpayers? It may take a long time. Being that it will be out to sea more often than not.

There could be more to add to this. Considering that pirates are rampent. Should be a demand for Marines and ships no matter what the cost.

Downtime: Maintenance on USS Shiloh (CG67)

YOKOSUKA, Japan (Jan. 12, 2008) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) is in dry dock during a dry dock selective restricted availability. Shiloh is forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan and is part of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Bryan Reckard/Released)

In August 2006, she arrived on station at Yokosuka Naval Base replacing the USS Chancellorsville as part of a joint U.S.-Japanese ballistic missile defense program.

Shiloh's Name Comes From Cival War Battle

In March 1862, Major General Henry W. Halleck was put in command of all Federal forces in the Mississippi Valley, and he initiated a slow advance which he sent his two armies along the Tennessee River. By early April Ulysses S. Grant had some 37,000 men near Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing, close to the Tennessee-Mississippi border, and off to the east Don Carlos Buell's 25,000 were on their way from Nashville to join him. Meanwhile, Albert Sidney Johnston was desperately assembling all the Confederate troops he could find Corinth, Mississippi. He had more than Grant, but he would have to strike before Buell arrived.

The Union position was a reasonably strong one, but Grant and his division commanders felt it would be bad for morale to have the men entrench. General C.F. Smith told Grant, "By God, I want nothing better than to have the Rebels ... attack us! We can whip them to hell. Our men suppose we have come here to fight, and if we begin to spade, it will make them think we fear the enemy." In the Federal camps a peach orchard was in glorious bloom, and war and killing seemed remote.

But just 25 miles to the south Johnston was pushing his raw levies onto the roads. Like most of Grant's men, these Confederates were as green as grass. They ambled along, whooping and shouting, firing their guns just to see if they would work, driving their officers into a frenzy.

P.G.T. Beauregard, second in command, urged that the attack be called off, but Johnston was adamant: "I would fight them if they were a million." He ordered an assault for dawn on Sunday, April 6.

Grant was caught off guard, and in the first day's fight his army was almost pushed into the Tennessee River. It rallied just in time, Johnston was killed in action, and at dark Buell's troops began to arrive and one of Grant's divisions which had been delayed in reaching the field got to the scene. On the second day the Federals reversed the tide, and by mid afternoon Beauregard had to admit defeat. He drew his badly battered army back toward Corinth, and the Federals, equally battered, made no more than a gesture at pursuit. The greatest battle ever fought on the American continent, up to date, was over. The Federals had lost 13,000 men, the Confederates, 10,000. The troops had fought with impressive valor, but they had been poorly handled, especially on the Union side.

Earlier History referring to the Ships Class

A resort village of northeast New York between Lake George and Lake Champlain. Fort Carillon, built by the French in 1755, was taken in 1759 by the British, who renamed it Fort Ticonderoga. American Revolutionary troops captured the fort in May 1775, but it was later abandoned without a struggle to British forces in July 1777 during the Saratoga Campaign.

Name your next vehicle or child after a great battle.

Wanna Do The Shipping: Got To DoThe Protecting

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

Taipei- Taiwan is mulling sending warships to protect Taiwanese ships from Somali pirates, a politically sensitive move that needs China's approval, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Thursday.

Chao Chien-min, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, told a news conference that "related government agencies are evaluating if Taiwan should send warships to the Gulf of Aden to carry out patrol work," according to CNA.

"As when to send the warships, it depends on the outcome of the evaluation," CNA quoted him as saying.

Defence Ministry Spokeswoman Chih Yu-lan said that the Defence Ministry would comply with government policy.

"When we receive the order, we will be doing the planning for it," CNA quoted her as saying.

Taiwan has two of the world's leading container shipping lines - the Evergreen Marine and Yang Ming Marine - which have about 300 vessels - half registered in foreign countries.

In recent year, several Taiwan fishing trawlers have been hijacked by Somali pirates, but were released after the ship owners paid a ransom. No Taiwanese container ships have been hijacked near Somalia.

Currently several countries, including the United States, the European Union and China, have sent more than a dozen warships to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, to protect their own and international vessels.

China sent two destroyers and one supply ship to the area on December 25, and the Chinese fleet began fighting piracy off Somalia this week.

China said Wednesday that Taipei can ask Beijing to have Chinese warships escort Taiwan vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden, but Taipei has not made any such request yet.

At the news conference Thursday, a reporter asked Chao if the Taiwan government encouraged Taiwan ships to seek help from the Chinese fleet when they are attacked by pirates.

Chao said Taiwan had anti-terrorism cooperation pacts with the US and Europe. If Taiwan ships faced danger in the Gulf of Aden, they could seek help from US and European warships.

Taiwan's sending warships to join the anti-piracy effort in the Gulf of Aden could pose problems to China. China sees Taiwan as its breakaway province and has barred Taiwan from joining international activities and international organizations.

Taiwan is recognized by only 23 - mostly small - nations, and Taiwan warships can only patrol Taiwan waters and go on friendly visits to Taiwan's diplomatic allies - which do not include Somalia.

While on your travels around the world you all might want to get the spray cans out and send a message on the Evergreen containers. I see lots in North America that need a coat of paint.

"Get the Goods To Market Without Killing One Another"

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.