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N J CURRIN

HMS Spey gets back on the high seas after her repairs are completed in Japan

25th June 2024 at 4:47pm

HMS Spey repairs in Japan 250624 CREDIT ROYAL NAVY
The second-generation River-class offshore patrol vessel has returned to her Indo-Pacific deployment (Picture: Royal Navy)

Repairs to HMS Spey have been succesfully completed thanks to the expertise and support of Japan Marine United in Yokosuka, in the Greater Tokyo Area.

The Royal Navy ship, which has been part of an extensive Indo-Pacific deployment, underwent necessary maintenance, described on X as “defect rectification”, to restore her full operational capabilities.

The vessel’s repairs were carried out efficiently, allowing HMS Spey to quickly return to a training exercise.

HMS Spey, the fifth and final of the second-generation River-class offshore patrol vessels built for the Royal Navy, is affectionately dubbed the “last of class – best of class” by her crew.

In January, HMS Spey departed Singapore to continue her deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.

HMS SPEY recently completed defect rectification with the assistance of our friends in Japan and the support of Japan Marine United in Yokosuka.
The Ship has now been fully restored to its capabilities and is back out on the high seas undertaking vital training for the Ship’s Co. pic.twitter.com/7xdEVOcheo— HMS Spey (@HMS_Spey) June 25, 2024

Working closely with Britain’s allies, the ship has been conducting security patrols aimed at combating drug-running, smuggling, terrorism, and other illegal activities.

Since May, HMS Spey has been involved in sea patrols aimed at stopping smugglers from helping North Korea develop nuclear weapons by enforcing international sanctions.

In a first-of-its-kind joint operation, the Royal Navy and its South Korean counterpart have carried out patrols around the Korean Peninsula.

HMS Spey has been assigned no permanent base and instead uses Pacific bases and ports relevant to her current mission.

HMS Spey Arrives in Yokosuka CREDIT UK in Japan
HMS Spey arriving in Yokosuka in April (Picture: UK in Japan)

Before that, in 2022, the patrol vessel was involved in fishery protection operations around key islands in the Indo-Pacific, safeguarding marine resources and supporting local economies.

While the specifics of the recent “defects” have not been disclosed, Forces News has contacted the Royal Navy regarding the nature of the repairs.

The collaboration between the Royal Navy and its Japanese counterparts highlights the strong international partnerships that the UK has been involved in to maintain maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.

The UK, US and Japan are set to hold regular military exercises together in the region starting next year, in addition to participating in various ongoing exercises, which will see HMS Tamar and HMS Spey remain continuously deployed in the region.

HMS Tamar scores a first as she successfully links up with US submarine support ship

20th June 2024 at 2:40pm

HMS Tamar berthed alongside the USS Emory S Land and the Australian survey ship HMAS Leeuwin (Picture: Royal Navy)

HMS Tamar has successfully berthed alongside a US Navy submarine support ship in an experimental link-up which could see the Royal Navy vessel extend her operations.

Tamar, an offshore patrol vessel, used the USS Emory S Land not just as a floating quayside or jetty, but also ‘plugged in’ to the vessel’s fuel, water and power supply.

The process known as rafting up also involved a third ship, the Australian survey vessel HMAS Leeuwin, as the trio of ships linked up in Cairns in Queensland.

The US Navy’s Emory S Land acts as a tender, normally providing forward support to US Navy hunter-killer nuclear submarines.

When no naval base is available, she sustains operations, providing electricity, water, consumables, spare parts, repairs and engineering assistance.

She also sustains their crews, offering medical and dental aid, mail, food and administration.

The UK does the same for the Royal Navy and US minehunters rather than submarines – operating in the Gulf, using RFA Cardigan Bay to provide similar facilities to mine warfare vessels, extending their operations.

HMS Tamar berthed alongside USS Emory S Land and HMAS Leeuwin 20062024 CREDIT Navy
The experimental link-up is known as rafting up (Picture: Royal Navy)

The Royal Navy said: “All three allied navies were keen to see whether the Emory S Land could do for larger surface vessels what it already does for the Silent Service.”

HMS Tamar is seven times smaller than the tender, and as both vessels were new to each other this was not simply a case of Tamar turning up and berthing alongside the US ship.

The three navies used scale drawings and extensive discussions to make sure the link-up of the three ships passed without incident.

Once Tamar was safely berthed, she was joined outboard by Australian survey ship HMAS Leeuwin.

Connections were subsequently made to prove that fuel, water and electricity could be provided to both ships from the US tender.

HMS Tamar rafting up alongside the USS Emory S Land 20062024 CREDIT Navy
HMS Tamar can perform a variety of roles, from intercepting drug-traffickers and smugglers to protecting UK territorial waters (Picture: Royal Navy)

In April, HMS Tamar was in Fiji where she had been helping the local government curb illegal fishing and drug smuggling.

The River-class patrol vessel was working with the Fijian Ministry of Fisheries, the Republic of Fiji Navy Ship Riders and the Royal New Zealand Navy.

HMS Tamar can perform a variety of roles, from intercepting drug-traffickers and smugglers to protecting UK territorial waters and providing humanitarian assistance in the wake of a disaster.

Carrier USS John C. Stennis Overhaul Delayed, Work Will Take More than 5 Years to Complete

SAM LAGRONE JUNE 18, 2024 2:52 PM – UPDATED: JUNE 18, 2024 4:26 PM

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) is moved to an outfitting berth at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, April 8, 2024. US Navy Photo

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The midlife overhaul and refueling for aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) will now take about five and a half years to complete – an extension of almost 14 months, according to Navy Fiscal Year 2025 budget documents.
Stennis began the refueling and complex overhaul in 2021 and was due to finish the massive, multi-billion overhaul by August 2025. However, that date was pushed to the right by more than a year to October 2026, according to the Fiscal Year 2025 budget documents released earlier this year.

Speaking to USNI News on Monday, program executive officer carriers Rear. Adm. Casey Moten said the delays are due to the workforce and material shortfalls that stretched out the delivery of USS George Washington (CVN-73), which were made worse by the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

George Washington was at the Newport News yard for almost six years before completing the RCOH with the sailors working in the shipyard subject to some of the toughest conditions in the military, according to a 2023 Navy investigation following the deaths by suicide of several sailors assigned to the carrier.

Stennis will be in the yard less time and the service has taken steps to increase the quality of life for the sailors working on the carrier, Moten told USNI News.

https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/18428791/embed?auto=1

A Flourish chart

That includes creating new habitability standards the carrier must meet before the Naval Sea Systems Command, the PEO and the ship’s leadership can make the decision to allow the sailors to move back aboard the carrier.

As part of the FY 2025 budget submission, the Navy requested additional funds for sailors to live off the ship during the work.

The cost increases, “include additional months of crew berthing and to provide more off-ship housing in apartments vice barracks for sailors. Beginning with [Stennis] RCOH, no on-board housing is used for crew berthing for sailors during the RCOH. In previous RCOH availabilities, crew move-aboard occurred nearly a year before the ship re-delivered,” reads the budget documents.

Lack of parking, adequate housing and other amenities, like reliable Wi-Fi and healthy food options, were highlights from an investigation that concluded sailors on Washington had the toughest living standards in the U.S. military.

Moten spoke at an announcement of a $120 million garage that would add 2,800 spots to allow sailors and shipyard workers parking nearby the shipyard with 2,000 spaces reserved for sailors working in the yard. According to the investigation, about 2,000 sailors parked in satellite lots, requiring travel of up to three hours to get to work.

Stennis left the dry dock of HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in April to start the second part of the carrier’s RCOH and is currently pier-side at the shipyard.

China Deploys Amphibious Warship Near the Philippines 

AARON-MATTHEW LARIOSA

JUNE 18, 2024 6:21 PM

A Chinese amphibious warship is operating near a disputed South China Sea feature that has been the site of a standoff between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guards, USNI News has learned.

An unidentified People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 075-class landing helicopter dock was first seen by a ship spotter in satellite photos in the South China Sea on June 12. On Friday, the 36,000-ton warship stopped near Subi Reef, a reclaimed feature that now hosts a Chinese military base. By Sunday, the amphib was spotted near Sabina Shoal.

Located 72 nautical miles northwest of the Philippine island of Palawan, Sabina is claimed by Beijing under its expansive claims in the South China Sea as Chinese territorial waters. Manila considers the shoal to be within its exclusive economic zone.

The dispute at Sabina Shoal began in April when Philippine Coast Guard flagship BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) anchored at the shoal in what it claims was a move to prevent Chinese island reclamation operations. Beijing called Manila’s statement a “sheer rumor.”

In the ensuing two months since Teresa Magbanua arrival, Chinese naval forces have shadowed the cutter in growing numbers. On May 12, the Philippines identified 34 vessels around Sabina Shoal from the People’s Liberation Army Navy, China Coast Guard and Maritime Militia. The deployments resulted in the first-ever Chinese naval exercise to occur in the Philippine exclusive economic zone, according to the Philippine Navy

On June 4, Chinese naval helicopters and hovercraft were spotted by the Philippine Coast Guard during their escort mission of civilian researchers. The ship they were launched from was later identified as a Type 071 amphibious platform dock (LPD). Jay Tarriela, spokesperson for the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, said in a tweet that “the objective of the PLA Navy’s deployment of its amphibious assault ship on June 4, 2024, was to disrupt the activities of civilian Filipino scientists who were conducting a scientific survey in Escoda Shoal.”

Both Philippine and Chinese media said the deployment of the Type 075 comes amid Beijing’s latest law that permits the China Coast Guard to detain those trespassing within Chinese waters for up to 60 days. Chinese state media also claimed that this was the first time a Type 075 had deployed to the disputed area.

According to a Naval War College report, the Type 075 can support between 900-1200 troops and their associated complement of amphibious assault vehicles, hovercraft and helicopters. Compared to its American counterpart, the U.S. Navy’s Wasp-class LHD, the Chinese flattop displaces slightly less at 36,000 tons and does not come with a complement of vertical and short take-off and landing fighter jets.

While a Congressional Research Service report on Chinese naval modernization noted that the Type 075 would be of great value for a Taiwan Invasion scenario, the report also noted that the vessels can be used in “operations for asserting and defending China’s claims in the South and East China Seas.”

Ben Lewis, a Defense Analyst focusing on PLA development and Taiwan security issues, told USNI News that the Type 075 brings a “significant capability” to Chinese forces attempting to uphold maritime claims and demonstrates “Beijing’s resolve to continue to assert its sweeping territorial claims.”

The arrival of China’s largest amphib to the South China Sea preceded Monday’s incident at Second Thomas Shoal, which resulted in one Philippine service member seriously injured and multiple vessels damaged in the most serious encounter between Manila and Beijing to date.