Shanghai-based MizarVision releases image of warship believed to be the Shandong off Luzon, a patrol that could become more frequent, analyst says
A Chinese aircraft carrier reportedly patrolled the waters off the Philippines in an operation that observers say was a message to Manila and Washington.
The aircraft carrier is widely believed to be the Shandong, China’s most advanced aircraft carrier in service.
Alex Candlin – 4th July 2024 at 11:57am
In an exercise first, Japan, the UK and Australia trained together on a joint exercise ahead of a fleet review (Picture: Joint Operations Command)
HMS Tamar has joined vessels from the Australian and Japanese navies in an exercise first for the three nations.
She has been training with the JS Noshiro of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) and HMAS Choules of the Royal Australian Navy ahead of the upcoming Tongan International Fleet Review.
“This is the first joint exercise between Japan, Great Britain and Australia,” said the JMSDF.
HMS Tamar is a batch two River-class offshore patrol vessel and is known as the Royal Navy’s greenest warship.
She posted on social media site X: “Three-mendous. Some excellent training with our friends and allies from the Royal Australian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force en route to the Tongan International Fleet Review.”
The JMSDF added: “Great Britain and Australia are special partners for Japan in realising a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“JMSDF will continue to strengthen co-operation with allied and partner navies, contributing together to maintaining and enhancing maritime order.”
The trilateral exercise is the first of its kind between the three countries and shows ever-closer unity between the services.
It was previously announced that the UK and Japan would also hold regular trilateral military exercises in the Indo-Pacific from 2025 alongside the US.
These exercises will boost security in the region and further develop the ability of allied navies to operate side by side.
4th July 2024 at 12:49pm
Royal Navy warship HMS Trent on a previous deployment (Picture: Royal Navy)
HMS Trent is being deployed to the Cayman Islands to offer UK support following the devastation brought by Hurricane Beryl.
The Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel is scheduled to arrive at the British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean this weekend, where her crew will be ready to offer assistance with equipment and support to help communities affected by flooding and storm damage.
The hurricane, which had previously been rated Category 5, the highest classification, could bring winds of more than 155mph and has already caused a large amount of destruction in the region.
HMS Trent, who is crewed by more than 50 sailors, departed from Puerto Rico carrying bottled water, basic emergency supplies and other equipment.
The ship has a Crisis Response Troop embarked, comprising members of 24 Commando Royal Engineers and their equipment, further augmented with personnel to support planning, information operations, meteorological forecasting and image capture.
Additional personnel include a team from 700X Naval Air Squadron which provides HMS Trent’s embarked Puma Flight remote piloted air system, allowing them to conduct airborne reconnaissance and damage assessment in direct support of 24 Commando activity.
A specialist rapid deployment team has already travelled to the eastern Caribbean to provide consular assistance to any affected British nationals.
The UK continues to work with the Caribbean’s crisis response organisation, CDEMA, to provide assistance for the worst-affected islands, including St Vincent & the Grenadines and Grenada.
In previous years, members of the Armed Forces have deployed to the Caribbean under Operation Ventus to provide humanitarian assistance in the form of food and basic medical relief, as well as engineering to repair damaged homes and infrastructure, and creating flood and hurricane defences.
Hurricane Beryl has been described as the earliest Category 5 storm to form in the Atlantic, with storms of this scale usually recorded later in the summer.
HMS Trent has been deployed to the Caribbean since the end of 2023, where she has been disrupting drug networks across the world following a series of narcotics seizures at sea.
Thursday, July 4, 2024 – 23:44. Updated on Friday, July 5, 2024 – 01:00. – Nuku’alofa, Tonga
Tonga celebrated King Tupou VI’s birthday and the 50th Anniversary of the Tongan Navy with a Navy Fleet Review of visiting navy ships in Nuku’alofa on Thursday, 4 July 2024.
Multi-national brass bands marched with ships’ companies through central Nuku’alofa and through the grounds of the Royal Palace.
Tonga celebrated King Tupou VI’s birthday and the 50th Anniversary of the Tongan Navy with a Navy Fleet Review of visiting navy ships. Nuku’alofa, 4 July 2024. Photo: NZDF.
Tonga celebrated King Tupou VI’s birthday and the 50th Anniversary of the Tongan Navy with a Navy parade made up of multi-national bands and ships’ companies. Nuku’alofa, 4 July 2024. Photo: NZDF.
HM King Tupou VI with his Colonel-in-Chief of HMAF, HRH Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala made a Navy Fleet Review of six visiting navy ships and three patrol boats. Attending the review were high ranking navy officers from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and United States. From the region, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Kiribati sent representatives.
The celebrations on the Public Holiday included a Thanksgiving Service at the FWC Centenary Church, the Maritime fleet review, and navy parade in Nuku’alofa, followed by a Royal Luncheon at the Queen Salote Memorial Hall.
International visitors,from left, Kiribati, Royal Navy, HMAF, China, Japan, Samoa, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand. 50th Anniversary of the Tongan Navy, Fleet Review of visiting navy ships. Nuku’alofa, 4 July 2024. Photo: NZDF.
HM King Tupou VI. Navy Fleet Review of visiting navy officers. Port of Nuku’alofa, 4 July 2024. Photo: NZDF.
Photos by Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn NZDF
HMAS Choules joined a Navy Parade made up of multi national bands and ships companies of visiting ships. Nuku’alofa, Tonga. 4 July 2024. Photo: NZDF.
July 2, 2024, by Fatima Bahtić
Defence and security company Saab has received an order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for ten combat boats.
As informed, the contract begins in 2024 and deliveries will be made continuously over the coming years.
The order value is approximately SEK 400 million ($37.5 million).
According to Saab, the boats are based on the CB90 next generation design. They will be manufactured by Saab’s shipyard in Docksta.
“Combat boats are advanced platforms that can be used for many different types of missions. We are proud that Saab’s naval capabilities continue to contribute to Sweden’s defence,” said Mats Wicksell, head of Saab’s business area Kockums.
Saab recently agreed with Dutch shipbuilder Damen to export the advanced expeditionary C-71 submarines. The submarines have been developed for the Royal Netherlands Navy to replace the current Walrus class.
Guy Martin – 1st July 2024
The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) is making a historic visit to Cape Town this week, when two training ships will arrive in port. This will be the first such visit since the founding of the Maritime Self-Defence Force after the Second World War.
JS Kashima and JS Shimakaze are due to arrive in Cape Town for refuelling on 2 July. On 3 July, at 10:00, the South African Naval Band will perform, and the Flag Officer Fleet (FOF) of the SA Navy will be on board for a welcome address and other activities. There will then be a special open ship, luncheon and evening reception on board for a limited number of guests.
On Thursday 4 July, the ships will be open to the public, including South African citizens, from 10:00-11:30 and 13:00-15:00. They will be berthed at Berth E and F beside the Cruise Terminal in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
There are no major events scheduled for Friday 5 July, and the ships are scheduled to set sail at 09:00 on Saturday 6 July, with a local band playing.
Approximately 570 people, including about 190 graduates of the 74th General Officer Candidate Course, are on board the JS Kashima and JS Shimakaze as part of the Overseas Training Cruise 2024. This is designed to provide Trainee Officers with on-the-job training opportunities to reinforce knowledge and skills learned at the Officer Candidate School, to familiarise them with the sea, and to cultivate qualities required as naval officers, the Japanese Embassy said.
The cruise also aims to improve understanding of the activities of foreign countries and develop global awareness through joint exercises with these countries and sailing in the Philippine Sea, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean, etc.
The 175-day long cruise began on 20 May and is set to conclude on 11 November this year, after covering approximately 35 000 nautical miles (65 000 km). Rear Admiral Nishiyama Takahiro, Commander of Training Squadron, is heading up the 2024 cruise.
Ports of call include Brunei (Muara), Seychelles (Victoria), South Africa (Cape Town), Senegal (Dakar), Italy (Naples), Türkiye (Istanbul), Spain (Valencia), Germany (Hamburg), United Kingdom (London and Southampton), United States (Norfolk and Pearl Harbor), and Mexico (Acapulco).
Japanese Ambassador Ushio Shigeru told a recent function in Pretoria that the visit coincides with the founding of the Japan Self-Defence Force (JSDF) on 1 July 1954. “For Japan, 1954 was nine years after Japan’s defeat in World War II and three years after the Treaty of Peace with Japan was signed. The JSDF was established as a minimum self-defence force in response to the worsening situation in East Asia.”
The Ambassador added that over the past 70 years, since its foundation, the JSDF has continued to develop, fostering a peaceful nation and saving many lives in large-scale disasters in Japan and abroad. Furthermore, the JSDF continues to contribute to the peace and stability of the international community today.
On the African continent, the JSDF participated for the first time in a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operation in 1993 in Mozambique. In 2009, Japan began anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and established a base in Djibouti in 2011. From 2011, an engineering unit was deployed in South Sudan and, in 2014, JSDF transport aircraft delivered personal protective equipment to Ghana during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
Currently, the JSDF continues to dispatch personnel to UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and is also engaged in anti-piracy operations in Djibouti.
JS Kashima is flagship of the JMSDF Training Fleet. She is 143 metres long, with a beam of 18 metres, and a draft of 4.6 metres. Kashima has a full load displacement of 4 050 tons. She is powered by a combined diesel or gas (CODOG) system, giving a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h).
The ship is armed with a single Otobreda 76 mm gun and two triple 324 mm torpedo tube sets. Four saluting cannon are also carried. Kashima has a ship’s company of 370, including officer cadets. Cadets are accommodated in two-person staterooms, allowing cadets of both sexes to train aboard the ship. The open aft deck was designed for use as a ceremonial and exercise assembly area, but can be used as a temporary helicopter landing zone.
JS Kashima was launched in February 1994, and commissioned into the JMSDF in January 1995.
JS Shimakaze is a Hatakaze-class guided missile destroyer, reclassified as a training ship in 2021. Shimakaze was launched in January 1987, and commissioned in March 1988. The vessel is 150 metres long, has a beam of 16.4 metres and draft of 4.8 metres. She is powered by four gas turbines giving a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h). Complement is 260 people.
Armament comprises two 130 mm Mark 42 deck guns, eight Harpoon ship-to-ship missiles, a single SM-1MR Mk 13 Mod4 ship-to-air missile launcher, an ASROC Mk 112 octuple launcher, two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, and two Type 68 triple torpedo tubes. An aft deck can accommodate a single SH-60K helicopter.
The Coast Guard commissioned its 56th Fast Response Cutter and first one to be stationed in the Pacific Northwest during a ceremony held in Astoria OR June 27th.
Coast Guard Cutter David Duren (WPC-1156) is the first of three planned Fast Response Cutter’s (FRC) to be homeported in Astoria.
The ceremony was presided by Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, Pacific Area Commander. Members from the Duren family were also on hand, including the cutter’s sponsor, Dawn Duren.
The namesake for the cutter, Master Chief Petty Officer David Duren, enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1965 and retired in 1993. During his career, Duren became a heavy weather coxswain and graduated from the Coast Guard’s National Motor Lifeboat School in 1969, qualifying as Coast Guard surfman No. 100.
During his tenure, Duren received two Coast Guard Medals for exceptional heroism and the Douglas Munro Inspirational Leadership Award. He deployed on search and rescue cases more than any other officer-in-charge at the time and during one year, he participated in 250 cases. Personnel under his command received a total of 24 medals and awards.
The crew of the David Duren will primarily serve in the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Columbia River. The Sentinel-class FRC is designed for multiple missions, including search and rescue; fishery patrols; ports, waterways, and coastal security; drug and migrant interdiction; and national defense.
The Coast Guard has ordered a total of 65 FRCs to replace the 1980s-era Island-class 110-foot patrol boats. The FRCs feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; over-the-horizon cutter boat deployment to reach vessels of interest; and improved habitability and seakeeping.
The commissioning ceremony is one of the most important traditional milestones in the life of a cutter, as it represents the readiness of the cutter to conduct Coast Guard operations and marks her entry into active service.
They Navy destroyer Mason arrived home in Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Monday, following a long and dangerous cruise battling Houthi rebels in the Middle East. (Navy)
By Geoff Ziezulewicz – Jul 3, 2024, 01:49 PM
They Navy destroyer Mason arrived home in Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Monday, following a long and dangerous cruise battling Houthi rebels in the Middle East. (Navy)
The Navy destroyer Mason returned home to Naval Station Mayport, Florida, on Monday after more than eight months of deployment, in which it “faced unprecedented attacks” from Iran-backed-Houthi rebels, the sea service said.
Deployed as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, Mason was one of the warships at the forefront of countering Houthi drones and missiles during its cruise in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
All told, Mason was deployed for 263 days in those waters and in the Mediterranean Sea.
By Jonathan Lehrfeld, Diana Stancy and Geoff Ziezulewicz
“I am extremely proud of this battle tested and battle proven crew who achieved unparalleled accomplishments while deployed,” Mason’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Justin B. Smith, said in a statement. “No matter the threat or challenge, they demonstrated an innate ability to sustain a high level of readiness for eight months by thinking on their feet and quickly reacting. As result of their abilities, they protected Mason’s crew and exceeded all mission tasking throughout deployment.”
Mason not only shot down air attack drones and anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi territory in Yemen that targeted both Navy and merchant ships, but also escorted and rescued 26 merchant vessels as they transited the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
In one such instance, on Nov. 26, Mason captured pirates who had seized the M/V Central Park, boarding the vessel and freeing crew members who were stuck in the ship’s citadel.
The rest of Ike’s strike group, including the carrier, the cruiser Philippine Sea and the remaining warships of Destroyer Squadron 22, are now headed home as well, and were operating in the Mediterranean this week, according to the Navy.
The current battle in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden between the Houthis and the Navy’s surface fleet is the most sustained and kinetic action the sea service has seen since World War II.
It’s also the first time that anti-ship ballistic missiles have ever been used in combat, according to Navy brass.
While Ike’s air wing has pounded Houthi sites in Yemen and intercepted ordnance, warships like the Mason have often had mere seconds to identify and take out such attacks.
“U.S. and coalition vessels also are being targeted,” Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander of Ike’s Carrier Strike Group 2, wrote this month in the U.S. Naval Institute’s “Proceedings” magazine. “We have to be right 100 percent of the time, but the Houthis have to be right only once.”
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/FLZW7DB4X5DLNAK7QF6JFE56AI.jfif)
Mason and its strike group comrades steamed more than 65,000 nautical miles during this tour, launching more than 100 Standard and Tomahawk missiles, according to Miguez.
The strike group’s air wing has fired more than 80 air-to-air missiles and released more than 350 air-to-surface weapons, he wrote.
“This is all against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who are menacing civilian merchant shipping, including using anti-ship ballistic missiles against these noncombatants,” Miguez wrote.
About Geoff Ziezulewicz
Geoff is the editor of Navy Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at [email protected].
She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, the first being Cincinnati, an ironclad commissioned in 1862, during the Civil War, and the second being Cincinnati, a protected cruiser, that was decommissioned in 1919.
Cincinnati split her pre-war career between the Atlantic and the Pacific fleets. She served in the Scouting Fleet, based in the Atlantic, in 1924 to 1927, serving in the Pacific for a brief time in 1925 for fleet maneuvers. Cincinnati joined the Asiatic Fleet in 1927, and returned to the Atlantic from 1928 to 1932. She continued to go back and forth between oceans until March 1941, when she was assigned to Neutrality Patrol in the western Atlantic.
When the United States entered World War II she was assigned to TF41, based at Recife, and used on convoy escort duties and patrols in the south Atlantic. In 1944, she sailed for the Mediterranean to support Operation Dragoon, the invasion of the south of France. After the war, she was deemed surplus and scrapped at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in February 1946
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cincinnati_(CL-6)
