Malaya departing New York after repairs, 9 July 1941
>Shortly after commissioning in early 1916, she participated in the Battle of Jutland of the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. In the Second World War, Malaya served mostly in escort duties in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. She was withdrawn from service at the end of 1944, and sold for scrap in 1948.
USS Yorktown (CV/CVA/CVS-10) is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. Initially to have been named Bonhomme Richard, she was renamed Yorktown while still under construction, after the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), which was sunk at the Battle of Midway. She is the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, though the previous ships were named for 1781 Battle of Yorktown. Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943, and participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.
Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in February 1953 as an attack carrier (CVA), and served with distinction during the Korean War. The ship was later modernized again with a canted deck, eventually becoming an anti-submarine carrier (CVS) and served for many years in the Pacific, including duty in the Vietnam War, during which she earned five battle stars. The carrier served as a recovery ship for the December, 1968, Apollo 8 space mission, the first crewed ship to reach and orbit the Moon, and was used in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, which recreated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and in the 1984 science fiction film The Philadelphia Experiment.
Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970 and in 1975 became a museum ship at Patriots Point, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where she was designated a National Historic Landmark.
The vessel was constructed by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California and was launched in 1969 and commissioned in 1970 and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The LST participated in the Vietnam War and was decommissioned in 1994. The ship was laid up until being sunk as a target ship during a sinking exercise in 2014.
Exclusive tour of Spanish F-100 frigate capable of firing laser-guided Hellfire missiles
23rd February 2024 at 2:59pm
Play VideoWatch: Tour of ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón.
During a port call in Southampton, Forces News was granted an exclusive tour of Spain’s ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón, en route to Nato’s largest exercise since the Cold War.
The F-100 frigate can perform both surface and anti-submarine warfare, as well as launching laser-guided Hellfire missiles.
Before arriving in Hampshire, ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón, the flagship of Standing Nato Maritime Group 1, carried out gunnery exercises while travelling from Scotland.
Many of us struggle with challenges to our mental health and today’s event was designed to start the sometimes difficult conversation around that topic and let people know where they can find help. Sailors, soldiers, aviators and civilian staff took to ships, the beach, the gym and many other areas to take on the challenge.
The 22 Push Up Challenge began in the United States in 2011 as a means of honouring veteran service and sacrifice and drawing attention to veteran mental health challenges. At the time 22 US veterans were committing suicide every single day. Mental health challenges aren’t unique to veterans and it is important to assess your health and wellbeing on a regular basis.
22 PUSH UP CHALLENGE: NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE
Push ups, like life, have their ups and downs. Getting down can seem easy, what matters is that we try our best to get back up again. But if you do find yourself down and getting back up feels impossible, here are some places you can turn to for help. Camaraderie and support are at the heart of the NZDF’s ethos. No-one should feel they are fighting alone. As you do your set of 22, reflect on this list of 22 places you can go for support:
1 Local chaplain 2 Social worker 3 PTI you trust 4 Command WO 5 Line commander 6 Local MO or Doctor 7 0800 NZDF4U 8 Local Defence Psychologist 9 Local RSA welfare officer 10 Defence Nurse 11 A medic you trust 12 Anti-Harassment advisor 13 VANZ 14 Family and Whanau 15 1737 – free national helpline. 16 Overwatch – Rainbow communities support 17 Lifeline – free national crisis line 18 Camp & Base Pasifika and Pan-Asian Networks 19 Defence Marae staff 20 SAPRA 21 Unit commander 22 Any member of the NZDF you might trust.
Should you be struggling please know that you are not alone and the NZDF has support available to you at any time, now or in the future. The Defence Health website, Putahi Hauora, provides guidance about helping a suicidal mate, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, and personal stories shared by NZDF personnel. You will find contact numbers for NZDF Social Workers or Chaplains and external health professionals through 0800 NZDF4U where help is available for all regular force and their families, reservists, civilians and veterans. 0508 TAUTOKO (0508 828 865) is the free, nationwide suicide crisis helpline or in an emergency always phone 111.
Patrol ship HMS Spey paid her second visit to Malaysia in three months, say the Royal Navy here.
Having completed a month’s patrol of the Indian Ocean and her first visit to India and Sri Lanka, the Portsmouth-based warship headed for Penang – about 170 miles north of the Malay capital to work with the Royal Malaysia Navy and support the long-standing Five Powers Defence Arrangements.
“Established more than half a century ago against the backdrop of the ‘withdrawal from east of Suez’, the arrangements comprise a series of agreements between five Commonwealth nations – Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK – involving the defence and security of Southeast Asia.
The RN regularly takes part in exercises – typically the annual Bersama Lima workout – under the five-powers banner to ensure the military of the participating states can work together seamlessly and learn from one another. In addition, the UK maintains a permanent presence in Penang through its support to the Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System (HQIADS) which, among other duties, oversees those exercises.”
MOD has confidence in nuclear deterrent despite second failed trident test, serving officers told minister unarmed Afghans were shot by UK special forces and F-35B jets land on HMS Prince of Wales for massive Nato exercise – all this and more in The Download.
Watch: Rapid response Desert Rats deploy to Germany for start of Exercise Steadfast Defender
A monumental effort has seen thousands of British Army personnel and hundreds of their vehicles arrive in Germany for Nato’s Exercise Steadfast Defender.
Exercise Brilliant Jump One saw personnel deploy to Germany from the UK, whilst Exercise Brilliant Jump Two will see them move off from Germany and head to Poland.
At the front is 7th Brigade, known as the Desert Rats, leading the charge.
B Company, 2nd Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, is part of the light mechanised combat team spearheading Nato’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.
This whole section of the exercise is about projecting the force across Europe with the kit they need to join the fight.
Major Simon Cox, Commander of B Company, the Royal Anglian Regiment, told Forces News they are very high readiness forces “held at 48 hours’ notice to move to respond to events in Europe”.
Watch: British Army vehicle fleet joins Nato’s Steadfast Defender 24.
“We’re at the forefront of any Nato activity in Europe at the moment,” he said.
“We are predominantly in the Foxhound and Jackal vehicles, so we would move slightly behind a recce screen, forwards as the spearhead force.
“For the first phase of this exercise, the challenge is logistics, getting us deployed, thousands of people and hundreds of people from the UK to Poland.
“The real learning point for us has been about how we get there because it’s really important that we get there ready to fight if needs be.”
But Germany is not even the starting line for what is a 90,000-personnel effort to show Nato’s deployability across Europe.
Lieutenant Colonel John Anthistle, Commander, Enabling Group South, told Forces News that Sennelager is “a jewel in our crown” and perfect for helping get the troops across Europe.
“It’s a base that we disinvested in because we obviously left Germany and we closed it down to a very small capacity.
“But as you can see from how we’re operating here right now, the strategic location of it, the fact we’ve got ready access to a training area, the easy access, the road networks and the rail networks and the airports close by, we’re using all of those to bring in 7 Brigade into theatre and then push forwards.
“It’s a real great example of how this strategic location is absolutely perfect for us and something that we absolutely need to maintain.”
Watch: British Army vehicles gear up for Nato’s biggest exercise in decades.
Lt Col Anthistle also stressed that the important detail in this section of the exercise is scale.
“When you’re operating on somewhere like Salisbury Plain, you roll out of your camps almost into your back garden, as it were, onto Salisbury Plain, and you exercise around sort of 30, 40, 50 kilometres, and you come back in again,” he said.
“Here we’re talking about operating over 1,000 kilometres just to reach the start line.
“We’re facilitating their movement through the entirety of Germany,” he said.
Having travelled from the UK to Emden, Germany, they were driven to Sennelager where they were given a thorough check before the next leg of their journey.
Corporal Tomas Bennett, 1 Battalion, REME, told Forces News it is vital they do the checks now because it is a lot harder to repair or maintain vehicles when on the exercise.
“It goes from this nice light environment to pitch black,” he said. “You see a little bit of dull red light in front of you… and your weapon system is right next to you.
“When things are going off in the training serials, you’ll have gunfire in the background… you’ll have to down tools, turn the light off and then go into positions to then do the soldiering role.
“So it is quite literally going from one job role to another like a flick of a light switch.”
