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John Currin

15 years in Royal New Zealand Navy

Indian Navy Submarine, INS Vagir To Reach Fremantle, Australia Today

The Indian Navy submarine, INS Vagir, is on an extended-range deployment. The deployment which commenced in June 2023, will reach Fremantle, Australia today. The submarine, which is the Indian Navy’s fifth Kalvari class submarine, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in January 2023 and is based in Mumbai.

During her stay in Australia, INS Vagir will participate in various exercises with Royal Australian Navy (RAN) units on the West Coast of Australia. At present on the East coast of Australia, Indian Naval ships and aircraft are involved in Exercise MALABAR 23 from the 11th to the 21st of  August and AUSINDEX 23 from the 22nd to the 24th of August. During the ongoing deployment, basic, intermediate, and advanced-level Anti-Submarine exercises are scheduled. In addition, the RAN submarine and Indian Naval P8i aircraft are scheduled to exercise with INS Vagir. This deployment will further augment the cooperation and synergy between Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy.

The extended range deployment, 67 maiden deployment by the Indian Navy submarine to Australia showcases the capability and professional acumen to undertake sustained operations at extended ranges from the base port for prolonged durations.

USS Antietam shifts homeport from Japan to Hawaii

By Diana Stancy

The guided missile-cruiser Antietam passes the USS Arizona memorial while arriving to its new homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, April 5, 2024. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Gavin Arnoldhendershot/Navy)

The cruiser Antietam has moved from Japan to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, as part of a “planned rotation of forces” in the region.

The shift is part of a broader rearrangement of ships in the West Pacific — including swapping the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan with the George Washington. The GW previously served in Japan from 2008 to 2015.

The Antietam left its previous homeport in Yokosuka, Japan, in January, and participated in the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative mission to augment the Coast Guard’s maritime law enforcement operations in Oceania while en route to Hawaii.

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Yokosuka Naval Base previously hosted the George Washington from 2008 to 2015.

By Diana Stancy

The cruiser, based in Japan since 2013, also conducted port visits in Suva, Fiji and Apra Harbor, Guam, during its transit across the Pacific.

“I’m proud of the Antietam crew for their execution of the Oceanic Maritime Security Initiative during our homeport shift from Yokosuka, Japan to Hawaii,” Capt. Victor Garza, commanding officer of Antietam, said in a statement. “I thank the families for the support they give their Sailors. It is their strength that enables us to go to sea.”

The cruiser is swapping spots with the destroyer McCampbell, which returned to Yokosuka in March.

Pre-dreadnought battleship USS Oregon moored in Battleship Oregon Park in Portland, Oregon. Picture probably taken in 1938. 

USS Oregon

Oregon in January 1914
USS Oregon in 1898
USS Oregon (BB-3) in dry dock, Brooklyn Navy Yard

USS Oregon (BB-3) was the third and final member of the Indiana class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1890s. The three ships were built as part of a modernization program aimed at strengthening the American fleet to prepare for a possible conflict with a European navy. Designed for short-range operations in defense of the United States, the three Indiana-class ships had a low freeboard and carried a main battery of four 13-inch (330 mm) guns in a pair of gun turrets. Oregon and her sister ships were the first modern battleships built for the United States, though they suffered from significant stability and seakeeping problems owing to their small size and insufficient freeboard.

After entering service in 1896, Oregon briefly served with the Pacific Squadron before being transferred to the East Coast of the United States as tensions with Spain over Cuba grew in early 1898. She completed a 14,000-nautical-mile (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) journey around South America in the span of 66 days, arriving shortly after the start of the Spanish–American War. She thereafter took part in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba, which culminated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July, where Oregon contributed to the destruction of the Spanish squadron in Cuba. After the war, Oregon was deployed to the Asiatic Squadron, serving during the Philippine–American War and the Boxer Rebellion in Qing China. The ship returned to the United States in 1906, when she was decommissioned and placed in reserve for the next five years, during which she was modernized.

Reactivated in 1911, Oregon spent the next several years cruising off the West Coast of the United States, frequently going in and out of service. During the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1918, she escorted a convoy for the Siberian expedition. The ship was decommissioned in 1919 and efforts by naval enthusiasts in the early 1920s led the Navy to loan Oregon to her namesake state for use as a museum ship. After the start of World War II, the Navy decided in late 1942 to scrap the ship for the war effort, but after work began the Navy requested the ship’s return for use as an ammunition hulk for the upcoming invasion of Guam in 1944. She remained off the island through the mid-1950s before being sold for scrap in 1956 and broken up in Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oregon_(BB-3)

New minehunting mothership RFA Stirling Castle officially welcomed into service. David Sivills-McCann 11th April 2024 at 2:44pm

Watch: Duke of Edinburgh attends dedication service for new minehunting mothership

The Duke of Edinburgh joined the crew of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s newest ship to officially welcome her into the service.

A service of dedication was held on board RFA Stirling Castle while she was alongside in Leith Docks, Edinburgh.

The vessel previously operated as an oil rig support vessel, but will now operate as a mothership for the Royal Navy’s new autonomous mine countermeasures systems.

RFA Stirling Castle will work with the Mine and Threat Exploitation Group (MTXG) to help counter the evolving threat of naval mines.

She will be used to transport and launch autonomous uncrewed boats which will scan the sea for mines.

Head of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Commodore David Eagles, said: “She will be the mothership for the emergent uncrewed autonomous mine-hunting capabilities.

“So traditionally to deal with the sea mine threat we put crewed ships into the danger zone where clearly there is an exposed risk to personnel and shipping.

“The Navy is investing heavily in very modern and sophisticated systems.

“We are at the cutting edge on Stirling Castle as we act as a host platform for these systems in both operations and trialling.

“As the technology evolves and the ability to go to greater depths and greater ranges evolves [we] will be at the forefront to do that work.”

Duke of Edinburgh meeting the crew of RFA Stirling Castle
The Duke of Edinburgh joined the crew on board RFA Stirling Castle for the service

RFA Stirling Castle is latest vessel to join the fleet of 11 platforms providing support to Royal Navy ships all over the world.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who is Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, met members of the ship’s crew during a tour of the vessel after the service.

Commanding Officer Captain Duncan Vernoum said: “This is an opportunity for the ship’s company to celebrate the hard work they put in, not just for today, but getting the ship to this stage.

“A lot of training has gone into making sure the ship is capable and ready to go.

“There’s still some more work to do, but this is an opportunity for us to bring the RFA family together and celebrate not just the hard work that’s been done, but obviously Stirling Castle entering into the RFA flotilla formally.”

RFA Stirling Castle will replace the Royal Navy’s Sandown-class minehunter fleet and will join the MTXG for more trials to understand how the ship’s technology can be used to enhance operations in and around the UK.

Former Royal Navy vessels donated to Ukraine dock at Portsmouth naval base

Tom Sables 11th April 2024 at 5:30pm

Two former Royal Navy vessels, renamed Cherkasy (left) and Chernihiv are the Ukrainian minehunters that have arrived back in the UK.
Two former Royal Navy vessels, renamed Cherkasy (left) and Chernihiv are the Ukrainian minehunters that have arrived in Portsmouth.

Two former Royal Navy vessels turned Ukrainian naval warships have docked in Portsmouth for the first time since the beginning of the conflict with Russia.

The warships, known as Cherkasy and Chernihiv, were decommissioned last year, and donated to Ukraine to assist against Russia’s invasion.

Before decommissioning, the vessels were known as HMS Shoreham and HMS Grimsby and today they are two of Ukraine’s first minesweepers.

Commodore Paul Pitcher, Commander Surface Flotilla, said: “They are fully operational and capable now.

“Ready to continue to hone their skills. We understand there is probably about 1,000 mines; Russian mines in the Black Sea laid over an area of about 800 square kilometres.

“So, the role of these vessels as post-conflict capability, to clear those mines and secure those lines of communication for maritime trade.

“We’re in the long haul whatever it takes, and who knows when they’ll be making their return to the Black Sea.”

The Ukrainian vessel Cherkasy is former Royal Navy ship HMS Shoreham.
The Ukrainian vessel Cherkasy is former Royal Navy ship HMS Shoreham

The two former Sandown-class Mine Counter Measures Vessels (MCMVs) have sailed down to HMNB Portsmouth from where they were previously based in Scotland to prepare for their first operational exercise, Sea Breeze 24, a joint countermeasure exercise between the Royal Navy, US Navy, and Ukrainian Navy.

Their arrival marks a significant step in the UK’s support for the Ukrainian Navy in terms of transformation and modernisation.

However, Turkey is currently blocking access to the Black Sea which means the minehunters will continue training in UK waters.

Watch: What we know about Ukraine’s ship-killing unit Group 13

“The UK is leading the way in helping Ukraine to modernise its navy,” said Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

“The transfer of these ships and the excellent training provided by the Royal Navy will have a real long-term impact on Ukraine’s ability to defend its waters.

“We continue to support Ukraine as they deliver major blows to Putin’s Black Sea Fleet.”

He added: “In doing so, they are securing vital corridors to export grain and other

USS George Washington to deploy to South America

Guided-missile destroyer Porter sails alongside aircraft carrier George Washington in preparation of a replenishment-at-sea while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, on Feb. 26, 2024. (MC2 Nicholas A. Russell/U.S. Navy)

The aircraft carrier George Washington is slated to depart for South America in the coming months, marking the carrier’s first deployment in nearly a decade.

The Southern Seas 2024 deployment is the first for the carrier since it underwent its mid-life refueling and complex overhaul maintenance, or RCOH, starting in 2017 in Virginia.

Meanwhile, the carrier is also poised to return to Yokosuka, Japan, as the Navy’s only forward-deployed carrier, later this year. Yokosuka previously hosted the George Washington from 2008 to 2015.

The Navy has held 10 such Southern Seas deployments since 2007, which aim to bolster maritime partnerships and counter threats in the region, the service said. The George Washington participated in several of these Southern Seas missions — including in 2008 and in 2015 to coincide with its homeport shifts to and from Japan.

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Yokosuka Naval Base previously hosted the George Washington from 2008 to 2015.

By Diana Stancy

““We look forward to building readiness and advancing training as we engage with our friends and partners in South America,” Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff, commander of Carrier Strike Group 10, said in a statement. “We also look forward to visiting several spectacular locations in South America, as U.S. Navy Sailors don’t often get to see this part of the world.”

While operating in U.S. Southern Command’s area of operations, the strike group plans to engage in passing exercises and allow distinguished visitors from partner nations to witness these operations as it sails around the South American continent.

And embarked international staff will also join U.S. sailors during the deployment to receive instruction from U.S. Naval War College professors, and operate alongside Destroyer Squadron 40 personnel – a first for Southern Seas.

These staffers hail from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, port visits are scheduled for Brazil, Chile, and Peru.

HII transitions USS John C. Stennis to next phase of overhaul

HII completes USS Stennis overhaul

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Naval Technology by Harry McNeil / Apr 10, 2024 at 1:04 AM

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Despite the challenge posed by a flood, HII has completed the overhaul, enabling the RCOH of USS John C. Stennis to make progress.

The post HII transitions USS John C. Stennis to next phase of overhaul appeared first on Naval Technology.

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Japan JMSDF unveils partially converted aircraft carrier JS Kaga

Naval News April 2024 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry POSTED ON MONDAY, 08 APRIL 2024 11:34

The Ministry of Defense has undertaken this large-scale modification in two phases to effectively transform the JS Kaga into an aircraft carrier. The first phase of modifications, conducted at a shipyard in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, was completed last month. It included altering the deck’s shape from a trapezoid to a rectangle and applying heat-resistant coating to withstand the high temperatures from the jet engines, ensuring the safe launch and recovery of fighter aircraft.

In addition to JS Kaga, the Ministry of Defense is also planning to convert its sister ship, ‘Izumo’, into an aircraft carrier. This involves applying heat-resistant paint to the deck and conducting take-off and landing tests with the F-35B, with the second phase of modifications expected to start within this fiscal year and completion anticipated in about two years.

The government has clarified that neither JS Izumo’ nor JS Kaga will permanently carry squadrons of F-35Bs, ensuring they do not qualify as “attack-type aircraft carriers,” which are prohibited under Japan’s constitution.

Context

Japan’s consideration for aircraft carriers stems from a combination of historical context, regional security dynamics, and strategic necessities. Historically, Japan was a leader in ship-based aviation, with its carriers playing significant roles in early 20th-century conflicts. However, post-World War II pacifism and constitutional constraints shifted Japan’s stance away from such “offensive” capabilities​​.

The recent shift towards reviving carrier capabilities is largely driven by concerns over regional security threats, particularly from China. China’s assertive maneuvers in the East China Sea, especially around the disputed Senkaku Islands, have prompted Japan to take measures to strenghten its defense capabilities.

Aircraft carriers would provide Japan with a flexible and responsive military force capable of defending its interests and contributing to regional stability. However, the operational scope of these carriers is expected to be modest compared to larger U.S. and UK counterparts, focusing on defending vulnerable areas.