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John Currin

15 years in Royal New Zealand Navy

USS Wainwright (DD-419) was a World War II-era Sims-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy. The ship was named to honor Lieutenant Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, Jr., USN; his son, Master Jonathan Wainwright, III, USN; his cousin, Commander Richard Wainwright, USN; and also Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright, USN.

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Wainwright (DD-419) underway off the U.S. East Coast on 5 May 1944, while assigned to escort and training duties. The ship is wearing Camouflage Measure 22. Note the two men on the starboard bridge wing and the man on the main deck below the after conn.

Wainwright was laid down on 7 June 1938 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard; launched on 1 June 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Henry Meiggs; and commissioned on 15 April 1940.

Service history[edit]

World War II[edit]

Following shakedown, Wainwright began duty with the Atlantic Fleet in conjunction with the Neutrality Patrol which had been established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt soon after World War II broke out in Europe early in September 1939 to keep hostilities from spreading to the Western Hemisphere. Just before the opening of hostilities between Japan and the United States, Wainwright embarked upon a mission which indicated an acceleration in America’s gradual drift into the Allied camp. She departed Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 10 November, as a unit of the screen for Convoy WS-12X, an all-American ship convoy transporting British and Commonwealth troops via the Cape of Good Hope to Basra in the Near East. The convoy steamed first to Trinidad in the British West Indies, in order that the “short-legged” destroyers might refuel there before beginning the long South Atlantic leg of the voyage to Cape Town. There, the convoy was to be turned over to the British Admiralty for orders and protection, and the destroyers were to turn around and head home.

The convoy reached Cape Town on 9 December 1941, two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and two days before Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. This change in the strategic picture caused changes in the destinations of the transports. Some went to Suez and thence to Australia while other carried reinforcements to the doomed “fortress” of Singapore. The escorting American destroyers headed back to the United States, but this time they put to sea as full-fledged belligerents.

1942[edit]

Upon her return to the east coast, Wainwright resumed her patrols. Her assignment, however, took on a new complexion. No longer simply trying to prevent the spread of hostilities to the Western Hemisphere, she patrolled instead to protect America’s shorelines and seagoing traffic along her coast from Germany’s undersea fleet. That duty continued until mid-March 1942, when the warship received orders to join the British Home Fleet as part of an American force composed of Wasp, North Carolina, Washington, Tuscaloosa, Wichita, and seven other destroyers. On 25 March, she departed Casco Bay, Maine, in company with Wasp, Washington, Wichita, Tuscaloosa and the destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 8 (DesRon 8), with Commander DesRon 8 (ComDesRon 8) embarked. (This US Navy involvement allowed the Royal Navy to release ships for the invasion of Madagascar.)[1]: 167–168  The task unit reached Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands north of the British Isles, on 3 April.

Until the fall of 1942, Wainwright participated in convoy operations between Iceland, Orkney, and northern Russia. During this period, she had frequent brushes with Luftwaffe planes and Kriegsmarine submarines. Her most famous and most successful encounter with the enemy came three months after she arrived in European waters while the destroyer was protecting the North Russia convoys. She was then part of the covering force for the ill-fated Convoy PQ 17, making the run from Iceland to Archangel. The force, built around London, Tuscaloosa, Wichita, Norfolk, Wainwright, Rowan, and seven British destroyers, departed Seydisfjord, Iceland, on 1 July.

PQ 17 suffered Luftwaffe and submarine attacks on 2 and 3 July, but Wainwright did not get involved directly until 4 July. In mid-afternoon, the destroyer joined the convoy to refuel from Aldersdale. On her way to the rendezvous, the warship assisted the convoy in repulsing two torpedo-plane raids. During the first, her long-range fire kept the six enemy planes at a distance sufficient to make their torpedo drops wholly inaccurate. The second was a desultory, single-plane affair in which the warship easily drove off the lone torpedo bomber. During the ensuing dive-bombing attack, she evaded the enemy handily, the nearest bomb landing at least 150 yards (140 m) away.

After that attack, a two-hour lull in the action allowed Wainwright to resume her original mission, refueling, but the enemy returned at about 1820. At the sight of 25 Heinkel 111s milling about on the southern horizon, the warship turned to port to clear the convoy. At that juncture, the Heinkels divided themselves into two groups for the attack; one on her starboard quarter and the other on her starboard bow. Wainwright took the group off her quarter under fire at extreme range, about 10,000 yards (9.1 km) distant, and maintained her fire until it endangered the convoy. At that juncture, she shifted her attention to the more dangerous bow attack. Her fire on that group proved so effective that only one plane managed to penetrate her defenses to make his drop between Wainwright and the convoy. All the others prudently dropped their torpedoes about 1,000 yards (900 m) to 1,500 yards (1,400 m) from the destroyer. That resulted in a torpedo run to the convoy itself in excess of 4,000 yards (4,000 m). The ships in the convoy easily evaded the torpedoes approaching from the bow, but the torpedoes coming from the starboard quarter found their marks, William Hooper and Azerbaidjan. Wainwright, though, had put up a successful defense. Her antiaircraft gunners damaged three or four enemy planes and generally discouraged the raiders from pressing home their attack with the vigor necessary for greater success.

Not long after that attack, at about 1900, Wainwright parted company with convoy PQ 17 to rejoin her own task unit, then heading off to meet the supposed threat posed by the possible sortie of a German surface force built around Tirpitz, Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Hipper. Convoy PQ 17, naked to the enemy after the Support Force withdrew to meet a danger which never materialized, scattered. Each ship tried to make it to northern Russia as best she could. Luftwaffe planes and Kriegsmarine submarines saw that few succeeded. After more than three weeks of individual hide-and-seek games with the Germans, the last groups of PQ 17 ships straggled into Archangel on 25 July. Operation “Rosselsprung” as the Germans dubbed the action, had proved an overwhelming success. It cost the Allies over two-thirds of the ships in PQ 17. However, Wainwright‘s brief association with the convoy probably saved several others from being added to the casualty list.

Wainwright continued to escort Atlantic convoys through the summer and into the fall of 1942. However, no action like that she encountered on 4 July occurred. It was not until the first large-scale amphibious operation of the European-African-Middle Eastern theater came along in November that she again engaged the enemy in deadly earnest.

For the invasion of French Morocco, Wainwright was assigned to the four-destroyer screen of the Covering Group (Task Group 34.1) built around Massachusetts, Tuscaloosa, and Wichita. Assembled at Casco Bay, Maine, that group got underway on 24 October and, two days later, rendezvoused with the remainder of Task Force 34 (TF 34), which had sortied from Hampton Roads. The task force reached the Moroccan coast on the night of 7/8 November. The invasion was scheduled for the pre-dawn hours of the following morning. The Covering Force drew the two-fold mission of protecting the transports in the event of a sortie by French heavy surface units based at Dakar and of preventing a sortie by the French light forces based at Casablanca.

For Wainwright, the Naval Battle of Casablanca opened just before 0700 on 8 November when her antiaircraft gunners joined those of the other ships of the Covering Force in chasing away two Vichy French planes. Later that morning, Casablanca-based submarines, destroyers, and the cruiser Primauget sallied forth to oppose the landings, already in progress at Fedhala. Wainwright joined Massachusetts, Tuscaloosa, Wichita and the other three destroyers in stopping that attack. Their efforts cost the French heavily. Four Vichy destroyers and eight submarines were sunk while the light cruiser and two destroyer-leaders suffered crippling damage. In addition to her part in the engagement with the French warships, Wainwright also participated in the intermittent gun duels with batteries ashore.

For the next three days, Wainwright remained off the Moroccan coast supporting the invasion. The Army invested Casablanca by the night of 10 November, and the French capitulated late the following morning. On 12 November, the Covering Force, with Wainwright in the screen, sailed for home. The destroyer arrived in New York on 21 November and immediately began a two-week repair period.

1943[edit]

Next, after a brief training period, the warship resumed duty with transatlantic convoys. For the next six months, she busied herself protecting merchant ships making the voyage to North African ports. During her stay in Casablanca after one such voyage, she played host to a group of Moroccan dignitaries including Sidi Mohammed, the Sultan of Morocco. During another convoy operation, she helped screen Convoy UGS-6 which lost five of its 45 ships to U-boat torpedoes. When not engaged in Atlantic convoy duty, she trained with other ships of the Atlantic Fleet and underwent brief repairs in various American ports.

In June 1943, Wainwright returned to North Africa for convoy duty between ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa which occupied her until the invasion of Sicily in July. For that operation, Wainwright was assigned to TG 80.2, the Escort Group. The force arrived off the Sicilian coast on the night of 9/10 July, and the assault troops went ashore the following morning. During the campaign, Wainwright protected the transports from enemy air and submarine activity. While she was patrolling off Palermo on 26 July, a formation of twin-engine Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers attacked her group. Two near misses flooded both main engine rooms in Mayrant, and Wainwright joined in escorting the stricken warship into port under tow. Later, she supported the “leap-frog” amphibious moves employed by Major General George S. Patton in his rampage across northern Sicily to the Strait of Messina. During her stay in Sicilian waters, the destroyer also supported mine-sweeping operations and conducted anti-shipping sweeps. In mid-August, she returned to North Africa at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, where she remained until early September. On 5 September, she resumed convoy duty, this time between North Africa and Sicily, frequently warding off Luftwaffe air raids. Italy proper had been invaded early in September, and late in October, the warship was called upon to bombard enemy installations around Naples in support of the 5th Army’s advance on that city.

She resumed convoy duty soon thereafter. Her next noteworthy contact with the enemy came on 13 December. While conducting an antisubmarine sweep 10 miles (16 km) north of Algiers in company with Niblack, Benson, and Calpe, she made contact with U-593. First Wainwright and then Calpe attacked with depth charges. Those attacks brought the submarine to the surface, and Wainwright‘s gun crews went to work on her. In less than two minutes, the German crew began to abandon their vessel. Wainwright responded with a boarding party. The American sailors rescued survivors but failed to save the U-boat. After returning to Algiers and delivering her prisoners to British authorities there, she resumed convoy and patrol duties in North African waters.

1944[edit]

At the beginning of 1944, she provided support for the troops trying to break out of the beachheads at Anzio and Nettuno on the Italian mainland. Those duties occupied her until early February when she received orders to return to the United States. She steamed homeward in company with Ariel (AF-22) and Niblack via Ponta Delgada in the Azores, arrived at New York on 12 February, and entered the navy yard there for a three-week overhaul. When that chore was finished on 6 March, the destroyer began 13 months of escort and training duty along the eastern seaboard.

1945[edit]

That routine ended on 27 April 1945 when she passed through the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean. After a stop at San Diego, California and exercises out of Pearl Harbor, the warship headed for the western Pacific. She reached Ulithi on 13 June and for the next two months sailed between various islands in the area. She visited Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Saipan, Guam, and Eniwetok. On 12 August, she departed the last-named atoll in company with TF 49 bound for the Aleutian Islands. While she was at sea, the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities. Four days later, the ship steamed into Adak, Alaska. She remained there until the last day of the month when she got underway with TF 92, bound for Honshū, Japan. Wainwright arrived in Ominato Ko on 12 September and began a six-week tour of duty in support of the occupation forces. That duty ended on 30 October, and the warship headed back toward the United States.

Post-War[edit]

After stops at Midway Atoll and Pearl Harbor, Wainwright pulled into San Diego on 16 December.

The destroyer remained at San Diego in an inactive status until the spring of 1946. At that time, she was designated a target ship for the atomic tests to be conducted at Bikini Atoll that summer. She survived both blasts at Bikini in July. On 29 August 1946, she was decommissioned. Wainwright remained at Bikini almost two years under intermittent inspection by scientists evaluating the effects of the Operation Crossroads tests. Finally, she was towed out to sea in July 1948 and sunk as a target on 5 July. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 July 1948.

USS Lafayette (SSBN-616), the lead ship of her class of ballistic missile submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named to honor Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a French military hero who fought alongside and significantly aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

USS LAFAYETTE

Construction and commissioning

Jacqueline Kennedy christening Lafayette
Lafayette’s keel was laid down on 17 January 1961 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched 8 May 1962, sponsored by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, and commissioned 23 April 1963 at Groton, Connecticut, with Commander P. J. Hannifin in command of the Blue Crew and Commander James T. Strong in command of the Gold Crew.

Operational history
After a shakedown in the Caribbean Sea, Lafayette loaded Polaris ballistic missiles at Charleston, South Carolina, and during June 1963 sailed to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for ballistic missile maneuvers. She fired four missiles, two by each crew, after which she proceeded to Groton, arriving there on 2 August 1963. For the rest of the year her two crews alternately took her through a series of exercises before she took her place in the Navy’s expanding fleet ballistic missile submarine fleet.

Lafayette departed Charleston on 4 January 1964 for her first deterrent patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. During the next four years, Lafayette made 16 deterrent patrols out of Rota, Spain. Her 15th patrol, the 400th of the Polaris submarine fleet, won Lafayette special commendation from Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze. She returned to Charleston from her 16th patrol on 23 August 1967. A week later, she arrived at Newport News, Virginia, for a major overhaul by Newport News Shipbuilding to prepare for future service. On 28 December 1968, Lafayette’s overhaul officially ended and in January 1969, she once again took up her position with the fleet.

On 18 May 1969, Lafayette departed Charleston, South Carolina, for her 17th Polaris patrol, and before the year was out, logged two more such evolutions. During 1970, she conducted four more (Patrols 20-23 inclusive). Lafayette, her Gold Crew on board, departed on Patrol 24 in January 1971, returning in March to Rota whereupon the Blue Crew prepared for Patrol 25, departing in April and returning in June. Subsequently, the Gold Crew conducted Patrol 26 from July until September. On 1 September, Lafayette launched five Polaris A-2 missiles; the boat’s performance during the ensuing “operation of great importance to the United States Government [1–30 September 1971],” during which time she “maintained an impressively high state of readiness and demonstrated conclusively the effectiveness and dependability of the Fleet Ballistic Missile System…attested to the professional competence, technical skill and sustained team effort” of Lafayette’s Gold Crew, earning them a Meritorious Unit Commendation (awarded 11 May 1973). Soon thereafter, the Blue Crew carried out Patrol 27. Upon Lafayette’s return in October, the Gold Crew made ready for Patrol 28, departing in December.

During the first few months of 1972, Lafayette successfully completed and undertook three Polaris patrols, as well as transited from Rota to New London, Connecticut. Following her arrival at the latter port, she performed weekly operations in support of Commander Submarine Force, Atlantic’s, Second-Class Midshipmen Submarine Summer Indoctrination, continuing until September, during which time she provided underway training for over 1,000 midshipmen. Rear Admiral Paul J. Early, Commander Submarine Flotilla 2, later commended Lafayette for her “careful preparation and superb execution which characterized your participating in this vital program. Midshipmen reaction was consistently favorable. Such a response is clear evidence of a sustained, dedicated effort on the part of the Commanding Officer and Crew and reflects admirable standards of leadership and performance.”

Dr. Franklin B. Lincoln Jr., a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, toured Lafayette on 27 June and received a briefing “on the operations and conditions aboard [sic] a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine.” On 23 August, the boat hosted a large group of students from the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., “for the purpose of [their] obtaining insight into the operational capabilities and limitations, manning and habitability of the modern FBM submarine.” Mr. Leif Leifland, Minister Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to the Royal Swedish Embassy embarked for a tour on 2 October; Rear Admiral Edwin E. McMorries (SC), Commanding Officer, Ships Parts Control Center, Mechanicsburg, Pa., visited the boat on 3 October; two days later, author Joseph M. Duckert visited Lafayette in the course of gathering information “for his latest book, Nuclear Ships of the World.”

Having completed sound trials, Lafayette conducted a weapons off-load to prepare for entrance into the Electric Boat yard for what was slated to be an 18-month overhaul and conversion to enable her to employ the new Poseidon missile. Following that, the Blue and Gold Crews combined into a single overhaul crew on 6 October 1972, Lafayette entering the shipyard on the 13th.

Lafayette lay in the yard for the remainder of 1972 and all of 1973, and ultimately emerged from her conversion work at Electric Boat (“schedule slippage [due to] work force dilution at these yards [Electric Boat and Newport News] which have high current and projected workload”) on 7 November 1974. She then embarked Vice Admiral Joe Williams, Jr., Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, who observed post-overhaul shakedown training (24–29 November). On 16 December, while operating out of Port Canaveral, Lafayette’s Blue Crew conducted the successful launch of a Poseidon C-3 missile as part of her post-availability shakedown, making Lafayette the first of her class to fire one of those weapons. Rear Admiral Levering Smith, Director, Strategic Systems Project Office, Rear Admiral Albert L. Kelln, Commander, Submarine Group 6, and Brig. Gen. J. H. Ahmann, Commander, Air Force Eastern Test Range, witnessed the test. The Blue Crew completed post-overhaul shakedown training on 21 January 1975 having visited Charleston, S.C., Port Canaveral, Fla., and Exuma Sound, Bahamas, during the course of those evolutions; relieved by the Gold Crew at Charleston, the latter conducted their post-overhaul shakedown training, conducting Weapons System Accuracy Trials (WSAT) at St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and Mk. 48 Torpedo Certification in Exuma Sound. Following another crew exchange at Charleston, the Blue Crew carried out Mk. 48 Torpedo Certification in Exuma Sound, and took Lafayette to Groton for an eight-month post-conversion availability. Returning to Charleston to exchange crews, Lafayette conducted two more patrols, 31 and 32, to round out the year.

During the first half of 1976, Lafayette carried out Patrols 33 (Gold) and 34 (Blue) from Holy Loch; her Gold Crew conducted Patrol 35, carrying out evolutions in the eastern Atlantic, after which time the boat fired a Mk. 48 torpedo proficiency in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas. Following the Blue Crew’s conducting the next refit at Charleston, Lafayette conducted torpedo proficiency work in the Tongue of the Ocean, and local operations off the eastern seaboard, then Patrol 36. The Gold Crew relieved the Blue at Holy Loch in January 1977, and the two crews alternated conducting Poseidon deterrent patrols (37-40) from that site. In June of that year (1977), Lafayette, to demonstrate “the continuing effectiveness of the Fleet Ballistic Missile weapon system,” launched two Poseidon missiles in an operational test.

Lafayette completed Patrols 41 and 42 in the first half of 1978. Patrol 41 included operations in the Eastern Atlantic followed by an Mk. 48 torpedo proficiency firing period at the AUTEC range near Bermuda. Subsequently, the Blue Crew conducted refit at Charleston, after which Lafayette performed Mk. 48 torpedo proficiency firings at the AUTEC range and midshipman training out of New London and Charleston. Relieving the Blue Crew at Holy Loch, the Gold Crew conducted a refit there, thereafter carrying out Patrol 43. Following that, the Blue Crew relieved the Gold Crew in December. The New Year 1979 saw the crews completing Patrols 44 and 45. Thereafter, refit periods took place in Holy Loch. Patrols 46 and 47 took place in the second half of the year; 46 included operations in the Eastern Atlantic followed by an Mk. 48 torpedo proficiency firing period at the AUTEC range near Bermuda, with the Gold Crew conducting a subsequent refit in King’s Bay, Georgia. Upon completion of the refit, the Gold Crew again conducted an Mk. 48 torpedo proficiency firing at the AUTEC range near Bermuda, after which they enjoyed a port call at Port Canaveral, Florida.

For the first eleven months of 1980, Lafayette conducted Patrols 48, 49 and 50, interspersed with refits at Holy Loch. In December, the combined crew refitted the boat at Groton. In the early January 1981, she hosted a dependents cruise from New London to Norfolk, Virginia. Subsequently, Lafayette got underway for Patrol 51. In February, she completed a missile offload in Charleston in preparation for arriving at the shipyard on 2 March, and on the 6th, entered the newly constructed dry dock at Newport News for an extended refuelling overhaul. She then spent the rest of 1982 in Newport News.

On 23 April 1983, Lafayette celebrated the 20th anniversary of her commissioning. Although the ship had already completed Alpha and Bravo sea trials while in the shipyard, a change of command ceremony held on 20 May officially welcomed her back into the operational fleet. Both crews subsequently completed a shakedown period consisting of an Operational Reactor Safeguards

USS GEORGIA 1904.USS Georgia (BB-15) was a United States Navy Virginia-class battleship, the third of five ships of the class. She was built by the Bath Iron Works in Maine, with her keel laid in August 1901 and her launching in October 1904. The completed battleship was commissioned into the fleet in September 1906. The ship was armed with an offensive battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and she was capable of a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

Georgia spent the majority of her career in the Atlantic Fleet. In 1907, she took part in the Jamestown Exposition and suffered an explosion in her aft 8-inch gun turret that killed or wounded 21 men. At the end of the year, she joined the Great White Fleet on its circumnavigation of the globe, which ended in early 1909. Peacetime training followed for the next five years, and in 1914 she cruised in Mexican waters to protect American interests during the Mexican Revolution. In early 1916, the ship was temporarily decommissioned.

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the ship was tasked with training naval recruits for the expanding wartime fleet. Starting in September 1918, she was used as a convoy escort. Her only casualties during the war were due to disease, the result of poor conditions and severe overcrowding aboard the ship. Georgia was used to transport American soldiers back from France in 1918–1919, and the following year she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, where she served as the flagship of the 2nd Division, 1st Squadron. The Washington Naval Treaty, signed in 1922, cut short the ship’s career, as it mandated severe draw-downs in naval strength. Georgia was accordingly sold for scrap in November 1923.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Georgia_(BB-15)

HII Awarded USS Harry S. Truman $913M Mid-Life Overhaul Contract

SAM LAGRONE

JANUARY 26, 2024 6:37 PM

An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, attached to the ‘Proud Warriors’ of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72, flies alongside USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on July 3, 2022. US Navy Photo

HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding was awarded a $913 million contract for the advanced procurement for the mid-life overhaul and nuclear refueling of carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), the Pentagon announced on Thursday.
Truman’s refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) will be a down-to-the-bulkhead refit of the 25-year-old carrier and will also top off the carrier’s two nuclear reactors.

“The contract, which has total potential value of $913 million, includes engineering, design, material procurement and fabrication, documentation, resource forecasting and pre-overhaul inspections,” reads a statement from HII provided to USNI News.

According to the contract announcement, the advanced procurement work is set to be completed in 2026.

The announcement did not set a time frame for Truman to arrive at Newport News. RCOHs account for about a third of the Newport News’ business with the other two-thirds focused on new construction carriers and submarines.

Truman returned from a nine-month-long deployment to the Atlantic and Eastern Mediterranean on Sept. 12, 2022.

As part of its Fiscal Year 2020 budget proposal, the Pentagon proposed to decommission Truman and buy two new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. Then acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan defended canceling Truman’s RCOH as a cost savings of $3.4 billion.

“We want to make sure that not only the shipyards maintain their employment, there’s actually growth, but also [growth in] the supply chain. The last is the funds that we freed up making these decisions are invested in the future force,” he told the Senate at the time.

Congress rejected the proposal and approved the both twin carrier buy and Truman’s refueling.

Currently, USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is at the yard undergoing its own RCOH. USS George Washington (CVN-73) completed its own RCOH last year.

GW suffered two years of unplanned extensions in part due to COVID-19 workforce shortfalls and unplanned work related to GW’s overhaul schedule when the carrier served in Yokosuka, Japan, service officials have told USNI News. The extended overhaul exposed major quality-of-life problems for sailors who were living on the carrier during the maintenance period. Nine sailors assigned to the carrier died by suicide, prompting the quality of life investigation.

The following is the complete contract announcement.

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, was awarded a $913,150,550 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for advanced planning and long-lead-time material procurement to prepare and make ready for the accomplishment of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Refueling and Complex Overhaul. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia and is expected to be completed by June 2026. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $250,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1), (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-24-C-2106). (Awarded Jan. 25, 2024)

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Danish air-defense frigate heads to Red Sea as trade is under threat

By Rudy Ruitenberg

The Danish frigate Iver Huitfeldt takes off for the Gulf of Aden from the Naval Station in Korsor, Denmark, on Jan. 29, 2024. The Danish frigate will contribute to strengthening maritime security in and around the Red Sea. (Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

PARIS — The Danish air-defense frigate Iver Huitfeldt set sail to the Suez Canal on Monday to join the coalition protecting shipping in the Red Sea, just days after an oil-products tanker was hit by a Houthi missile in the Gulf of Aden.

The Iver Huitfeldt will join U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian once parliament gives final approval, expected on Feb. 6, Denmark’s Ministry of Defense said on Monday. France transferred a second frigate to the Red Sea region eight days ago, while Belgium is sending the frigate Louise-Marie to join a nascent European Union mission there.

The frigates will strengthen the multinational fleet defending commercial shipping from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, who have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones. A.P. Møller-Mærsk, the world’s second-largest container shipping company, is headquartered in Denmark, while third-largest container shipper CMA CGM is based in France.

“As a major seafaring nation, Denmark has a clear interest in contributing to maritime security,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement. “The Houthi attacks against international shipping and thus the security of international waters are deeply worrying and a serious threat to the international world order.”

The Houthis have vowed to attack all ships in the Red Sea that are linked to Israel, in response to the war in the Gaza Strip. Trade volume going through the Suez Canal has fallen by an estimated 42% in the past two months in response to the attacks, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, which says the waterway handled as much as 15% of global trade in 2023.

The French air-defense frigate Alsace transited the Suez Canal to the Red Sea earlier this month to join the Languedoc already in the area. Alsace, together with the U.S. Navy destroyer Carney and the Indian Navy destroyer Visakhapatnam, helped extinguish a fire onboard the tanker Marlin Luanda on Jan. 27, after the vessel operated by Trafigura and transporting a cargo of naphtha was hit by a Houthi-fired anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden.

The U.K. frigate HMS Diamond over the weekend used its air-defense missiles to fend off a drone attack from the Houthis in the Red Sea. The American, British and French navies have been regularly engaging Houthi missiles and drones since December, and the U.S. and the U.K. in the past month have been carrying out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation.

Operating a multinational coalition allows vessels to be taken out of the operational theater before they run out of ordnance, with partners able to take duty stations, Adm. Sir Ben Key, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the Royal Navy, said at the Paris Naval Conference last week. He said the region around the Red Sea has a number of “really effective ports,” for example in Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as in Oman, that allow for resupply of missiles and engineering support.

The U.S. is working to develop reloading at sea, with U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro having asked for experiments to see what that might look like “sometime this summer,” U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti said at the Paris conference.

About Rudy Ruitenberg

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

RNZN – Sword of distinction goes with pride of service

When Midshipman Sean Keven became the first ever officer to receive the Dick McBurney Sword of Distinction, it was during his intake’s graduation day in December. It’s only now that he’s had a chance to appreciate the story behind it.

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30 JANUARY, 2024

In July Navy Today ran a story on Lieutenant Commander (rtd)  Dick McBurney MBE and his desire to donate his sword to a deserving officer, someone who had ‘lower deck’ origins like LTCDR McBurney and was now Commissioning From the Ranks (CFR).

MID Keven was one of five officers in Junior Officer Common Training intake 23/02 who had previously served in the ranks. As the top overall CFR graduate, he was presented with the sword, as well as the Commodore Davis-Goff CBE, DSC Trophy, traditionally presented to the best CFR graduate.

The sword stays on display at the Leadership Development Group but any time in his career MID Keven, and subsequent awardees, are entitled to request the sword and wear it for ceremonial occasions.

LTCDR McBurney, originally from Northern Ireland, joined the Royal Navy in 1948, commissioned in 1963 and served in the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1972 to 1981. He and his wife are retired in Waikanae.

The sword, purchased from renowned Naval outfitters Gieves of London, is made by noted German swordmaker Eickhorn Solingen.

It’s quite likely LTCDR McBurney and MID Keven joined the Navy for the same reasons: a desire to leave a small town and see the world.

“Wellsford is a very small town, with not a lot to do,” says MID Keven. “I was looking at the Air Force initially as an avionics technician, but the recruiter pitched the idea of an electronics technician in the Navy.” He didn’t think of himself as a very confident person back then, so it was a big step.

I looked into the Navy and thought, why not, let’s go for it. I knew this would help me grow into someone I could be proud of. And nearly five years on, it’s been the best decision I’ve made.

He joined in early 2019, completing Basic Common Training (BCT) and trade training. He was then posted to HMNZS TE MANA, which was undergoing its Frigate Systems Upgrade in Canada.

“Again, it was someone selling me an idea. While in Canada, my divisional officer suggested I might be a good fit for officer training.” He’d found he liked being challenged, out of his comfort zone, and finding new opportunities to grow. “And the Navy gives you very good opportunities for that.”

It meant nearly six months of officer training. “It’s interesting – as a rating, you’re taught to do stuff, and be efficient about it. So the biggest thing for me was changing the way I thought. As an officer, you step back, look at different factors, juggle the team and the task. It’s a lot more dynamic as you solve problems, rather than be focused on one task. And in JOCT, instructors are a lot more hands-off, letting you figure things out. But if you muck it up, they rein you in and show you.”

MID Keven will now train as a Weapons Engineer Officer. That means a three-year Engineering degree at university, followed by a two-year weapons engineer course in Australia. He will likely post to frigates after that.

It’s hard work, but what he’s noticed is how well the Defence Force manages work life balance for its people.

“There’s always opportunities to take leave, or get away from work for something important. As a whole, the NZDF tries really hard to accommodate its people interests and wishes, especially in the regards of family and sports.”

This was particularly brought home to him when he asked if his partner could be with him in Canada.

“They said, let’s do it, and they made it happen. Considering I was an Ordinary Rate at the time, this was very surprising. We spent over a year in Canada together, in our own apartment, with plenty of opportunities to travel and see the country. It was an amazing experience and is just one instance of what the Navy has to offer.”

Training, study and travel are all great benefits, he says. “But arguably the best thing is being given the opportunity to be part of an organisation that doesn’t care about making the most profits, or expanding their reach to more clients. The Defence Force cares about protecting New Zealand, her interests, and her people. I feel a lot of young people are lacking purpose, community, and a challenge, all of which the Defence Force offers in spades.”

HMAS Warramunga departs for regional presence deployment

The crew of HMAS Warramunga form up as the ship departs Fleet Base East for an Indo-Pacific Presence Deployment. Credit: Defence

The Australian Defence Force has deployed a Royal Australian Navy warship to conduct the first regional presence deployment for 2024.

The Anzac class frigate HMAS Warramunga departed its homeport of Sydney on 23 January for a three-month deployment through South and Southeast Asia.

The ship’s embarked MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and the 200-strong ship’s company will participate in a range of exercises, cooperative activities and joint patrols with partner navies.

HMAS Warramunga will also undertake various navy-to-navy engagements during exercises and port visits.​

“Indo-Pacific deployments demonstrate the Australian Defence Force’s ability to maintain a near continuous presence in the region to support regional security and stability,” said Rear Admiral Chris Smith, Commander Australian Fleet.

“Australia has maintained a robust program of international engagement with regional nations for decades and these routine deployments demonstrate our resolve for a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

This regional presence deployment will conclude in late April.

USS Macon CA-132 1948.USS Macon (CA-132), a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, was laid down on 14 June 1943 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey; launched on 15 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Charles F. Bowden, wife of the mayor of Macon, Georgia; and commissioned on 26 August 1945 at Philadelphia, Captain Edward Everett Pare in command.


USS Macon (CA-132), a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, was laid down on 14 June 1943 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey; launched on 15 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Charles F. Bowden, wife of the mayor of Macon, Georgia; and commissioned on 26 August 1945 at Philadelphia, Captain Edward Everett Pare in command.

1946 – 1950
Macon’s first fleet assignment was with the 8th Fleet, which she joined soon after her shakedown cruise. Sailing with the fleet for maneuvers in the Caribbean, she departed Norfolk on 19 April 1946, returning to New York City on 7 May. On 4 June Macon arrived at Norfolk for duty as a test ship for the operational development force.

Over the next four years the cruiser periodically received experimental equipment in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, conducted tests of the new equipment while she served as an anti-aircraft gunnery schoolship, and training naval reservists off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. She also participated in a midshipmen summer cruise to Europe in 1948. Her experimental duties continued until 12 April 1950 when she decommissioned and went into reserve at Philadelphia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_(CA-132)

USS Indiana (BB-58), a South Dakota-class battleship, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy named in honour of the 19th state.

Her keel was laid down on 20 November 1939 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 21 November 1941 sponsored by Mrs. Lewis C. Robbins, daughter of Indiana governor Henry F. Schricker, and commissioned on 30 April 1942, Captain Aaron Stanton Merrill in command.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indiana_(BB-58)

Abercrombie-class monitor HMS Havelock

HMS Havelock at the T.W. Wards Shipbreakers at Preston, 1927

HMS Havelock 1915

HMS Havelock was an Abercrombie-class monitor of the Royal Navy that saw service in the First World War.

Background[edit]

On 3 November 1914, Charles M. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel offered Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, the use of four 14 in (356 mm)/45cal BL MK II twin gun turrets, originally destined for the Greek ship Salamis. These turrets could not be delivered to the German builders, due to the British naval blockade. The Royal Navy immediately designed a class of monitors, designed for shore bombardment, to use the turrets.

HMS Havelock was laid down at the Harland and Wolff Ltd shipyard at Belfast on 12 December 1914. The ship was named General Grant in honour of the United States General Ulysses S Grant, however as the United States was still neutral, the ship was hurriedly renamed HMS M2 on 31 May 1915. She was then named HMS Havelock on 20 June 1915.

Service history[edit]

HMS Havelock sailed for the Dardanelles in June 1915. She remained in the Eastern Mediterranean until returning to England in January 1916. She then served as a guard ship at Lowestoft. She was decommissioned in May 1919, and disarmed in June 1920. Sold for breaking up in May 1921, she was retained in reserve until resold on 25 June 1927 to the Ward shipyard at Preston for breaking up.