BOSTON (July 4, 2014) USS Constitution fires a 17-gun salute near U.S. Coast Guard Base Boston during the ship’s Independence Day underway demonstration in Boston Harbour.
John Currin
15 years in Royal New Zealand Navy
USS PLUNGER/USS A-1
USS Plunger (SS-2) was one of the earliest submarines of the United States Navy. She was the lead boat of her class and was later renamed A-1 when she was designated an A-type submarine. She is not to be confused with the experimental submarine Plunger which was evaluated by the U.S. Navy from 1898 to 1900
Plunger was originally laid down on 21 May 1901 at Elizabethport, New Jersey, at Lewis Nixon’s Crescent Shipyard. Arthur Leopold Busch supervised the construction of the A-Class submarines built there. The prototype Fulton experimental craft was laid down at Isaac Rice’s Electric Boat Company prior to these first A-class submarines.
She was launched on 1 February 1902, and commissioned at the Holland Torpedo Boat Company yard at New Suffolk, New York on 19 September 1903.
Assigned to the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island for experimental torpedo work, Plunger operated locally from that facility for the next two years, a period of time broken only by an overhaul at the Holland yard at New Suffolk from March–November 1904. Besides testing machinery, armament and tactics, the submarine torpedo boat also served as a training ship for the crews of new submersibles emerging from the builder’s yards.
In August 1905, Plunger underwent two weeks of upkeep before leaving the yard on 22 August. She was towed by the tug Apache to New York City, where Plunger conducted trials near the home of President Theodore Roosevelt. Upon the submarine’s arrival that afternoon, she moored alongside the tug and prepared for a visit from President Theodore Roosevelt.
Note 3rd CO name – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_W.Nimitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Plunger(SS-2)
USS HOUSTON 1934
After the test trip the Panama Canal passed and entered the Asiatic Fleet base in the Philippines , from which it left in 1932 to protect US interests threatened by the brief war between the Japanese Empire and China in January. At the beginning of 1934 he returned to Pearl Harbor where he joined the Pacific Fleet , then in the summer he took President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on a cruise that ended in the Caribbean in Portland. The cruiser also served as a presidential ship, in detail in October 1935, in 1938 and again in January 1939 during a combined US navy exercise in the Atlantic Ocean ; in 1937 he also attended the inauguration of the Golden Gate Bridge . After extensive revisions lasted for much of 1939, he anchored in Pearl Harbor, from where he left at the end of 1940 to return to the Asiatic Fleet . On the morning of December 8, 1941, he escaped for a few hours to the devastating Japanese raids that struck the archipelago at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor . L ‘ Admiral Thomas Hart, commander in chief of the fleet, left the Philippines with all the ships and reached first Darwin in Australia , then joined the Anglo-Dutch forces that were preparing to fight the Japanese invasion convoys in the Dutch East Indies .
Damaged by an airstrike in January 1942, Houston only came into contact with Japanese warships on February 27 during the Battle of the Java Sea, which ended in disastrous results for the Allies . He received orders to fall back into the port of Tjilatjap on the southern coast of Java but was identified and sunk by numerous Japanese units on the night between 28 and 1 March; the approximately 370 survivors of the crew were almost all captured and lived a long imprisonment for the rest of the Second World War .
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Houston_(CA-30)
USS Guam was an Alaska-class large cruiser which served with the United States Navy during the last year of World War II.
USS Guam was an Alaska-class large cruiser which served with the United States Navy during the last year of World War II. She was the second and last ship of her class to be completed. The ship was the second vessel of the US Navy to be named after the island of Guam, an American territory in the Pacific, and she was assigned the hull number CB-2. Due to her commissioning late in the war, Guam saw relatively limited service during the war. She participated in operations off Okinawa in March–July 1945, including providing anti-aircraft defense for the carrier task force and conducting limited shore bombardment operations. She participated in sweeps for Japanese shipping in the East China and Yellow Seas in July–August 1945. After the end of the war, she assisted in the occupation of Korea and transported a contingent of US Army troops back to the United States. She was decommissioned in February 1947 and placed in reserve, where she remained until she was stricken in 1960 and sold for scrapping the following year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guam_(CB-2)
Photos – HMS Manxman (N70) was an Abdiel-class minelayer. The ship is named for an inhabitant of the Isle of Man.
HMS MANXMAN – 1963
CaptureSN: CC001681.067499
Software: Capture One PRO for Windows
Ship’s badge in the National Maritime Museum
Commissioned on 7 June 1941, her first mission was the delivery of mines to Murmansk. Manxman then transferred to the Mediterranean, where she was employed on relief runs to Malta. In August she took part in Operation Mincemeat, which involved mine-laying in the Gulf of Genoa while disguised as the French destroyer Léopard. From October 1941 to February 1942, Manxman was returned to the Home Fleet and took part in a number of mine-laying operations in the North Sea and the English Channel. In March, she joined the Eastern Fleet at Kilindini in the Indian Ocean. After escort and patrol duties, on 8 October she participated in the assault and capture of the island of Nosy Be on the north west coast of Madagascar, which was occupied by Vichy French forces.
Transferring to the Mediterranean again, Manxman was sent with supplies to Malta, followed by mine-laying in the Sicilian Channel. On 1 December, whilst in transit from Algiers to Gibraltar, she was torpedoed by German submarine U-375 and severely damaged at the position 36°39′N 0°15′E. Following emergency repairs at Oran and Gibraltar, she returned to Newcastle-upon-Tyne for extensive repair work.
Manxman was re-commissioned on 10 April 1945 and made ready to join the British Pacific Fleet. She arrived at Geelong shortly after VJ Day and she was used for repatriation and supply operations.
Post-war
Returning to the UK in June 1946, she had a further spell with the Pacific Fleet before joining the Reserve Fleet at Sheerness. Following a refit, Manxman joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1951. In 1953, she appeared in the film Sailor of the King as the German cruiser Essen.[3] She was fitted for the film with enlarged funnels and mock-up triple-gun turrets over her 4-inch guns. The ‘torpedo damage’ which forces her delay at ‘Resolution Island’ was painted on the side of her port bow. The scenes when she is holed up for repairs were filmed in the semi-circular Dwejra bay, guarded by Fungus Rock on the west coast of Gozo Island in Malta. In 1953 she also took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[4]
In 1956, she was deployed for headquarters duties during the Suez operation. A story – or legend – has grown that, during the Suez Crisis of 1956, Manxman outran an American Carrier Group. Manxman reportedly shadowed them; the US Admiral increased speed, eventually to over thirty knots – and then Manxman swept past at full speed, showing the signal “See you in Egypt”. It is far from clear whether this episode happened; ‘knowledge’ about it was common in the Merchant Navy of the 1970s. This story was often told in the Royal Navy (not the Merchant Navy which is not technically an organisation), long before 1956; it was supposed to have happened in the Pacific at the end of World War II.
In reserve at Malta and refitting
She was refitted in Chatham in the early 60’s and converted to a minesweeper support vessel. When the forward boiler was removed and the compartment was fitted with diesel generators to supply outboard power to minesweepers, she was fitted with a dummy forward funnel, which housed the diesel exhausts and ventilation for the compartment. Much of the mine stowage was removed to make way for additional accommodation. Commissioning in 1963, she was subsequently stationed in Singapore.
Returning to the UK in 1968, Manxman was used for engineering training at Devonport and following a fire, was transferred to the reserve at Chatham Dockyard until broken up at Newport in 1973
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Manxman_(M70)
Royal Navy’s HMS Protector helps scientists study impact of humans on Antarctica
26th January 2024 at 1:52pm
Scientists have been able to study the effects of tourism and climate change on Antarctica thanks to the Royal Navy.
HMS Protector took two researchers from the University of Portsmouth to the frozen continent so they could carry out their specialised work.
The pair collected water and rock samples as the first phase of the ice breaker’s annual polar mission took her from the Falkland Islands south along the western edge of the Antarctic Peninsula.
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The work carried out by Professor Fay Couceiro and Dr Clare Boston will ultimately contribute to understanding the impact on Antarctica as record numbers of tourists continue to visit the delicate region.
Prof Couceiro collected water samples at the Falkland Islands, Anvers Island, Port Lockroy, Detaille Island and Pourquoi Pas Island as well as at the Rothera Research Station, the UK’s biggest facility in Antarctica.
The samples will be tested for concentrations of microplastics, metals and nutrients, with the results providing an insight into the impact humans may be having on Antarctica.
She said: “What an incredible experience. Breathtaking scenery, spectacular wildlife, an amazingly friendly and helpful crew and great food. I can’t thank the Royal Navy enough.”
Fellow scientist Dr Boston is examining the glacial advances during the last 5,000 years by taking rock samples from Pourquoi Pas Island.
And with the help of HMS Protector’s hydrographers, she was also able to collect data in Marguerite Bay to look at landforms created by the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet around 20,000 years ago.
Hydrography measures and describes the physical features of bodies of water and the land areas near those bodies of water, and surveying with multibeam echo sounders is the primary method of obtaining hydrographic data.
“I’ve had an amazing experience joining HMS Protector, seeing the Antarctic wildlife and collecting data,” said Dr Boston. “The crew have worked hard to get me ashore and help me find some rocks.”
On her voyage south, HMS Protector recorded more than 1,000 square miles of seabed data in areas that were either uncharted or poorly charted. This equates to area the size of Dorset.
The work will increase the safety of seafarers sailing through the region at a time when maritime traffic is increasing rapidly.
Between 2011 and 2020 the number of voyages to Antarctica almost doubled from 234 to 408.
USS McCampbell slated to return to Japan
The destroyer McCampbell is slated to return back to Yokosuka, Japan, and replace the cruiser Antietam as part of a “scheduled rotation of forces” in the region, according to the Navy.
The warship is set to join Destroyer Squadron 15, the Navy’s largest destroyer squadron, upon arrival to Yokosuka. There, the ship will work alongside the Japan Self-Defense Forces and other U.S. forces in the country to support peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Arleigh-Burke class destroyers are designed to accompany aircraft carriers as part of a strike group, and are outfitted with the Aegis Combat System, which includes anti-submarine warfare systems and long-range Tomahawk missiles.
“The forward presence of McCampbell enhances the national security of the United States and improves its ability to protect strategic interests,” the Navy said in a news release Wednesday. “It will directly support the Defense Strategic Guidance to posture the most capable units forward in the Indo-Pacific Region.”
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The George Washington returns to Japan in 2024, Reagan heads home
Yokosuka Naval Base previously hosted the George Washington from 2008 to 2015.
The McCampbell, previously based in Japan for 13 years, returned to Portland, Oregon, in 2020 for intensive maintenance and has been based in Everett, Washington, since 2022.
The Antietam, based in Yokosuka since 2013, will move its home portto Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The shift comes as the Navy is expected to move the aircraft carrier George Washington to Yokosuka as the Navy’s only forward-deployed carrier this year — replacing fellow carrier Ronald Reagan.
Yokosuka previously hosted the George Washington from 2008 to 2015, before the carrier headed into its midlife refueling and complex overhaul maintenance in 2017 in Virginia.
The Reagan, which joined U.S. 7th Fleet in 2015, will head to Bremerton, Washington, for maintenance work, according to U.S. Pacific Fleet.
USS Makin Island (LHD-8), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Makin Island, target of the Marine Raiders’ Makin Island raid early on in the United States’ involvement in World War II.
Makin Island’s task is to embark, deploy, and land elements of a Marine Corps landing force in an amphibious assault by helicopters, landing craft, and amphibious vehicles. The secondary or convertible mission for Makin Island is sea control and power projection.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Makin_Island_(LHD-8)
USS Makin Island (LHD-8), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Makin Island, target of the Marine Raiders’ Makin Island raid early on in the United States’ involvement in World War II.