U.S. Carriers Reagan and Roosevelt Join Pacific Valiant Shield 2024 Drills
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) transits the South China Sea in support of Valiant Shield 2024, June 7, 2024. US Navy Photo
DZIRHAN MAHADZIR JUNE 10, 2024 3:22 PM
The Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Groups conducted separate group sails on Friday in the South China Sea and Philippine Sea with partner nations to kick off the Valiant Shield 2024 exercise. Meanwhile, also on Friday, the Netherlands Defence Ministry accused Chinese attack aircraft and an attack helicopter of harassing a Royal Netherlands Navy helicopter operating from a frigate in the East China Sea monitoring North Korea for UN maritime sanctions violations.
In the Philippine Sea on Friday, carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), together with U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19), cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG-62), destroyers USS Higgins (DDG-76) and USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) joined Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer helicopter carrier JS Izumo (DDH-183), destroyer JS Haguro (DDG-180) and submarine JS Jingei (SS-515) and to carry out a formation sailing event. Jingei is Japan’s newest submarine, having been commissioned on Mar. 8 this year. Four F/A-18 Super Hornets from Carrier Air Wing 5 embarked on Reagan and U.S. Air Force aircraft consisting of two B-1 Lancer bombers, four F-22 Raptor fighters, four F-16 Falcon fighters, one RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and one KC-46 Pegasus tanker, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft comprising of two F-2 fighters and two F-15 Eagles also conducted a flyover.
A Navy release stated that the formation sailing and flyover was part of the biennial Valiant Shield exercise and that, for the first time in its history, multinational, joint field training exercise focused on integration between U.S. and allied forces. “Over the coming days, our joint and combined forces will continue to hone our tactics and precise execution of those tactics to increase interoperability and lethality. This exercise expresses the full spectrum of capabilities we can bring to bear in our commitment to global peace and stability,” said Rear Adm. Greg Newkirk, commander, CSG 5 in the release.
In the South China Sea, carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), destroyers USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118), USS Halsey (DDG-97) and USS Russell (DDG-59) and amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), together with French Navy frigate FS Bretagne (D655) and Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Montreal (FFH 336) conducted a transit in support of Valiant Shield 2024 stated a DVIDS photo release.
Bretagne is making its way to Hawaii to take part in the Rim of the Pacific 2024 (RIMPAC2024) exercise from June 26 to Aug. 2. Montreal is on deployment in the Indo-Pacific as part of Operation Horizon, Canada’s ongoing forward-presence mission to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
On Friday as well, the Netherlands Defence Ministry issued a release stating that earlier that day, in the East China Sea, two Chinese warplanes circled Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS Tromp (F803) several times, and during a patrol, the frigate’s embarked NH90 helicopter was approached by two Chinese fighter aircraft and a helicopter. “This created a potentially unsafe situation. The incident occurred in international airspace,” stated the release.
The Netherlands Defence Ministry also released photos on social media channel X, taken from the deck of the frigate, showing a JH-7 attack aircraft and Z-19 helicopter flying nearby.
Tromp was conducting patrols in the East China Sea in support of a U.N. multinational force overseeing the enforcement of maritime sanctions against North Korea as defined by U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the release. A Japan Ministry of Defense release stated that Tromp carried out monitoring and surveillance activities from late May to early June and that this was the first time the Netherlands had conducted such activities. The frigate is on a deployment to the Indo-Pacific, called Pacific Archer 24, which will see it taking part in RIMPAC before heading home via the Panama Canal and the Atlantic Ocean.
Tromp on Sunday carried out the first ever bilateral exercise between the Royal Netherlands Navy and the JMSDF, drilling with destroyer JS Akebono (DD-108) with the two ships conducting tactical maneuvering and linking exercises in the waters west of the main island of Kyushu, according to a JMSDF release. Following the drills, Tromp docked into Nagasaki on Monday for a port visit.
Chinese warships and military aircraft have on several occasions harassed ships and embarked helicopters along with maritime patrol aircraft carrying out the surveillance and monitoring missions on North Korea, claiming such missions were cover for surveillance on China and its military and the action it takes are lawful and legitimate.
The most recent incident since Friday was on May 4, when a People’s Liberation Army Air Force fighter jet dropped flares in front of a Royal Australian Navy MH-60R over the Yellow Sea. The MH-60R was embarked on destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG39), which was undertaking routine activities as part of Operation Argos – Australia’s contribution to the international effort to enforce UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea. China’s Ministry of National Defense counterclaimed that Hobart dispatched its helicopter on three occasions to conduct surveillance and “nuisance activities” on People’s Liberation Army Navy ships training nearby.
China so far has not issued any official statement on Friday’s incident as both the defense and foreign ministries do not conduct press response over the weekend and Monday is a public holiday in China.
How a WW1 German U-boat became a tourist attraction on a British beachfront
Laura Skitt 11th June 2024 at 9:40am
A metallic beast described at the time as a “helpless, yet sinister monster” caused a stir on Hastings beachfront in 1919 – but it wasn’t a living being capturing the attention of onlookers.
It was U-118, a 267ft-long mine-laying U-boat of the Imperial Germany Navy that was stranded on its side on the sand in front of the Queen’s Hotel like a beached whale.
After the First World War, two captured U-boats – U-118 and UB-121 – were being towed for scrapping through stormy weather by the French destroyer Francis Garnier from Harwich in Essex to Brest, the westernmost port of France.
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In the early hours of 15 April 1919, U-118’s dragging hawser was damaged in the storm and the submarine broke free in the English Channel, leading to it stranding at high tide just yards away from Hastings’ beachfront houses.
Commissioned on 8 May 1918, the U-boat was responsible for sinking the British steamer Wellington on 16 September 1918 and British tanker Arca on 2 October 1918.
UB-121 was later found stranded at Birling Gap, a coastal hamlet found between Seven Sisters and Beachy Head.
Articles and images from the time show how following its abrupt arrival U-118 became a popular tourist attraction, with thousands of people from across the country visiting Hastings to see it during the Easter holidays.
The Hastings and St Leonards Observer reported on the event on 19 May, saying: “The news soon spread and, on Tuesday morning, people on their way to business turned aside to look at the curiosity.
“It was then high and dry and a tour inspection was possible.
“The wind was blowing very strongly and the sea was high.
“As the morning advanced and the tide came in, the craft was buffeted tremendously.
“The boat appeared a helpless yet sinister monster as it rolled in the surf only a few yards from the promenade at Harold Place.
“There were thousands of spectators during the day.”
Welcoming home the troops
News of the astonishing sight was also reported in newspapers such as the Dundee Evening Telegraph, the Yorkshire Evening Post, the Belfast Telegraph and the Western Mail.
At that time, most people were not familiar with submarines, so the stranded U-boat became an intriguing and fascinating thing for many to see up close.
Attempts to refloat it failed and it was too close to the public beach and Queen’s Hotel to break it up using explosives.
The Admiralty gave the town permission to charge people for exploring the submarine to raise funds for a welcome home event for soldiers returning from the First World War.
It was reported by the Hastings and St Leonards Observer on 10 May 1919 that £273 (£11,776 in 2024) had been raised for the welcome home fund.
Tragedy strikes
For a couple of weeks, excited visitors to the U-boat were guided around the inside of the vessel by Chief Boatman William Heard and Chief Officer W Moore, two members of the coastguard.
However, when these men became gravely ill, the visits were stopped at once.
Authorities initially believed spending so much time in poorly ventilated areas containing the rotting food that remained on board was the cause of the men’s illness.
Tragically, Chief Officer Moore died in December 1919, while Chief Boatman Heard died in February 1920.
It was revealed at the inquest into their untimely deaths that a toxic gas released from the submarine’s damaged batteries had caused deadly abscesses on the men’s lungs and brains.
What next for the submarine?
When locals and visitors to Hastings could no longer enjoy a tour around the U-boat, some began to call for the vessel to be salvaged for profit.
Local resident H P White’s suggestion for the future of the U-boat was published in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer, saying: “Surely the Admiralty would have no objection to Hastings taking care of their old submarine and I do not think it beyond the range of possibility that it might be hauled further up the beach, put on an even keel, painted up and made a unique attraction to visitors.
“And if it were kept in decent repair a charge might be made for a visit to the interior and the funds devoted to the lifeboat or some similar society.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U_Hz_PP6ggw%3Fenablejsapi%3D1%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.forces.net
The Hastings and St Leonards Observer reported on 17 May 1919 that a decision had been made about the fate of the stranded vessel, saying: “On the motion of Alderman Tree, it was agreed that the Town Clerk apply to the Admiralty to present to the town the gun of the German submarine which is to be sold and broken up.”
Therefore, U-118’s impromptu visit to the seaside town of Hastings didn’t last long as, on 21 May 1919, the wreck was sold to James Dredging Co for £2,200 (£94,899 in 2024) and broken up on the beach.
The deck gun was left behind but eventually removed in 1921.
Although Hastings Council reportedly removed the keel in 1937, it is believed a portion of the ship’s keel is still buried deep beneath the sand.
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery has in its archives a solid iron ballast block and part of a speaking tube from the U-boat is on display.
Australia fast-tracks its hunt for replacement frigates
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Australia plans to retire a second Anzac-class frigate in 2026, leaving six in service until the first general-purpose frigate arrives in 2030. (Gordon Arthur/Staff)
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Australia has approached several foreign shipbuilders in an urgent quest to procure general-purpose frigates under Project Sea 3000, the Defence Department told Defense News.
The government sent requests for information to German, Japanese, South Korean and Spanish shipbuilders on May 24, the department said. However, a spokesperson for the department declined to provide further details “while the evaluation is underway, due to [the] commercial, procurement and probity process.”
A government review unveiled in February, titled “Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet,” recommended 11 general-purpose frigates replace eight existing Anzac-class frigates. To speed up the process, the first three would undergo construction overseas and the remainder in Western Australia.
The review pinpointed Germany’s MEKO A-200, Japan’s version 30FFM, South Korea’s FFX from the second and third batches, and Spain’s Alfa 3000 as contenders. It cites the two FFX batches as a single platform type, though it’s unclear why.
The shipbuilders were reportedly given four weeks to respond to the initial request, plus another three weeks to explain how follow-on frigates can be built in Australia.
Selection is expected to occur next year, with commissioning of the first overseas-built ship to take place in 2030. The fourth through sixth vessels, built in Australia, are to have an identical baseline. No decision has been made on the design of the seventh through eleventh frigates.
The Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet will feature a total of nine hulls in 2026, underscoring the looming capability gap before new frigates start arriving.
Shipbuilders approached by Defense News declined to go into detail regarding Australia’s procurement effort. For example, German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems confirmed it “participated in the tender” but added that “we’ll not comment on further details of the ongoing process.”
Ongoing construction of six Ulsan-class FFX-III vessels for the South Korean Navy is split between Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Oceanplant and Hanwha Ocean. The construction of eight Daegu-class FFX-II ships concluded last year. A Hyundai Heavy Industries spokesperson confirmed it received the request for information.
“HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has great competitiveness with its rich experience in warship building, such as [research and development] and first ship of the latest Ulsan-class frigate,” the spokesperson said. “This will be an opportunity for HHI to show how they approach warship orders that fit the situation of each country.”
In reference to frigate designs, Rear Adm. Stephen Hughes, Australia’s head of naval capabilities, told the Combined Naval Event conference in the U.K. on May 23 that the country is using existing designs in order to quicken the introduction of the vessels into the fleet.
However, Australian frigates identical to the aforementioned parent ships — the exemplars have been built for Egypt, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea — raises potential difficulties because some of their weapons, sensors and systems were chosen by the original customers and could be unfamiliar to the Royal Australian Navy. Notably, Saab’s 9LV combat management system, which the Australian service uses across its fleet, isn’t incorporated into those ships. Likewise, the Australian-made CEA Technologies radars are also excluded.
“Whatever we choose, whatever standard we go with, we’re going to adopt that. We’re going to have discipline around that capability,” Hughes said, describing the acquisition process as “an opportunity, not a risk.”
“The risk is we don’t choose wisely and we don’t understand the designs.”
About Gordon Arthur
Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.
HMS Nelson (pennant number: 28) was the name ship of her class of two battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s.
They were the first battleships built to meet the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Entering service in 1927, the ship spent her peacetime career with the Atlantic and Home Fleets, usually as the fleet flagship. During the early stages of Second World War, she searched for German commerce raiders, missed participating in the Norwegian Campaign after she was badly damaged by a mine in late 1939, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean.
In mid-1941 Nelson escorted several convoys to Malta before being torpedoed in September. After repairs she resumed doing so before supporting the British invasion of French Algeria during Operation Torch in late 1942. The ship covered the invasions of Sicily (Operation Husky) and Italy (Operation Avalanche) in mid-1943 while bombarding coastal defences during Operation Baytown. During the Normandy landings in June 1944, Nelson provided naval gunfire support before she struck a mine and spent the rest of the year under repair. The ship was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in mid-1945 and returned home a few months after the Japanese surrender in September to serve as the flagship of the Home Fleet. She became a training ship in early 1946 and was reduced to reserve in late 1947. Nelson was scrapped two years later after being used as a target for bomb tests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nelson_(28)
The Army-Navy Gaza aid pier is back in the beach
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By Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press and Tara Copp, AP
The U.S. military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the beach in the besieged territory after a section broke apart in storms and rough seas, and food and other supplies will begin to flow soon, U.S. Central Command announced Friday.
The section that connects to the beach in Gaza, the causeway, was rebuilt nearly two weeks after heavy storms damaged it and abruptly halted what had already been a troubled delivery route.
“Earlier this morning in Gaza, U.S. forces successfully attached the temporary pier to the Gaza beach,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters by phone Friday. “We expect to resume delivery of humanitarian assistance from the sea in the coming days.”
Cooper said operations at the reconnected pier will be ramped up soon with a goal to get 1 million pounds of food and other supplies moving through the pier into Gaza every two days.
The pier was only operational for a week before a storm broke it apart, and had initially struggled to reach delivery goals. Weather was a factor, and early efforts to get aid from the pier into Gaza were disrupted as civilians desperate for food stormed the trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food to the warehouses for distribution.
However before it broke apart the pier had been gradually increasing aid movement each day. Cooper said Friday that the lessons learned from that initial week of operations made him confident higher levels of aid throughout could be attained now.
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Military’s novel floating pier arrives in Gaza amid security concerns
The Gaza aid pier is made possible by an oft-neglected but vital military capability known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS.
A large section of the causeway broke apart May 25 as heavy winds and high seas hit the area, and four Army vessels operating there went aground, injuring three service members, including one who remains in critical condition. The damage was the latest stumbling block in what has been a persistent struggle to get food to starving Palestinians during the nearly eight-month-old Israel-Hamas war.
The maritime route for a limited time had been an additional way to help get more aid into Gaza because the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it difficult, if not impossible at times, to get anything through land routes that are far more productive. Israel’s Rafah military operations and military strikes in northern Gaza had also temporarily halted U.S. airdrops of food.
Cooper said Friday the U.S. also expects to resume those airdrops in the coming days.
President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the start that the pier wasn’t meant to be a total solution and that any amount of aid helps.
After the May 25 storm damage to the causeway, large sections were disconnected and moved to the Israeli port for repairs. In addition, two of the U.S. Army boats that went aground during the same bad weather near Ashkelon in Israel have been freed.
Two other Army boats two beached onto the Gaza shoreline took on a lot of water and sand and the Israeli Navy has been helping with the repairs, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.
Biden announced his plan for the U.S. military to build a pier during his State of the Union address in early March, and the military said it would take about 60 days to get it installed and operational. The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but Singh said earlier this week that the price had dropped to $230 million, due to contributions from Britain and because the cost of contracting trucks and other equipment was less than expected.
It took a bit longer than the planned two months for installation, with the first trucks carrying aid for the Gaza Strip rolling down the pier on May 17. Just a day later, crowds overran a convoy of trucks as they headed into Gaza, stripping the cargo from 11 of the 16 vehicles before they reached a U.N. warehouse.
The next day, as officials altered the travel routes of the convoys, aid finally began reaching people in need. More than 1,100 tons of aid were delivered before the causeway broke apart in the storm, Pentagon officials said.
About Tara Copp, AP
Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.
South Korea, Japan, and the United States to Hold ‘Freedom Edge’ Joint Multi-Domain Exercise
A formation of ships from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Republic of Korea Navy maneuver in the Pacific Ocean during a trilateral exercise (TRILATEX). TRILATEX is intended to increase interoperability, operational proficiency and readiness between partnering nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Keith W. DeVinney/Released)
South Korea, Japan, And The United States To Hold ‘Freedom Edge’ Joint Multi-Domain Exercise
During the Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 held in Singapore from May 31st to June 2nd, the Defense chief of the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the United States agreed to hold joint multi-domain exercises this coming summer under the name ‘Freedom Edge’.
Eunhyuk Cha 05 Jun 2024
On June 2nd, the Defense Chiefs of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Japan, and the United States held a trilateral meeting during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 in Singapore. During this meeting, the three countries released a joint statement announcing they will conduct a tri-nation exercise named “Freedom Edge” this summer. This exercise will involve simultaneous drills in various domains, including surface, underwater, air, and cyber warfare. As the first joint combined exercise that these three nations will conduct together, it demonstrates the growing cooperation between them and the improved relationship between South Korea and Japan.
The name of this new exercise, “Freedom Edge,” is a combination of two existing exercises: “Freedom Shield” (FS), an annual joint exercise conducted by South Korea and the United States simulating a North Korean invasion, and “Keen Edge,” a joint exercise conducted by the United States and Japan to respond to regional threats, including those from North Korea. The exact date and location of the “Freedom Edge” exercise have not been decided yet, but a local news outlet reported that the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) will take part in the upcoming exercise before its scheduled turnover with the USS George Washington (CVN 73).
The three Defense Chiefs agreed to conduct the “Trilateral Tabletop Exercise” (TTX) to discuss effective deterrence and response measures for various threats on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region. Additionally, to institutionalize trilateral security cooperation, including high-level consultations, information sharing, trilateral exercises, and defense exchanges, they decided to establish the “Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework” by the end of the year.
Through this meeting, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral security cooperation to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and to achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Prior to the trilateral meeting, the Defense Chiefs of the Republic of Korea and Japan held a bilateral meeting on June 1st and reached an agreement on measures to prevent the recurrence of the 2018 patrol aircraft dispute that was considered a major obstacle to strengthening trilateral military cooperation among the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Japan. The measures to prevent the recurrence of the dispute included the prioritization of ten radio communication frequencies to ensure smooth communication between the naval vessels and aircraft of both nations during encounters at sea.
In a related development, with North Korea’s ever-growing nuclear capabilities, illegal arms trade, constant threats of sending balloons filled with waste and unidentified objects over the DMZ, and GPS disruptions, the Korean government has decided to suspend the ‘September 19th Military Agreement,’ which bans all hostile acts on the ground, sea, and air between the two Koreas. By officially strengthening military cooperation against the North Korean threat through combined military exercises, the security partners surrounding the Korean Peninsula will affirm their dedication to ensuring stability and peace in East Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
The 53rd iteration of NATO’s Baltic Operations series of exercises is set to be the alliance’s largest amid the inclusion of new members and security concerns with Russia.
USS Paul Ignatius (DDG -117), departs Kiel, Germany following exercise Baltic Operations 2023 (BALTOPS 23), June 19, 2023. US Navy Photo
Thirty warships from 20 nations have assembled over the past week at Klaipėda in Lithuania in preparation for NATO’s premier annual naval exercise in the Baltic Sea. Between June 7-20, four amphibious task groups and multinational task units composed of more than 50 vessels, 25 aircraft and 9,000 personnel from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States will participate in various maritime drills around the region.
Activities planned include antisubmarine warfare, gunnery drills, amphibious operations, mine clearing and medical responses.
“Year over year, BALTOPS delivers credible results in building our collective defense capability and the strength, agility and cohesion of the alliance,” Vice Admiral Thomas Ishee, commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet and Naval Striking Support Forces NATO, told reporters in a pre-sail conference at Klaipėda.
Since its inception in 1971, the exercise has increased in both size and complexity as NATO has accepted new members in the Baltics and faced a renewed threat from the east. BALTOPS 2024 will bring the largest assembly of amphibious and mine-hunting forces in the exercise’s history, according to a U.S. Navy release.
“If anything that Russia’s brutal aggression in Ukraine has shown us is that you have to be able to adapt to the environment in combat, so that’s a focus for me and both my U.S. command and NATO command,” said Ishee.
The 6th Fleet commander highlighted that Russia was still a capable adversary, citing its “significant capabilities” in the maritime domain, including antiaccess and area denial. From Kaliningrad, an enclave in the NATO Baltics, the Russian Baltic Fleet is stationed alongside numerous surface-to-air missiles and antiship systems.
While Sweden has participated in the exercise since the 1990s, 2024’s iteration will be the first to include the previously neutral country as a fully fledged NATO member. Stockholm previously committed to join the military alliance alongside Finland in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the pressing challenges of Russian naval forces and what Sweden claims to be a fleet of merchant vessels equipped with surveillance equipment still remains.
In line with NATO’s collective defense principle, Ishee also stressed that Russian capabilities “are something that we [NATO] have to be concerned with as we work to defend all of the alliance, now including Finland and Sweden, which have a lot of the coastline in the Baltic Sea.”
Maritime lessons from the war in Ukraine were acknowledged by Ishee, who told reporters “We are very much aware of what’s going on in the Black Sea in the war between Russia and Ukraine.”
NATO’s new warfighting plans for the defense of the Euro-Atlantic Area will also be put into practice during the exercise.
Another first for this year’s BALTOPS will be the deployment of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command-assigned naval forces, according to a NATO press release. The specific assets being deployed from the combatant command were not specified.
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Royal Navy warship deployed to protect trade routes
HMS Duncan will replace HMS Diamond in the Middle East
Curtis Lancaster, BBC News
A Royal Navy warship, HMS Duncan, has deployed on a mission to protect international trade routes in the Middle East.
The vessel set off from Portsmouth on Sunday and headed towards the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
It will replace HMS Diamond, which has been protecting the region since before Christmas and which in April shot down a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The Royal Navy said 200 men and women have worked to make HMS Duncan ready to deploy.
‘Our people will succeed’
Commanding Officer, Cdr Dan Lee, said: “I am immensely proud of the work the ship’s company have done to ready HMS Duncan for this important deployment.”
He said the Type 45 destroyer will be ready to work around the clock to “protect trade routes from Houthi attacks”.
“We have spent the past week readying the ship and saying our farewells to our families and loved ones who turned out to wave us off from Round Tower in Portsmouth.”
Cdr Lee added: “Our people will succeed on operations and support stability where tasked.”
The Duncan spent five months leading a NATO task group in the Mediterranean Sea last year.
It has more than 60 new members of the crew for the latest deployment.
Among them is Able Rating 18-year-old Charles Henderson, a seaman on his first ship and first deployment.
He said: “I am immensely excited to be deploying but I’m highly focused on the operations ahead and ready to put all my training into practice.”
The ship will now carry out training in the Mediterranean before it sails through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea and the coast of Yemen.
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French Charles De Gaulle Carrier Strike Group Finishes Mediterranean Deployment
DZIRHAN MAHADZIR – MAY 30, 2024 7:04 PM
The French Charles De Gaulle Carrier Strike Group wrapped up its Mission Akila deployment to the Mediterranean on Sunday, according to a French Navy news release.
Along with FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) and its embarked air wing of 18 Rafale M fighters, two E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning and Control and two Dauphin helicopters, the French CSG included French frigates FS Chevalier Paul (D621) and FS Provence (D652), Portuguese frigate NRP Bartolomeu Dias (F333), Italian frigate ITS Carabiniere (F593), Greek frigate HS Kountouriotis (F462), French nuclear attack submarine SNA Émeraude (S604) and French and fleet oiler BRF Jacques Chevallier (A725).
Charles De Gaulle and several of its escorts left Toulon on April 22 to begin the deployment. The CSG participated in NATO exercise Neptune Strike 24-1 from April 26 through May 10, which saw the French CSG go under NATO operational control for the first time.
The French CSG subsequently took part in the Italian-French naval exercise Mare Aperto 24/Polaris. Mare Aperto 24 is a multinational exercise conducted by the Italian Navy that began on May 3. The drills became the hybrid Mar Aperto 24/Polaris on May 16 with the participation of the French CSG.
The French Navy first conducted its Polaris exercise in 2021. The drills were built on the concept of a free play force-on-force combat exercise and this year combined it with Mare Aperto for a similar force-on-force drill. The French CSG formed the red force and faced an opposing blue force CSG led by Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (550), which carried a mixed air wing of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters fighters and AV-8B Harrier jets.
“Among the innovations this year, I would like to highlight the connection between Mare Aperto and the Polaris exercise of the French Navy, which in the hottest phase will lead to the confrontation between the attack groups of the Cavour and Charles de Gaulle aircraft carriers,” Vice Adm. Vice Aurelio De Carolis, the commander-in-chief of the Italian Navy, said in a news release about the exercise.
French amphibious assault ship FS Dixmude (L9015), along with embarked French amphibious troops and helicopters, joined the blue force as part of the Italian amphibious task group. An earlier phase of Mar Aperto 24 saw the Spanish Navy amphibious transport dock ESPS Galicia (L-51), with embarked Spanish Marines and frigate ESPS Reina Sofía (F-84), integrate with Italian Navy amphibious transport docks ITS San Giorgio (L9892) and ITS San Marco (L9893). Both Italian amphibs carried embarked Italian marine units to carry out the amphibious drills. The forces performed various other drills, including at-sea tactical drills and replenishment at-sea and mine hunting exercises, during Mar Aperto 24.
Fifty surface ships, six submarines, 63 aircraft, 300 amphibious vehicles and over 10,000 personnel took part in the exercise, according to an Italian Ministry of Defense news release issued at the conclusion of Mar Aperto 24. Of the 10,000 personnel, 3,600 were from Italy, 2,700 were from France, 1,400 were from Spain and the remainder came from 26 other countries, including 11 NATO nations.
The French CSG traveled more than 10,000 nautical miles for the deployment, according to the French Navy release about Akila. Charles De Gaulle carried out more than 650 catapults of Rafale fighters and E-2C Hawkeyes for a total of 1000 hours of flight. The CSG’s five helicopters flew 200 times, with a total of 300 hours of flight, and the Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, stationed in Souda, Crete, recorded 12 missions for 90 hours of flight.
During the entire Akila deployment, the French CSG carried out 10 air defense exercises, five anti-submarine warfare drills, two anti-ship warfare exercises and four shooting drills. The French CSG also performed two Aster missile launches, one each from the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and frigate Chevalier Paul.
Jacques Chevallier replenished a total of 35 French and allied ships during the deployment, according to the release. The CSG also experimented with resupplying and siloing Aster missiles at sea and transferring of materials via drones between the French CSG escorts.