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ADF trials new docking facilities at Kuru Wharf, HMAS Coonawarra

Port Services Darwin members stand-by as HMAS Adelaide approaches the newly built Kuru Wharf at HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, NT. Photo: LSIS Ernesto Sanchez

NAVAL 06 MAY 2024 By: Robert Dougherty

The Australian Defence Force has successfully docked one of Navy’s largest ships at HMAS Coonawarra, Darwin, for the first time, following the completion of the new Kuru Wharf.

The 230-metre-long landing helicopter dock (LHD), HMAS Adelaide, recently berthed at the new facility, which is part of a wider redevelopment of Navy’s Fleet Base North, Coonawarra.

Commanding Officer Coonawarra Captain David Shirvington said the first visit by an LHD was an important milestone in the development of the strategic northern maritime base.

“Having the ability to berth and sustain the RAN’s largest vessel class at 28,000 tonnes alongside a naval wharf in the north of Australia enhances our ability to support and achieve impactful projection of naval effects into Australia’s primary area of military interest,” CAPT Shirvington said.

“In this respect, the visit was an important stress test of the capability and has provided many lessons that can be applied to sustain further operations.”

The 322-metre-long wharf includes two approach dolphins and has already received a vote of confidence from Adelaide’s executive officer Commander Nicholas Paterson.

“The new Kuru Wharf at HMAS Coonawarra is a capability multiplier for the LHD,” CMDR Paterson said.

“The ability to have reliable, secure berthing space in the north is important to ensure the LHD’s ability to operate in these important strategic areas.

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“The infrastructure supporting the wharf is also excellent.

“There are excellent staging areas for cargo and stores, the bollard placement means LHDs can securely remain alongside with very little need to adjust lines, and the state-of-the-art gangway system ensures safe, easy access, even with Darwin’s high tide ranges.”

Capable of transporting up to 18 helicopters, the two Canberra Class LHDs are the largest ships ever constructed for Australia’s fleet.

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania class of super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s.

USS Pensylvannia

The Pennsylvanias were part of the standard-type battleship series, and marked an incremental improvement over the preceding Nevada class, carrying an extra pair of 14-inch (356 mm) guns for a total of twelve guns. Named for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in October 1913, was launched in March 1915, and was commissioned in June 1916. Equipped with an oil-burning propulsion system, Pennsylvania was not sent to European waters during World War I, since the necessary fuel oil was not as readily available as coal. Instead, she remained in American waters and took part in training exercises; in 1918, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France to take part in peace negotiations.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Pennsylvania served as the flagship of first the Atlantic Fleet, and after it was merged with the Pacific Fleet in 1921, the Battle Fleet. For the majority of this period, the ship was stationed in California, based in San Pedro. Pennsylvania was occupied with a peacetime routine of training exercises (including the annual Fleet problems), port visits, and foreign cruises, including a visit to Australia in 1925. The ship was modernized in 1929–1931. The ship was present in Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941; she was in drydock with a pair of destroyers when the Japanese launched their surprise attack on the port. She suffered relatively minor damage in the attack, being protected from torpedoes by the drydock. While repairs were effected, the ship received a modernized anti-aircraft battery to prepare her for operations in the Pacific War.

Pennsylvania joined the fleet in a series of amphibious operations, primarily tasked with providing gunfire support. The first of these, the Aleutian Islands Campaign, took place in mid-1943, and was followed by an attack on Makin later that year. During 1944, she supported the landings on Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, including the Battles of Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Battle of Angaur. During the Philippines campaign, in addition to her typical shore bombardment duties, she took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait, though due to her inadequate radar, she was unable to locate a target and did not fire. During the Battle of Okinawa, she was torpedoed by a Japanese torpedo bomber and badly damaged, forcing her to withdraw for repairs days before the end of the war.

Allocated to the target fleet for the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in 1946, Pennsylvania was repaired only enough to allow her to make the voyage to the test site, Bikini Atoll. She survived both blasts, but was badly contaminated with radioactive fallout from the second test, and so was towed to Kwajalein, where she was studied for the next year and a half. The ship was ultimately scuttled in deep water off the atoll in February 1948.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pennsylvania_(BB-38)

UPDATED: 30 Sailors, Marines Injured After LCAC Collision During Wasp ARG, 24th MEU Training Off Florida

The USS Wasp (LHD 1), with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), is underway in the Atlantic Ocean during Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), April 21, 2024. The Wasp (WSP) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)-24th MEU is conducting COMPTUEX, their final at-sea, certification exercise under the evaluation of Carrier Strike Group 4 and Expeditionary Operations Training Group. Throughout COMPTUEX, the WSP ARG-24th MEU is evaluated across a spectrum of scenarios that determine their readiness to deploy. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. John Allen)

GIDGET FUENTES

MAY 2, 2024 8:37 PM – UPDATED: MAY 3, 2024 7:13 PM

This post has been updated with additional information from U.S. 2nd fleet.

One sailor remained hospitalized Friday for treatment of injuries sustained after two Navy air-cushioned landing craft, or LCACs, collided during a training exercise off Florida Wednesday evening, injuring left 30 sailors and Marines, Navy officials said Friday afternoon.

The service is investigating the mishap, which happened off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., during a pre-deployment Composite Training Unit Exercise with amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1), amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD-21) and the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, U.S. 2nd Fleet officials said a statement Friday afternoon to USNI.

There were 18 sailors and 20 Marines aboard the two LCACs when the craft collided, and 30 of them were injured. “Both LCACs involved in the incident remained afloat and have since returned to their ships,” Lt. Cmdr. Kristi Johnson, 2nd Fleet deputy public affairs officer, said in a statement. One LCAC came from Wasp, the other from New York.

“A third LCAC rendered immediate assistance and transported all 38 sailors and Marines” to the two ships, where medical personnel evaluated them for treatment, Johnson said.

“One sailor remains under medical care at a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, and our primary focus is on our sailor’s health and well-being,” Johnson said. “We will continue to provide updates as information is available. The incident remains under investigation.

“Five sailors who were injured were medically evacuated for further care at Savannah Memorial University Medical Center, and four have been released from the hospital after treatment, Navy officials said. Other sailors and Marines with minor injuries were treated aboard Wasp and New York.

Fleet officials provided no further details about the incident.

Wasp is the lead ship for the Norfolk, Va., based Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, which has embarked the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C., for scheduled training ahead of a planned overseas deployment.

“The recovery and investigation processes are ongoing, and more information will be provided by U.S. 2nd Fleet once available,” 2nd Fleet said.

The incident, first reported by Navy Times, is the latest to affect the Navy’s amphibious fleet that the Marine Corps counts on to support deployment of its sea-going Marine expeditionary units.

Last month, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti hinted that the scheduled start to Wasp’s deployment might be delayed from its scheduled start of the deployment because of maintenance backlogs across the fleet.

Engineering problems forced the San Diego-based USS Boxer (LHD-4) to return to port at Naval Base San Diego after it deployed with part of the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 15th MEU but then suffered steering issues requiring major repairs to its rudder.

Royal Navy’s Wildcats fend off fast attack craft on Exercise Tamber Shield

Claire Sadler 2nd May 2024 at 9:27am


Watch: Royal Navy’s 815 NAS practises fending off fast attack craft in Norwegian fjords

The Royal Navy’s 815 Naval Air Squadron is honing its warfighting capabilities as it practises fending off fast attack craft in the Norwegian fjords near Bergen.

Wildcat helicopters, P2000 patrol vessels and Norwegian ships are hunting for enemy vessels as part of British-led Joint Expeditionary Force Exercise Tamber Shield.

The topography of the region, with its deep and narrow inlets, offers fast-attack craft the perfect hiding place.

Commanding Officer of 815 Naval Air Squadron, James Woods, told Forces News, “We’re essentially practising fighting against anything from small, fast attack craft, all the way through up to frigates and destroyers.

“The west coast of Norway provides a really useful training ground for us from challenging geography, all the way through to a really capable host nation and partner that we’re training with and against to hone our skills.”

Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter Norway 010524 CREDIT BFBS
Wildcat crews were put through their paces in an immersive exercise, where they had to hunt down, and ‘kill’, fast patrol boats hiding in the jagged coastline

Although just an exercise, these are important tactics being developed as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to increased security concerns in the High North, the territories of Nordic countries which include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden.

The role of 815 Naval Air Squadrons is to carry out warship detection, surveillance and intelligence gathering, so if Britain is called upon to help defend this coastline, they have experience of the topography.

The Wildcats also tested out their new “lethal claws” – Martlet and Sea Venom missiles.

Deputy Commander of the Norwegian Fleet, Captain Aspen Rasmussen, said: “Having time to exercise together brings us really forward, both nations.”

He added: “The geography has changed a little bit here in Norway, with Finland and Sweden joining Nato, which makes it much more important to be able to receive allied support here in the West Coast.

USS Barry (DDG-52) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992. Barry is the fourth United States Navy ship named after the “Father of the American Navy”, Commodore John Barry (1745–1803).

USS Barry – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Barry_(DDG-52)

Her homeport is Naval Station Everett, Washington. Several improvements over Arleigh Burke exist on this ship and all following Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, such as the ability to refuel a helicopter.

Barry’s keel was laid down on 26 February 1990, at the Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on 10 May 1991, and christened on 8 June 1991, by her sponsor Rose Cochran, wife of United States Senator Thad Cochran. Barry was commissioned into the U.S. Atlantic Fleet on 12 December 1992, and was placed under the command of Commander Gary Roughead. The commissioning ceremony took place at Naval Station Pascagoula in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Following ship’s commissioning, Barry underwent Post Delivery Test and Trials (PDT&T). During this period, Barry tested every major system on board. An Operational Propulsion Plant Examination (OPPE) was conducted, with Barry receiving an overall grade of Excellent. Combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials (CSSQT) were also conducted that included 13 missile firings.

Barry has received many awards, including the Battenberg Cup for the years 1994, 1996, and 1998—making Barry one of only three ships (as of 2008) to have won the prestigious award three times. She has also been awarded the Battle E award eight times, and received the Golden Anchor and Silver Anchor Awards for retention. More recently, in 2004 Barry received the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for being the most improved ship in the Atlantic Fleet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Barry_(DDG-52)

The Fujian, China’s new cutting-edge aircraft carrier, sets sail for initial sea trials

The Fujan sets off on her maiden voyage to undergo sea trials (Picture: CCTV)

1st May 2024 at 11:15am

China’s newest aircraft carrier, which features a next-generation electromagnetic catapult, has set sail for her maiden sea trials.

The Fujan, China’s third aircraft carrier, left Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard at around 8am local time.

The sea trials will test the carrier’s propulsion and electrical systems, as well as assess the living conditions for the crew, according to an expert quoted in Chinese media.

Once commissioned by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, the Fujian is expected to play a crucial role in the future development of China’s naval capabilities, according to  Song Xiaojun, a Chinese expert on military affairs.

The Fujian is the only vessel other than the US Navy’s Gerald R Ford-class carriers to feature a next-generation electromagnetic catapult.

A catapult can launch an aircraft much faster than a ramp, allowing for a quicker launch.

An electromagnetic catapult is less demanding on power and water than its steam catapult predecessor.

However, according to Trevor Hollingsbee, a defence and security analyst, there are reliability issues when it comes to electromagnetic catapults.

China's newest aircraft carrier received a special ceremony when she was first unveiled (Picture: Reuters)
China’s newest aircraft carrier was treated to a special welcoming ceremony when she was first unveiled (Picture: Reuters)

The Fujan was launched in June 2022 and has since completed her mooring trials.

She is much larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, which was commissioned in 2019.

China’s first aircraft carrier was the Soviet-built Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically

Navy Elects to Fix USS Boxer Rudder with Divers, Repair Could Take 2 Months

SAM LAGRONE

APRIL 30, 2024 8:05 PM – UPDATED: APRIL 30, 2024 8:40 PM

Divers will attempt to repair the big deck amphibious warship USS Boxer (LHD-4) in the water while the ship is pierside at Naval Station San Diego, Calif., USNI News has learned.

The effort will focus on repairs to the starboard rudder and the bearing that failed following Boxer’s departure for deployment on April 1, Navy officials told USNI News.

“The issue is the ship’s starboard rudder and roller bearing system. A series of inspections and assessments determined a waterborne repair is the most efficient way to execute maintenance and repairs,” reads a statement from Naval Surface Force provided to USNI News.
“USS Boxer will execute repairs to its starboard rudder at Naval Station San Diego. The waterborne repairs will be conducted at the pier and will likely not require a dry dock. Boxer may resume its deployment as soon as this summer.”

U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Stephen Koehler made the determination for Boxer to get fixed under water on Monday afternoon after reviewing recommendations from U.S, 3rd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Michael Boyle and Naval Surface Force commander Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, defense officials confirmed to USNI News.

A defense official told USNI News the repairs could take one to two months to complete. In parallel, the Navy is investigating the root cause of the rudder failure to see if “materials, parts or a faulty installation” are to blame for the failure of the starboard rudder, reads the statement from the service.

Boxer has been dogged with engineering issues since it completed an extensive modernization period in 2022. Navy officials have blamed contractor performance and quality assurance for a delay in a deployment that was supposed to start in January.

Sailors assigned to Boxer’s engineering department were found to be negligent in two command investigations. For example, in 2023 during sea trails, Boxer’s main reduction gear, the complex gearing mechanism that links the output of the steam plant to the props, ran without lube oil for two hours.  It’s unclear whether the previous issues are related to the current rudder issue.

A workman is dwarfed by the stern of the Amphibious Assault Ship USS WASP (LHD-1) as he puts the final touches on the recently completed vessel in dry dock. US Navy Photo

Before Monday’s decision, the Navy considered dry docking Boxer to repair the rudder, but the two dry docks in San Diego that are large enough to accommodate the 41,000-ton big deck amphib are occupied. The dry dock at BAE Systems’ San Diego repair yard is occupied by Littoral Combat Ship USS Oakland (LCS-24). General Dynamics NASSCO is hosting USS Chung Hoon (DDG-93), which is undergoing an availability to install the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block 3 as part of the DDG Mod 2.0 program.

The Navy also considered moving the ship north to Vigor’s ship repair yard in Portland, Ore., but the idea lacked appeal because the top ten feet of the ship’s mast would have to be removed to fit under a bridge over the Willamette River, sources familiar with the idea told USNI News.

Now with a path forward, the Navy and Marine Corps intend to deploy Boxer following the repairs.

Boxer is the flagship of the Amphibious Ready Group that includes USS Somerset (LPD-25) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49). Somerset and Harpers Ferry, with elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked, are currently operating in the South China Sea. The two ships are part of the Balikatan 2024 exercise taking place with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Boxer was slated to be a key platform for the exercise during the at sea period. How the deployment will proceed is still an open question. Somerset deployed in January for a series of exercises and Harpers Ferry departed in early April.

The emergent Boxer repair highlights troubles the Navy has had with maintaining the big deck fleet – the majority of which are powered by older steam boilers rather than modern diesel or maritime gas turbines.

“We found our amphib ships – the big decks in particular with steam plants – are having larger growth work than most of our ships and its it’s a challenge because of availability of parts, artisans, etc., “ Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee on Tuesday.