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SMS Deutschland (His Majesty’s Ship Germany)[a] was the first of five Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy).

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 28 cm (11 in) guns in two twin turrets. She was built at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, where she was laid down in June 1903 and launched in November 1904. She was commissioned on 3 August 1906, a few months ahead of HMS Dreadnought. The latter, armed with ten large-caliber guns, was the first of a revolutionary new standard of “all-big-gun” battleships that rendered Deutschland and the rest of her class obsolete.

Deutschland served as the flagship of the High Seas Fleet until 1913, when she was transferred to II Battle Squadron. With the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, she and her sister ships were tasked with defending the mouth of the Elbe and the German Bight from possible British incursions. Deutschland and the other ships of II Battle Squadron participated in most of the large-scale fleet operations in the first two years of the war, culminating in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. Late on the first day of the battle, Deutschland and the other pre-dreadnoughts briefly engaged several British battlecruisers before retreating.

After the battle, in which pre-dreadnoughts proved too vulnerable against more modern battleships, Deutschland and her three surviving sisters were assigned to coastal defense duties. By 1917, they had been withdrawn from combat service completely, disarmed, and tasked with auxiliary roles. Deutschland was used as a barracks ship in Wilhelmshaven until the end of the war. She was struck from the naval register on 25 January 1920, sold to ship breakers that year, and broken up for scrap by 1922.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Deutschland_(1904)

Richelieu was a French fast battleship, the lead ship of the Richelieu class. Built as a response to the Italian Littorio class, Richelieu and its sister ship Jean Bart were based on their immediate predecessors of the Dunkerque class: they used the same unconventional arrangement that grouped their main battery forward in two quadruple gun turrets

Richelieu was a French fast battleship, the lead ship of the Richelieu class.

. They were scaled up to accommodate a much more powerful main battery of eight 380 mm (15 in) guns (compared to the 330 mm (13 in) guns of the Dunkerques), with increased armor to protect them from guns of the same caliber.

Richelieu (left distance) encounters the American battleship USS New Jersey at anchor in Hampton Roads on 7 September 1943 during New Jersey’s training ahead of Pacific deployment.

Richelieu was laid down in 1935 and was launched in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II in Europe. As war with Germany became increasingly likely, work on the ship was rushed to prepare her for commissioning in April 1940. Completed just days before the Germans won the Battle of France in June, Richelieu fled to Dakar in French West Africa to keep her under French control. There, she came under repeated British attacks that had been intended to either compel the battleship to join the Free French Naval Forces or sink her; these included during Operation Catapult in July 1940 and the Battle of Dakar in September.

Richelieu1

Damaged in both attacks, the ship was slowly repaired before eventually being turned over to Free French control after the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942. After being sent to the United States for repairs and an extensive modernization, the ship served with the British Home Fleet in early 1944 before being deployed to the Eastern Fleet for operations against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. These included several bombardment operations and in May 1945 she was present during the Battle of the Malacca Strait, though she was too far away to engage the Japanese force.

Richelieu was part of the force that liberated Singapore after the Japanese surrender in September, and she later operated in French Indochina as part of the initial effort to restore French colonial rule. Recalled to France in December 1945, she was repaired and modernized slightly in 1946. The ship saw relatively limited training in the immediate postwar years and, in 1952, she was removed from active service for use as a gunnery training ship. In 1956, she was placed in reserve and was thereafter used as a stationary training vessel and barracks ship until 1967, when the French Navy decided to discard her. She was sold for scrap in 1968, and broken up in Italy from 1968 to 1969.

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USS Trenton (CL-11) was an Omaha-class light cruiser, originally classified as a scout cruiser, of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named for the city of Trenton, New Jersey.

USS Trenton (CL-11)
She spent most of her pre-war career moving between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Trenton joined the Special Service Squadron in 1934, for a good-will tour of Latin America. In May 1939, she would join Squadron 40-T in protecting American interests during the Spanish Civil War and not return to the US until July 1940, when she carried the royal family of Luxembourg, fleeing from the Nazi occupation of their country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Trenton_(CL-11)

USS Tempest (PC-2) is the second of the Cyclone-class of United States Navy coastal patrol ships, named for various weather phenomena.

USS Tempest
030710-N-4953E-041 (July 10, 2003)
Onboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).
Patrol Coastal, USS Tempest (PC 2) follows the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) as the TRUMAN departs Norfolk, Va. to begin conducting Carrier Qualifications (CQ) and an Ammo Off Load off the eastern seaboard of the United States.
US Navy Photo by: Photographer’s Mate Second Class (AW/SW) Danny Ewing Jr.) (RELEASED) Releasing Authority LCDR Scott E. Norr, Photo Officer, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), By Direction.

She was transferred to the US Coast Guard as USCGC Tempest (WPC-2), on 1 October 2004, and placed in ‘Commission Special’ status until December 2005, when she was formally commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter. She was returned to the US Navy on 22 August 2008.

New Zealand Defence Force provides support for Solomon Islands election

HMNZS Canterbury and two helicopters are being deployed as part of New Zealand’s programme of support for the upcoming Solomon Islands elections.

HMNZS Canterbury
20240312 NZDF Y1036034 031

25 MARCH, 2024

A team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters from No. 3 Squadron will travel on board HMNZS Canterbury this week to provide logistics support for the Solomon Islands elections on April 17.

Today’s announcement by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins follows a request from the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission. It is part of NZ$10.8 million election support programme announced by the New Zealand Government in January.

Earlier this month, HMNZS Canterbury trained with No. 3 Squadron in the Hauraki Gulf in preparation for this mission, conducting multiple flights to and from the flight deck, including winching exercises. The exercise qualified four pilots and 10 helicopter loadmasters in ship operations.20240312 NZDF Y1036034 024

Watch NH90 helicopter training with HMNZS Canterbury | New Zealand Defence Force video

NH90 HELICOPTER TRAINING WITH HMNZS CANTERBURY | NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE

Once there, the helicopters will help transport election officers and materials around Solomon Islands.

Mr Peters says the support programme includes funding towards the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission’s election preparation and management, technical support from the New Zealand Electoral Commission, and an independent observer mission.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our personnel to work again with the Solomon Islands’ Government and alongside Australian counterparts in support of regional peace and security,”Mr Peters said.

“New Zealand’s overall contribution will support the Commission to lead the delivery of a safe and successful election. It demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to a resilient democracy in Solomon Islands and the wider Pacific region.”

Commander Bronwyn Heslop, Commanding Officer of HMNZS Canterbury, says the ship’s company always bonds quickly with the NH90 teams.

The last time No. 3 Squadron travelled with HMNZS Canterbury was during an exercise with Fijian military a year ago, to train personnel in amphibious warfare and relief work in the Pacific.

New Zealand has a long history of supporting elections in the Pacific, including providing a similar level of logistics support during the 2019 Solomon Islands election, alongside the Australian Defence Force.