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Royal Navy pips New Zealand in Bay of Islands regatta

03 February, 2025

The Tri-Nations Sailing Challenge between Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom navy teams involves crews of 10 battle for bragging rights among their peers, while chasing regatta prizes.

This year, the Royal Australian Navy was unable to field a crew, leaving the Britons and New Zealanders to duel it out in last month’s event.

In a best-of-three event, Royal Navy enjoyed an emphatic win in the first race, and only just managed to pip the Kiwis to the line in the closing moments of races two and three.

The teams used the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Chico-40 yachts, maintained by the Navy’s Experiential Learning Squadron (ELS) for training purposes. The competition has previously run in New Zealand in 2008 and 2016, with the Royal Navy now three from three.

Aboard yacht Manga II, the New Zealand crew with skipper Hamish Ivey looked ready to seal the deal with home advantage, experience and familiarity with their own vessels.

But Commander Stephen Walton RN, skipper and tactician on Mako II, emphatically kept the Kiwis out of reach after the first race over 35 nautical miles, crossing the line 0.9nm miles ahead of New Zealand.

In the second race, the Kiwis were first across the start line and maintained a lead until the Brits, taking a gamble with a large spinnaker in marginal conditions, overtook with 200 metres to go.

The Tri-Nations Sailing Challenge between Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom navy teams involves crews of 10 battle for bragging rights.

“That’s yachting for you,” says Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Badham, Tri-Nations event coordinator and ELS coxswain. “These guys have so much experience.”

He says they wanted the Royal Navy team to have a great time in New Zealand, including being welcomed onto the Navy marae. They were taken out sailing on the Hauraki Gulf to get them used to handling the Chico-40 yachts.

Commander Walton says he brought a very strong team to New Zealand for the event.

“There were about 25 applicants to come to this. We take it really seriously, and I couldn’t go back to the UK and hold my head up high if the Kiwis put one over us. It’s a huge distance to come and compete at that level.”

He says they had to work very hard to get around the Kiwi boat in races 2 and 3.

“These Chico 40s are really good boats. They challenge people, and they’re hard work. Racing on them, everything is about leadership, team work, resilience and taking minor tactical opportunities. We got two really lucky breaks.”

That included making the “margin call” of hoisting a large spinnaker in 16-18 knots winds.

“You’ve got to make these calls, and I was confident we could hold it.”

The Royal Navy team also took trophies in the overall Bay of Islands Regatta competition, coming second in their division in both line honours and on handicap. Their helm, Lieutenant Emma Barry, was named best female helm in the Island Division.

They have made the most of their time in New Zealand, with both crews visiting Great Barrier Island on their return to Auckland. Some members have met the Great Britain Sail CP team, others have gone white-water rafting, and there was a possibility of a visit to Hobbiton.

While Commander Walton would come to New Zealand any time for a competition, he would like to see the invitation returned and the Royal Navy hosting a Royal New Zealand Navy team in the United Kingdom.

“I can’t tell you enough how well looked after we have been. The Kiwis have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and put us in the right place to perform well. After the final race of the series, they played ‘Rule Britannia’ on their speakers when they came alongside – that itself was almost worth the journey.”

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

UK’s seventh Astute-class submarine to be named HMS Achilles – January 27, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

UK’s seventh Astute-class submarine to be named HMS Achilles – January 27, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

In May 2018, it was announced that the Ministry of Defense had signed a £1.5 billion contract with BAE Systems for the construction of the seventh Astute-class hunter-killer submarine at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Initially set to be named HMS Agincourt, the submarine has now been designated HMS Achilles following approval by the King of the UK, Charles III. According to the navy, this new name honors a rich history, as HMS Achilles will be the sixth vessel in the navy’s history to carry the name, which is closely linked to significant battles such as the River Plate and Okinawa.

This change in name comes at a time of particular historical resonance, “with the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day this year”, the navy noted.

In October last year, the sixth vessel in this class, HMS Agamemnon, was formally launched at BAE Systems’ facility in Barrow.

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At 97 meters long and weighing 7,400 tonnes, the Astute-class submarines are said to be the first nuclear-powered submarines to be designed entirely in a three-dimensional, computer-aided environment.

They can manufacture their own oxygen and fresh water from the ocean and are said to be able to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing. The submarines carry both Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles (TLAM) and Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes.

Five Astute-class submarines, Anson, Astute, Ambush, Artful, and Audacious, are already in service, while work is also well underway in Barrow on the seventh unit.

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

Peruvian Navy launches two new patrol ships

January 27, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

The newly launched patrol vessels are part of a broader initiative to strengthen the country’s naval capabilities. They are the seventh and eighth ship in a series of ten new units Peru’s state-owned SIMA Peru is building for the Peruvian Navy.

The Peruvian Navy also recently held a keel-laying ceremony for four new naval ships. The vessels will be built by South Korean shipbuilding heavyweight HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) in collaboration with SIMA Peru.

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The ships in question are a 3,400-ton frigate, a 2,200-ton oceangoing patrol vessel, and two 1,500-ton landing vessels. They are scheduled to be delivered successively to the Peruvian Navy starting in 2026.

The multi-role frigate will be a multipurpose unit capable of operating in different areas of naval warfare, while the offshore patrol ship will be able to protect national interests and provide disaster relief. The logistics transport ships will support naval operations by transporting essential supplies like fuel, food, and medical aid to ships deployed in the open ocean.

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Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

Royal Navy submarine ordered to surface near Russian spy ship, Healey reveals

22nd January 2025 at 2:42pm

The submarine John Healey used to send the message to the Russians is thought to have been an Astute-class boat (Picture: MOD)

A Royal Navy submarine was ordered to surface to warn off one of the Russian navy’s spy ships operating around UK waters, the Defence Secretary has revealed.

John Healey gave details about the activities of the Yantar, which he said the Russians had been using for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.

Mr Healey warned Russian president Vladimir Putin: “We see you, we know what you are doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”

He told MPs the Yantar was in the North Sea having passed through British waters in recent days, where it had been shadowed by Royal Navy ships HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne.

This was the second time the Yantar had entered UK waters in recent months.

“In November, the ship was also closely watched and detected loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure. To deter any potential threat, I took measured steps,” he told the Commons.

“I authorised a Royal Navy submarine, strictly as a deterrent measure, to surface close to the Yantar to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move.

“The ship then left UK waters without further loitering and sailed down to the Mediterranean.”

The submarine is understood to have been one of the Navy’s Astute-class nuclear-powered boats.

Rules of engagement

When the Yantar returned to the waters around the UK on Monday, Mr Healey changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement to allowing shadowing vessels to get closer.

The Defence Secretary said: “The foreign ship Yantar is currently in the North Sea having passed through British waters.

“Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.

“Yantar entered the UK exclusive economic zone about 45 miles off the British coast on Monday.

“For the last two days the Royal Navy has deployed HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne to monitor the vessel every minute through our waters.

“I changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar.

“So far, the ship has complied with international rules of navigation.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge approved of the change to the Navy’s rules of engagement.

“[It] sends a powerful signal to Putin that we will not be intimidated and that if his aim is to keep pushing the boundaries of malign activity in our waters, and those proximate to us, we will respond,” he said.

The RAF's P-8A Poseidon is the ideal aircraft to monitor Russian naval vessels
The RAF’s P-8A Poseidon is the ideal aircraft to monitor Russian naval vessels (Picture: RAF)

The UK is playing a leading role in countering the growing Russian threat to offshore infrastructure in European seas.

As part of the UK’s ongoing work, the Royal Air Force will provide aircraft to a new Nato deployment designed to strengthen protection of offshore infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

This was announced following damage to the Estlink2 undersea cable between Estonia and Finland.

In response to that incident, the Prime Minister held talks with his Estonian and Finnish counterparts as the UK activated Nordic Warden.

This is an advanced new AI system that helps monitor the Russian shadow fleet and safeguards undersea infrastructure.

Russia’s shadow fleet of ships is used to attempt to bypass international sanctions – and help fund Russia’s war in Ukraine – by moving Russian oil and gas to potential buyers.

The Yantar was shadowed by RFA Proteus last November, but has now returned to UK waters (Picture: MOD)
The Yantar was shadowed by RFA Proteus in the incident last November (Picture: MOD)

As part of the initiative launched by the PM at the European Political Community last year, the UK has sanctioned 93 oil tankers.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which supports Royal Navy operations, is a key element of the UK’s strategy to safeguard offshore infrastructure, with its multi-role ocean surveillance ship, RFA Proteus, capable of deploying submersible drones to assess undersea cables and pipelines.

RFA Proteus was also involved in the shadowing of Yantar last November.

French Carrier Charles de Gaulle Kicks Off La Perouse Exercise in South East Asia

Dzirhan Mahadzir – January 21, 2025 5:07 PM

French aircraft carrier, FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) passes alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Mediterranean Sea, May 2, 2024. US Navy Photo

The French Carrier Strike Group is spearheading the French Navy-led multinational biennial exercise La Perouse 25 that began on Thursday across three critical maritime passages in South East Asia.

The 2025 exercise also marks the first time that South East Asian nations are participating in the exercise, albeit in separate national segments for each country. The French CSG is leading maritime security and cooperation drills with the Indian Navy, Indonesian Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the Malacca, Sunda and Lombok straits.

The French CSG, consisting of carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91), destroyer FS Forbin (D620), frigates FS Provence (D652) and FS Alsace (D656), fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier (A725) and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, is conducting a deployment to the Indo-Pacific known as Clemenceau 25, which began in the last week of November 2024. 

The CSG previously docked in Goa and Kochi, India, from Jan. 3-9 and, subsequently, Indian Navy destroyer INS Mormugao (D67) conducted tactical maneuver and helicopter cross-deck drills with Forbin and a replenishment-at-sea drill with Jacques Chevallier in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, embarked Rafale fighter aircraft on Charles De Gaulle carried out a joint anti-aircraft drill with Indian Air Force Sukhoi and Jaguar fighter aircraft, according to a French Embassy release. Forbin then pulled into Penang Island, Malaysia, on Jan. 12 for a port visit, departing on Thursday to begin the Malacca Strait phase of La Perouse.

La Perouse 25 is divided into three locations – the Malacca Strait, the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait. The objective of the exercise is to provide maritime safety in the three critical straits through the French Navy operating with regional and international partners and sharing information and coordinating actions against multiple threats by using the Indo-Pacific Information Sharing platform (IORIS).

“The strengthening of maritime safety will be at the heart of this exercise, with the development of interoperability between partner navies and the ability to act collectively in the event of a maritime crisis,” read a France Pacific Command (ALPACI) release on the exercise.

The release stated that the exercise participants will train with searches and interventions on vessels suspected of illicit activities, with some of the ships in the exercise playing the role of the suspected ships. 

The Malacca Strait phase ran from Thursday to Sunday, with Forbin drilling first with RMN corvette KD Lekir (FSG26), training ship KD Gagah Samudera (271), an RMN fast combat boat and two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) F/A-18D Hornet fighters in the Malacca Strait, according to an RMN release. Among the drills carried out were simulated local air-defense exercise, air-defense exercise, surface firing exercise, advance interdiction and boarding exercise and a photo exercise.

Forbin then conducted drills with RSN littoral mission vessel RSS Independence (15) in the Singapore Strait, which joins the Malacca Strait’s southern exit. Jacques Chevalier also pulled into Singapore on Thursday for a logistical stop, according to a post by the French CSG on its official X account.

The Sunda Strait phase ran from Thursday to Monday. A French Embassy release stated that Indonesia is providing base support for two French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) participating in La Perouse. A French Air Force A400M transport providing logistical support for Altantique 2s are staging out of Kertajati International Airport, West Java, for the exercise.

The largest part of the exercise, the Lombok Strait phase, taking place from Tuesday to Friday, has the French CSG drilling with an Indian Navy destroyer INS Mumbai (D62), destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG39), RCN frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH341), RN offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey (P234) and U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship USS Savannah (LCS-28), with the ships’ commanding officers gathering on carrier Charles De Gaulle on Saturday for a pre-exercise meeting.

Despite it being the first time Southeast Asian nations have participated in La Perouse, all three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – have limited their participation to a direct bilateral phase close to their own territory. In addition, the French CSG units taking part in the exercise are mirroring the Malacca Straits Patrol initiative, in which Indonesia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand conduct sea and air patrols to provide security in the Malacca Straits, but with each country conducting separate patrols in their own waters and airspace rather than a joint patrol. It is presumed that the national sovereignty aspects over the critical waterways for each nation have resulted in the three countries limiting their participation. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) participated in the previous La Perouse exercise in 2023 but is not participating this year. This is likely because of the JMSDF not having a naval unit currently deployed or transiting the region and later drilling with the French CSG in the upcoming multinational Pacific Steller exercise in the Philippine Sea.

Following La Perouse, the French CSG is expected to operate in the South China Sea before carrying out Exercise Pacific Steller in the Philippine Sea with U.S., Australian, Canadian and Japanese forces. It is likely the French CSG will conduct dual carrier operations with the Carl Vinson CSG, currently operating in the South China Sea and the only U.S. Navy CSG deployed at sea in the Western Pacific, at some point during the French CSG’s deployment.

RAN destroyer Hobart is on a six-week regional presence deployment to Southeast Asia that is expected to conclude by late February according to an Australian Defence Department release.

Ottawa is deployed under the Canadian Armed Forces’ Operation Horizon forward-presence mission in the Indo-Pacific, having left Canada on Oct. 16, 2024. From Jan. 8-11, Ottawa and U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) conducted bilateral operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific in the South China Sea, stated a Thursday release from U.S. 7th Fleet.

“Exercise Noble Wolverine was, for our team, another successful integration between two highly trained and capable navies. The anti-submarine warfare, communications exercises and flying operations were seamless as usual, and occurred in the international waters of an area of the world where undisrupted movement of maritime trade is critical to the region and greater global community,” said Cmdr. Adriano Lozer, commanding officer of Ottawa, in the release.

The release stated that during the operations, Higgins and Ottawa conducted maritime communications training and dynamic coordinated maneuvering.

“The U.S. Navy regularly operates alongside our allies in the Indo-Pacific region as a demonstration of our shared commitment to the rules-based international order. Bilateral operations such as this one provide valuable opportunities to train, exercise and develop tactical interoperability across allied navies in the Indo-Pacific,” read the release.

Carrier John F. Kennedy Leaves Philadelphia for Final Voyage to Texas Scrapyard

John Grady – January 16, 2025 8:41 PM – Updated: January 16, 2025 11:45 PM

The hulk of John F. Kennedy (CV-67) was towed down the Delaware River on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Bryan J. Dickerson for USNI News

The remains of the Navy’s last conventionally-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) is on its way from the Navy’s Philadelphia Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to Brownsville, Texas for dismantling.

Shortly before 9 a.m., tugs maneuvered the hulk down the Delaware River and was attached via a tow line to the ship Laney Chouest and both headed to the Atlantic.

The first ship named for the former president was decommissioned in 2007 at Mayport, Fla., and has been in Philadelphia ever since.

At the carrier’s Mayport decommissioning ceremony, Adm. John Nathman, then Fleet Forces commander, hailed “Big John,” its nickname, as “an icon of American might and freedom.”

Kennedy, built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., was commissioned on Sept. 7, 1968. The ship was christened the year before by the president’s daughter Caroline, then 9. Her mother, Jacqueline designed the carrier’s in-port cabin. A Navy spokesman at the time of the decommissioning said, “it is the only room on a Navy ship with wood paneling.”

The hulk of John F. Kennedy (CV- attached to towing ship Laney Chouest on the Delaware River on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Bryan J. Dickerson for USNI News

For 10 years in Philadelphia, the carrier, the first Navy ship named for Kennedy, was in donation status. That means it can be transferred to a qualified non-profit for restoration and repurposing, often as a museum.

The Navy is expecting delivery of the second John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), a year later than originally projected. USNI News reported earlier that the “The Navy is implementing a strategy to pull baseline work from the Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) into the construction period in order to provide more capability at ship delivery,” the Navy’s shipbuilding budget books [for Fiscal Year 2024] read.

The carrier will also be the second in the Ford-class. Like its predecessor, the carrier is being built in Newport News.

The Navy sold the original JFK  to International Shipbreaking Limited/EMR Brownsville in 2021 for one cent. The work was expected to begin in late 2023, but was put on hold by the Navy until now, the Brownsville Herald reported.

The hulk of John F. Kennedy on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Bryan J. Dickerson for USNI News

The firm had just handled the dismantling of USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) in 2023.

In 2023, Robert Berry, vice president of International Shipbreaking Ltd./EMR Brownsville, told the Brownsville newspaper the Navy “is taking a harder line on security with the JFK than he’s ever experienced in all his years of dealing with that branch of the military, and that this particular ship has more security surrounding it than the other carriers ISL has received in the past.”

The Naval Historical and Heritage Command noted in its ship’s history the original Kennedy conducted 18 deployments including to the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Ligurian, Aegean and Adriatic seas, during a period of escalating tension in the Middle East beginning with the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and neighboring Arab states and off Lebanon in 1983 following the bombing of the Marine Barracks and French forces quarter that claimed more than 300 lives.

USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) towed to Philadelphia in 2008.

In 1991’s Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait, the ship launched a total of 114 strikes and 2,895 combat sorties were flown for a total of 11,263 flight hours.

The carrier’s final combat deployment came in 2003 in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, NHHC wrote. “Of note during the OEF deployment, John F. Kennedy’s aircraft dropped more than 62 million pounds of ordnance on Taliban and al Qaeda targets and supported U.S. and Coalition forces on the ground with close air support, on occasion working with Special Forces units.”

As Kennedy moved down the Delaware River, the historic passenger liner SS United States still remained pier side in Philadelphia. The liner was to be towed in November originally to Norfolk to be cleaned and prepped for sinking as an artificial reef for diving and fishing off Oskaloosa County, Fla., along the state’s Gulf Coast.

The Coast Guard had halted the liner’s movement to ensure its seaworthiness. Although cleared now when it will be moved, now to Mobile, Ala., for the prep work before sinking is still unknown, Oskaloosa County officials said Wednesday.

Although the Coast Guard has cleared SS United States to leave Philadelphia, Nick Tomecek, public information officer for Oskaloosa County, its owner, said no date has yet been set for the towed transit.

The county “hired a marine architect/engineering firm to perform stability tests. Those tests are complete and that data was submitted to the Coast Guard and was approved to allow us to move to the next step,” which is the move.

SS United States on May 23, 2023. USNI News Photo

Tomecek told USNI News Wednesday, “We are currently on budget and on schedule for the vessel reef deployment process.” He added, the entire project cost allocation is $10.1 million. That includes buying the vessel for $1 million, another $1 million to the SS United States Conservancy, and additional funding for the remediation, dock fees and deployment of the vessel as the World’s Largest Artificial Reef off Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

In October, the county took title to the historic ship, effectively ending a three-year-long legal struggle between the non-profit that owned SS United States and Penn Warehouse and Distribution, the owner of the pier where it has been berthed for years.

The dispute centered on the doubling of the berthing charges at the same time as the SS United States Conservancy, established in 2011, was still trying to raise funds to preserve the liner as a museum/hotel, similar to the Queen Mary’s operation in Long Beach, Calif.

At the ceremony transferring the title, Paul Mixon, chairman of the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he was proud of Florida’s ability to “keep that legacy going” through the museum and reefing of the ship. The museum will receive the group’s collections of original artifacts and artwork from the ship, as well as at least one of the vessel’s iconic funnels.

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