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Check out this magnificent image of the 11.500-ton cruiser USS California (CGN-36) late in her career, with Japan’s Fujisan in the background.

Commissioned 50 years ago today on 16 February 1974, California was the lead of her two-ship class of nuclear-powered guided-missile destroyer leaders (redubbed as cruisers in June 1975 to counter the rise in Soviet destroyer-sized “cruisers”).

In her late career configuration, seen above in the image from the CGN-38 Veterans Assoc, California is seen with twin Phalanx 20mm CIWS and twin Mk141 quad Harpoon cans installed. This was added to her original pair of twin Mk.13 Standard (MR) “one-armed bandit” launchers, ASROC matchbox launcher, and Mk.46 ASW torpedo tubes.

The “Golden Grizzly” led a happy life and was present at a myriad of Cold War crises including two circumnavigations of the globe. Despite the fact that she had received a New Threat Upgrade package in a 1993 overhaul, she, and the rest of the Navy’s nuclear-powered cruisers, were axed as part of the Clinton-era cruiser slaughter to skimp on the cost of a mid-life refuel that would have added 20 years to her lifespan.

USS California was deactivated on 1 October 1998, just 24 years after being accepted, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 July 1999. She was disposed of in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear-Powered Ship-Submarine recycling program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Her recycling and scrapping was completed on 12 May 2000.

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HMAS Albatross (later HMS Albatross) was a seaplane tender of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)

 

HMAS ALBATROSS 1932

AWM Caption: AN AERIAL VIEW OF SEAPLANE CARRIER HMAS ALBATROSS WITH ONE OF HER SEAGULL AMPHIBIAN AIRCRAFT FROM 101 FLEET COOPERATION FLIGHT, RAAF, OVERHEAD. NOTE THE HATCH COVERING THE HANGAR ENTRANCE JUST FORWARD OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE AND THE MOUNTING FOR THE UNFITTED CATAPULT TOWARDS THE BOWS. 

Hellenic Prince (former HMAS Albatross)

HMAS Albatross in 1938

S Albatross) was a seaplane tender of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), which was later transferred to the Royal Navy and used as a repair ship. Albatross was built by Cockatoo Island Dockyard during the mid-1920s and entered service at the start of 1929. The ship experienced problems with the aircraft assigned to her during her career: the amphibious aircraft she had been designed for were retired just before the ship entered service, the replacement aircraft could not be catapult-launched from the ship, and a new plane designed specifically to work with the ship began operations after Albatross was demoted from seagoing status in 1933.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Albatross_(1928)

DURING HER SERVICE WITH THE ROYAL NAVY, AS HMS ALBATROSS, THE SHIP RECEIVED BATTLE DAMAGE WHICH WAS NOT COMPLETELY REPAIRED BY THE END OF THE WAR. SHE PAID OFF IN 1945-06 AND WAS SOLD OUT OF SERVICE. IN 1947 SHE BECAME THE PRIDE OF TORQUAY AND WAS TO BE A FLOATING CABARET BUT THE PLAN FAILED. IN 1948 THE VESSEL WAS ACQUIRED BY GRAECO-BRITISH INTERESTS, CONVERTED TO A PASSENGER SHIP BEING SUBSEQUENTLY USED AS A MIGRANT SHIP TO AUSTRALIA, UNDER THE NAME HELLENIC PRINCE. DURING 1953 SHE WAS CHARTERED AS A BRITISH TROOP TRANSPORT. FINALLY IN 1953-11, THE SHIP WAS SOLD FOR SCRAPPING IN HONG KONG. (NAVAL HISTORICAL COLLECTION).

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HMAS HMAS Whyalla (J153/B252), named for the city of Whyalla, South Australia was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built on Admiralty order but manned by personnel of and later commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).[1]

 

The ship was sold to the Victorian Public Works Department at the end of the war, who renamed her Rip and used her as a maintenance ship.[1] In 1984, she was purchased by Whyalla City Council, who put her on display as a landlocked museum ship in 1987.

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End in sight for the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate LIFEX programme

   

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HMAS Anzac (D59) was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Named after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the destroyer was commissioned in 1951.

HMAS ANZAC Lyttleton 1974

HMAS Anzac 1950
H.M.A.S. ANZAC – lateral view



The ship served on two tours of duty during the Korean War, and attempts to distinguish herself from British ships led to the practice of red kangaroo symbols on Australian warships. During 1956, Anzac served during the Malayan Emergency. In 1960, a malfunction in the destroyer’s gun direction equipment caused Anzac to fire directly on sister ship HMAS Tobruk during a gunnery exercise, with Tobruk left unrepairable. In 1961, the destroyer was reclassified as a training vesselAnzac remained in service until 1974, and was sold for breaking a year later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Anzac_(D59)

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USS Davis (TB-12) and USS Fox (TB-13) along with two unknown destroyers at the Portland, Oregon Rose Festival of June 1908 moored in Williamette River, downtown Portland.

 

This photo was probably taken during the 1908 Rose Festival when the “Mosquito Squadron” visited Portland. The destroyers Preble, Perry and Farragut, and the torpedo boats Fox and Davis were among the ships in attendance. This photo shows two destroyers (larger ships in the background) and two torpedo boats. Coincidentally, the Fox and Davis, along with a third torpedo boat Goldsborough, were built in 1898-99 at Wolff & Zwicker Iron Works at the foot of Hawthorne on Portland’s east side.

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USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser that served with the United States Navy. She was the second ship named for the Battle of Vella Gulf, a naval engagement in the Solomons campaign of World War II, the first being USS Vella Gulf (CVE-111), an escort carrier commissioned in 1945.

 

USS VELLA GULF 2014

SOUDA BAY, Greece (Oct. 13, 2010) The guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) arrives for a routine port visit. The Norfolk-based Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser is on a scheduled six-month deployment and operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Paul Farley/Released)


The ship’s keel was laid down on 22 April 1991 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding, then a division of Litton Industries. She was launched on 13 June 1992, sponsored by Mary A. McCauley, wife of Vice Admiral William F. McCauley (Ret.), and commissioned on 18 September 1993 at Naval Station Norfolk.[3]

Designed as a multi-mission ship, Vella Gulf was capable of sustained combat operations in Anti-Air, Anti-Submarine, Anti-Surface, and Strike warfare environments. She supported of carrier battle groups, amphibious assault groups, ballistic missile defense, as well as interdiction and escort missions. Her diverse combat capability was orchestrated by the Aegis Combat System, a fully integrated electronic detection, engagement, and fire-control system. Aegis enabled Vella Gulf to detect, evaluate, and engage an enemy with great firepower and accuracy.

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Controversial hands in pockets ban for sailors lifted by US Navy – Julian Perreira 15th February 2024 at 11:54am

hands in pockets UK military MTP DATE 15022024 CREDIT MOD.jpg

The US Army has not followed suit and personnel are not allowed hands in their pockets.

Sailors in the United States Navy are now allowed to place their hands in their pockets after the service implemented sweeping changes to its uniform policy.

The policy update, which was sent out to all US Navy personnel, rescinds the decades-old restrictions barring sailors from putting their hands in their pockets, which the Navy previously claimed was “inappropriate and detracts from a professional military appearance”.

Sailors are now “authorised to have hands in their pockets when doing so does not compromise safety nor prohibit the proper rendering of honours and courtesies”, the latest guidance said.

While the US Navy has relaxed its rules, current US Army policy still states that “while in uniform, personnel will not place their hands in their pockets, except momentarily to place or retrieve objects.”

No such regulation exists for UK military personnel. However, having hands in pockets is widely considered a sign of poor discipline and it has been known for ‘repeat offenders’ to have to sew up their pockets as a punishment.

Watch: US Army solves recruitment crisis with fat camp.

Since the policy update was released, female sailors are now able to wear t-shirts designed for women, if the garment conforms with the navy’s current colour, fabric, and neck configuration standards.

“The intent of this policy update is to address expressed dissatisfaction regarding the required wear of male or unisex t-shirts that are not designed to fit female bodies,” the latest regulation said.

Sailors may also wear false eyelashes or eyelash extensions in uniform – provided they are no more than “14 millimetres in length as measured from the eyelid to the tip of the eyelash.”

The false eyelash colour must match the colour of the natural eyelash, however, and “eyelash extensions cannot hinder wear of protective eyewear”.

Elsewhere, the Royal Air Force has scrapped its strict no-hand tattoo policy for all serving personnel and potential recruits.

The removal of the RAF’s previous zero-tolerance stance on hand tattoos brings the service in line with British Army and Royal Navy guidance.

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