It’s a dirty job
September 2nd, 2010 | Photos Seabees | Posted by Phil Ewing
Despite what you may have heard, being a Seabee isn’t all watercress sandwiches and string quartets — sometimes you have to get down into the mud to get the job done. MC2 Michael Lindsey has captured that side of the lifestyle perfectly in this image of NMCB 74′s Lt j.g. Victor Wong, who used the empty bag from a meal, ready-to-eat to bail out his foxhole in Camp Shelby, Miss. Let’s hope the rain held off.
A golden age for naval blogging
September 2nd, 2010 | Blogs | Posted by Phil Ewing
"Bridge, combat, be advised: Looks like Boston Maggie got to go to a ceremony on the Constitution last week. Neat." // MC2 Kristopher Wilson / Navy
Galrahn made an interesting observation in a Twitter update this morning: There are 11 blog posts included in Thursday’s edition of Chinfo Clips, the indispensable aggregation of Navy news stories distributed every day by the quiet professionals in the office of the Chief of Information, or “Chinfo.” Eleven blog posts is a record, according to Galrahn’s records, and (cliche warning) it shows how big a part of the Navy’s media consciousness that blogs have become.
The age of the Euro-carrier
September 1st, 2010 | Foreign navies | Posted by Phil Ewing
"All engines ahead two-thirds, old chap." "Oui, monsieur!" // Royal Navy
Defence types have been talking about this notion for a long time, and, amazingly, it could be upon us — France and the U.K. are said to be in discussions on a deal to “share” their three total aircraft carriers, in what could be the first-ever arrangement of its kind. Right now it’s a military version of an Apple event: French and British officials won’t comment on the stories, but there will be some kind of news conference Friday in Paris.
How would it work? Would a carrier field a joint crew and a joint air wing of British F-35B Lightning IIs and French Rafales, or would the navies take turns using their ships? Imagine the jokes on European TV: “Dash it all, Leftenant Crumbley, the aircraft elevator is inoperative because those French chaps have gummed it up with escargot!” “Sacrebleu, Pierre! Zose Breeteesh, zey ‘ave drunk up all ze tea in ze galley!”
However the carrier question plays out, there doesn’t seem to be any question that the British and the French are on a glide slope toward a new era of naval cooperation — which could be good for the United States, if it takes the pressure off our Navy to be ready to back up those allies individually.
Update: The Daily Mail quotes defence analysts who call the Euro-carrier notion “barking mad.” One of them, Cmdr. John Muxworthy (you can’t make these names up!) quipped thus: “Sharing aircraft carriers with the French is a cute idea but it is highly impractical and certainly not in the national interest. When push came to shove, France would put its own national interest first. We would lose national independence.The Royal Navy is Britain’s oceangoing police force, and if you haven’t got a proper police force you are going to get robbed.”
Littoral [fill in the blank] ship
September 1st, 2010 | Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
The littoral combat ship Freedom's time at sea has delayed the Navy's ability to test its LCS mission equipment, according to a new report. // MCSN Matthew Haran / Navy
The Navy wanted September to be a happy time for its littoral combat ship program — officials were hoping they would have decided which ship to put into full production by now and regained the momentum of earlier this year, when Freedom and Independence both finally were in the fleet and tearing up the ocean. Instead, LCS, if not quite dead in the water, is only making steerageway: Last week the down-select was delayed and this week the Government Accountability Office released its latest worrisome report on this whole shootin’ match.
Even as Big Navy was eager for Freedom to prove its mettle with its 4th Fleet jaunt, the cruise meant the ship wasn’t available to test the various mission modules that every LCS will need to do its job, GAO said. And whatever is going on with the LCS anti-submarine module — never you mind, little taxpayer, just keep that money flowing — the systems the Navy is working with “do not contribute significantly to the anti-submarine warfare mission,” the report said.
GAO also gave ammunition to LCS critics who say the ships don’t deserve the “combat” label, with this basic description of the philosophy behind their construction:
Ships built to Level 1 are expected to operate in the least severe environment, away from the area where a carrier group is operating or the general war-at-sea region. … Unlike surface warships like cruisers and destroyers, Level 1 ships (including LCS) are not designed to maintain their mission capabilities after incurring substantive damage. Current ships in the fleet built to the Level 1 standard include material support ships, mine-warfare vessels, and patrol combatants.
But let’s be clear — none of the Navy ships damaged in recent history have “maintained their mission capabilities” after taking damage: The destroyer Cole and the frigates Samuel B. Roberts and Stark all were out of the game following their respective calamities, even though, in each case, their crews saved the ships.
Bottom line: What does the Navy need to do to get LCS back on course?
Signed, sealed, delivered
September 1st, 2010 | Foreign navies Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
The crew of the frigate formerly known as McInerney hauled down the colors for the last time Tuesday. // MC2 Gary Granger / Navy
Just as scheduled, the United States of America transferred the frigate McInerney to the government of Pakistan on Tuesday in a ceremony that even included a “certificate of delivery,” suitable for framing in the new captain’s cabin. But even though old number 8 is now the frigate Alamgir (F 260) it isn’t going anywhere just yet — the ship is still due for an overhaul in Florida and won’t sail for its new home until January.
Navy
Navy Week in the City of Industry
August 31st, 2010 | Aviation Recruiting | Posted by Phil Ewing
It's tricky to bring deep draft warships to Cleveland for Navy Week, but the fleet has other, louder, flashier options. // MC1 Roger Duncan / Navy
Quick personal essay: Way back in the year 2003, I spent an idyllic late-summer afternoon in downtown Cleveland seeing both the sights, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Terminal Tower. While walking back to the car under a brilliant, ceiling-and-visibility-unlimited blue sky, I heard a deafening, unmistakable roar — the kind of roar that you only get from a Navy Flight Demonstration Team. Completely by accident, as a random pedestrian, I had stumbled into a front-row seat for the Blue Angels, starting their ballet half above the city and half above Lake Erie. Awesome.
I initially wanted to crack wise about Navy Week in Cleveland, which is taking place even as we speak, and make some kind of joke about how even a Navy of 330,729 people couldn’t fill the void left by The NBA Player Whose Name We Dare Not Speak, but then I thought, hey — take it easy on old Cleveland. Unlike Baltimore, which also is having its Navy Week right now, you can’t bring a sweet Aegis cruiser to the Cleveland lakefront (not that there’s a cruiser in Baltimore either, but it did get two warships) and, to its credit, Cleveland is assembling its own respectable collection of museum ships.
So instead of cool warships, the Navy has to get creative: There’s a column in The Plain Dealer; a special shout-out scheduled for tonight’s Tribe game; and performances by the Fleet Forces Command band, Four Star Edition. And, oh yes, the Blue Angels are coming back, too.
Exeunt McInerney
August 31st, 2010 | Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
The sea dog and its prize: McInerney proudly towed the now-famous semi-submersible drug-sub it captured in 2008 off Guatemala. // Lt. Justin Cooper / Navy
After more than 30 years, today is the frigate McInerney’s last day in the U.S. Navy. In a ceremony at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., sailors are set to lower the Stars and Stripes for the last time, and then the ship will become the property of the navy of Pakistan, re-christened for its second career as the Alamgir.
Back in the day, McInerney and its siblings were envisioned as lower-cost, compromise warships, designed to trawl for Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic as they escorted the convoys resupplying NATO armies fighting World War III in Europe. That war never happened, and the frigates never performed that mission. But the crews of McInerney and the other figs perfected a million other small-ball, National League-style fundamentals: Saving lives at sea; showing the flag; disrupting smugglers; and who knows how many other such assignments.
There’s no better example of a ship showing its range than the McInerney, which capped its decades in the fleet by training midshipmen; capturing a semi-submersible drug sub; and running the Navy’s first test of its Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. And after all that, the ship will go to its new owners in good shape, skipper Cmdr. Paul Young told Navy Times in May.
“It really boils down to the sailors — they took this ship through the deployment, and it was a very successful deployment, and they have really crafted the product that we’re going to turn over,” he said. “Plus, the material condition of a ship doesn’t happen overnight, so we’ve had a lot of great crews that came before us over the years.”
Problems are just opportunities in which to excel
August 30th, 2010 | Military Sealift Command | Posted by Phil Ewing
The dry cargo and ammunition ship Alan Shepard was one of five ships to suffer generator casualties in August, all of which got right back to work. // ABF3 Justin Sickler / Navy
You have to hand it to Rear Adm. Mark Buzby: Where another commander might have waited months to concede his fleet was dealing with apparently endemic equipment failures, Buzby came right out and announced it — and then used that announcement to brag about his team. Ships across Buzby’s Military Sealift Command have been having generator problems, he wrote in the September issue of MSC’s official magazine, Sealift, but that just gave the engineers the chance to shine:
August has been an amazing month for generator casualties — just ask the engineers on Mount Whitney, Joshua Humphreys, Big Horn, Cape Jacob and Alan Shepard. So what’s to be happy about? It’s the way those engineers — supported by the port engineers and [Military Sealift Fleet Support Command] staff ashore — quickly rallied the repair effort and got the ships back on mission with nary a missed beat. It was really impressive to see how quickly and professionally you tackled those mission-impacting casualties, and in the case of Mount Whitney, two at once! The rest of the Navy is quite jealous of your level of self-sufficiency and well, they should be.
Other observers might take a different interpretation about a rash of generator casualties aboard five ships in a single month — but c’mon! Look on the bright side!
LCS 2 returns
August 30th, 2010 | Photos Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
Bill Pointer / Navy
After a summer in the yard, the littoral combat ship Independence is back in the water and going places — it took on 64,243 gallons of marine diesel last week from a Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk fuel barge. Apart from that scaffolding, the Independence looks pretty much the way it did earlier this year on its Florida sojourn, suggesting that most of its changes and upgrades were internal.
Can it now use the enormous overhead crane in its cavernous mission bay? Can it open its huge stern doors? Do its formerly spartan living spaces now have those touches of home — a plaque from the city of Independence, Mo.; some silver from the carrier Independence; a DVD of the documentary “Independence Day” — that make life on a warship so much more pleasant?
We’ll find out and let you know.
Report: Submarines continue to exist
August 30th, 2010 | Royal Navy Submarines | Posted by Phil Ewing
Cmdr. Mark Behning, then of the ballistic missile sub Maryland, explained the principles of submarine operations. Rule 1: No water in the people tube. // Cpl. Anthony Ortiz // Marine Corps
So have you heard about how all these different countries out there have ships that can actually go under the water, not just drive, y’know, on top of it? “Submarines,” they’re called, and, apparently, the hot new thing right now is for one navy’s submarines to try to find and follow another navy’s subs. Crazy, right?