That flag
August 2nd, 2011 | Aviation Foreign navies Helicopters Historical Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Maritime operations Naval aviation Navy Pearl Harbor Photos Ships The Pacific Training World War II | Posted by Bill McMichael
I remember a 1990-ish visit to a Japanese submarine base and being dumbfounded to see the subs flying the rising sun flag off their stern masts. Dumbfounded, because being, ahem, of a certain age, I associated the flag — a red disc with red and white “beams” extending outward — with the aggressive World War II-era regime that launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in an effort to exercise total dominance over the Pacific. Its use was banned in 1945 following the surrender to the United States and its allies, but many Americans don’t realize that it was re-adopted in 1954 as the war flag and naval ensign of the Japan Ground and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, respectively.
This isn’t news to U.S. sailors stationed in Japan, now a staunch U.S. ally, or those who’ve trained with the Japanese navy — such as the Norfolk-based sailors assigned to Destroyer Squadron 26, taking part in a “PASSEX” with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Training Squadron — manned by newly commissioned Japanese surface warfare officers — through today off the U.S. East Coast.
The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force training ship KASHIMA passes the destroyer Nitze during a passing exercise. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marie Brindovas, PASSEX Public Affairs.
PASSEX is an exercise that tests routine operational challenges and is meant, according to the Navy, to strengthen the partnership between the U.S. and Japan. Tasks include operating a Japanese helo on a U.S. ship.
Sailors assigned to the destroyer Nitze guide a Japanese SH-60 helicopter onto the flight deck. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marie Brindovas, PASSEX Public Affairs.
Today, incidently, is a big date in post-World War II affairs. The final meeting of the “Big Three” nations — the U.S., the Soviet Union and Great Britain — concluded on a sour note. The failure to resolve expected post-war issues at the Potsdam Conference, historians say, helped set the stage for the Cold War.
It’s a real FRUKUS
June 21st, 2011 | Counter-piracy Foreign navies Maritime interdiction Maritime operations Navy Officers Photos Royal Navy Ships Training | Posted by Bill McMichael
No, we haven’t lost our sense of decorum here at Scoop Deck. FRUKUS 2011 is an invitational naval exercise now underway off the Virginia coast involving ships from Russia, France, the U.K. and the U.S. Navy. “FRUKUS” is an acronym for all four nations — we’re guessing it rhymes with RUCKUS, which means a commotion — but it’s a bit more controlled than that denotes. It’s a two-week interoperability exercise … but let’s get to the pictures of the ships, shall we?
‘Ere’s the British ship, a destroyer …
HMS Dauntless, a participant in FRUKUS 2011, arrives at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kristina Young.
FS Ventose, a participant in FRUKUS 2011, arrives at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kristina Young.
U.S. Navy Sailors from the destroyer James E. Williams receive the lines from their counterparts aboard the Russian ship Admiral Chabanenko as it prepares to dock pierside at Naval Station Norfolk. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Darren Moore.
The French entrant, a frigate …
And the Russian vessel, a destroyer:
The exercise aims to improve maritime security through “open dialogue and increased training between the participating navies,” according to the Navy. There are two phases: ashore and at-sea. While ashore this week — the ships arrived June 20 — sailors are training on damage control, firefighting and ship handling. Next week at sea, under the command and control of a shore-based multinational combined task group staff, the ships will train on maritime domain awareness, and anti-piracy and maritime interdiction operations.
At the same time, senior officers from each nation will meet during the at-sea phase, presumably to get to know each other a bit better.
Colombia’s drug lords enter the silent service
February 15th, 2011 | Foreign navies Navy Submarines The Pacific | Posted by Sam Fellman
Colombian soldiers board a submersible narco-sub on a remote jungle river during a raid on Monday. // AP Photo
It’s Pablo Escobar meets John Holland: drug lords built a 99-foot-long submarine, believed to be the first Colombian narco-sub capable of traveling fully submerged, Colombian officials said Monday. It even sported a periscope.
The fiberglass sub, crewed by four, had been designed to haul up to eight tons of narcotics and could travel 9 feet underwater, powered by two diesel engines, Colombian officials told the Associated Press. Tipped off to its existence, the Colombian military seized the sub from its makeshift berth on a jungle river, hundreds of miles off the country’s northwest coast. No one was aboard, however.
Col. Manuel Hurtado, chief of staff of Colombia’s Pacific Command, estimated the sub, outfitted with a 16-foot periscope and air conditioning, had cost $2 million to build and said it could make the roughly 1,300-mile trip to Mexico underwater.
“The engines were already fully installed and ready to go,” he said.
Indian frigate sinks after collision
January 31st, 2011 | Foreign navies Navy | Posted by Sam Fellman
Smoke rises from the Indian frigate Vindhyagiri, which suffered a fire a day after colliding with a cargo ship. // AP Image
Fire-ravaged and collision-bruised, an Indian frigate floundered at the dock in Mumbai early Sunday and sank in about 22 feet of water. By late Monday, only the mast of the Vindhyagiri was visible, the Hindustan Times reported.
The frigate’s troubles began late Sunday afternoon. Some of the crew of 400 had brought along their families for a relaxing family day cruise and by 4:45 p.m. the frigate, along with another Indian warship, was headed back into port, The Times of India reported. A container ship, M.V. Nordlake, was headed out to sea. The first Indian warship arranged a port-to-port passage with Nordlake on bridge to bridge, but as they steered closer, the ships agreed upon on a starboard-to-starboard, an Indian admiral told the Times. Then they reversed it.
According to this officer, Vice Adm. Sanjeev Bhasin, the Nordlake took emergency actions to avoid the first Indian warship and crashed right into the second, the Vindhyagiri, not far from Sunk Rock Lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor.
No one was injured but the ship was crippled, including damage to the boiler and a fuel tank, and was brought back to the docks, the Times reported.
A fire broke out in the damaged engine room later on Sunday. Fire crews eventually put out the fire but the ship, perhaps from shifting water tanks to fight the blaze, was listing badly and taking on water. It soon sank.
The big, bad Iranian surface fleet
January 17th, 2011 | Foreign navies Iran Navy | Posted by David Larter
The Iranian warship Jamaran fires a missile, reported to be a Noor, a long-range anti-ship missile manufactured by Iran and based on the Chinese C-802, in a March exercise in the southern waters of Iran. // AP Image
Iranian media reported Friday the country was getting ready to invest in new Jamaran-type frigates. The Iranian Navy launched the first of its Mowj-class frigates in February of last year. It was the first domestically produced surface combatant of its kind and a second is well along in production at Bandar Abbas, according to Jane’s.
The ship is fairly well outfitted: 1,500 ton displacement with six Mk 32 torpedoes and launchers for four C-802 anti-ship and SM-1 anti-air missiles.
But let’s not get carried away here, this is a trinket of a ship relative to the 9,700-ton CG 47s. Which brings up an interesting question as to why Iran is spending money on these surface combatants that would seem to be little more than a nuisance to American warships. It would seem the safe money would be in diesel-electric boats.
Something to keep an eye on. Should the Navy be concerned with an expanding Iranian surface fleet?
Ark Royal’s last voyage
December 6th, 2010 | Foreign navies | Posted by David Larter
The British Royal Navy light aircraft carrier Ark Royal approaches Naval Station Mayport for a scheduled port call in May. // MC1 Leah Stiles
Her Majesty’s fleet took an austerity beating in October; that’s when it learned its flagship HMS Ark Royal would be decommissioned. On Friday, the doomed carrier pulled into Portsmouth, England, for the last time.
The Guardian reports:
“It’s very emotional,” said Leading Seaman Paul Stockell, one of those who had tears in his eyes — and not just because of the biting wind –as he helped bring the ship alongside in Portsmouth today.
Stockell has lived on board Ark Royal for four and a half years. “She’s home from home to me. It was a shock when we heard she was to be decommissioned. She’s the most famous ship in the world. I’ve been all over and everyone knows the Ark Royal.”
For many, joining the crew of Ark Royal has been a career goal. Chief Petty Officer Joseph Todd, the ship’s chief medical assistant, said he had long aimed to serve on board the flagship: “She’s been a talisman in the navy for a long time. Ark Royal is a name that resonates. She’s in a class of her own — she’s a proud ship and everyone who serves on her tries to live up to her name.”
The Guardian put together a nice slideshow that you can view here.
The incredible dancing Coast Guard
November 8th, 2010 | Foreign navies Video | Posted by David Larter
The Japanese Coast Guard might have the U.S. Coast Guard beat in at least one respect: choreography. In this amazing video posted on YouTube, you can witness Japanese Coast Guardsmen dressed like school girls performing a flawlessly executed dance routine during sea and anchor detail.
Prove the world wrong, U.S. Coast Guard. Let’s see some response videos.
Observe:
Those Japanese maritime types sure know how to make the military fun for the whole family.
Take that, Kim Jong-il
November 1st, 2010 | Ballistic missile defense Foreign navies Maritime operations Navy North Korea Photos | Posted by David Larter
An SM-3 missile is launched from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Kirishima, successfully intercepting a ballistic missile target launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. // U.S. Navy photo
The Japanese destroyer JS Kirishima shot down a medium-range ballistic missile during a joint exercise with the Navy. Read about it here.
French carrier “not seaworthy”
November 1st, 2010 | Carriers Foreign navies Navy | Posted by David Larter
The French carrier Charles de Gaulle has suffered a major engineering casualty. // AP Photo by Claude Paris
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has been sidelined with a major engineering casualty until at least Christmas, and the time could not be worse for Great Britain, according to the Telegraph. With the U.K.’s only carrier Ark Royal scrapped, the two historic rivals were expected this week to announce a partnership that would in some way share the French carrier with Great Britain.
The Telegraph reports:
“This is a carrier which is meant to be defending not only France but also Britain over the next decade. As far as the London summit is concerned, her breaking down could not come at a worse time.”
Following Britain’s strategic defence review last week, it looks certain that the UK and France will each have just one operational aircraft carrier each towards the end of the decade.
But Britain will have to rely solely on the Charles de Gaulle until at least 2020 while the Queen Elizabeth, a new carrier, is being built.
L’aircraft carrier’s issues don’t just have implications for the U.K. but also for the American-led NATO (or OTAN if you’re French) mission in Afghanistan. The carrier was on its way to the Indian Ocean to support Afghanistan operations when it broke down, leaving NATO with one less gun in the fight. The carrier’s captain said prudence demanded the deployment be scrapped.
According to the Telegraph, the repairs will run well into eight figures for the country that has already been forced into harsh austerity measures, which has caused unrest throughout the country.
Carriers Harry S. Truman and Abraham Lincoln are already in the Arabian Sea supporting the Afghan mission.
Update: The defense agreement between France and Britain has been signed. Read about it here.
Time to start learning Chinese?
October 29th, 2010 | Carriers China Foreign navies | Posted by David Larter
The inevitable march towards doomsday continues for U.S. dominance of the high seas, according to a growing chorus of critics who say China’s aggressive stance on territorial claims in Asia threatens to file down the teeth of the Global Force for Good.
It’s rather a trendy opinion to hold these days, especially with all the clamor over China’s George Washington-neutralizing mega power missile.
Add Christian Science Monitor columnist Jim Bencivenga to the list of U.S. Navy nay-sayers. He says once China’s super-missile is online, the Navy will have lost its very manhood. He writes:
Pax Britannia is just a memory. What of Pax Americana, should the Chinese escalate their aggressive territorial claims in the East China Sea or South China Sea? Will a US commander in chief be able to “send in the carriers,” if the Chinese indeed have a “kill weapon” capable of taking out a US carrier with one hit, as reported by the US Naval Institute last year?
An emasculated naval force in the Pacific limits US military options to deter China. It even more greatly limits US diplomatic deterrents.
Bencivenga argues, essentially, that America’s spiraling debt will make dealing with China’s naval expansion all but impossible. So when you go to the voting booth, he says, make sure you vote for someone who will cut spending … except spending on the Navy, of course.