End of an era
December 6th, 2011 | 6th Fleet Amphibious operations Amphibious Ready Group Combat support Commanding officers Flight deck certification Homecoming leadership Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit Maritime operations Mine warfare Navy Norfolk Naval Station Odyssey Dawn Photos Ponce Ships The Middle East | Posted by Bill McMichael
On May 7, 1970, the Beatles released their last single: “The Long and Winding Road.”
Last week, the amphibious transport dock Ponce, launched 13 days after the song and commissioned in July 1971, completed its own long journey, coming home for the last time after four decades of service.
Sailors prepare to handle lines on Naval Station Norfolk's Pier 2 as the amphibious transport dock Ponce makes its final return to homeport. Ponce will now begin the long process that will result in the ship's decommissioning early next year. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stevie Tate
Those years were filled with significant events. Ponce helped evacuate nearly 300 mostly U.S. and British Westerners from Lebanon during the 1976 civil war, and supported 6th Fleet air strikes on pro-Syrian militia positions in defense of U.S. Marines ashore. It supported military disaster relief in Florida following 1992′s devastating Hurricane Andrew. It took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, serving as the flagship of a minesweeping task group that opened the key port of Umm Qasr. Most recently, Ponce, as part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, supported the NATO strikes on Libya that played a key role in helping rebel forces drive Moammar Gadhafi from power.
It was during that last cruise that the ship’s commanding officer and executive officer were fired by Vice Adm. Harry Harris, then-commander of 6th Fleet — Cmdr. Etta Jones for what investigators said were abuses of power, and Lt. Cmdr. Kurt Boenisch for not standing up to Jones. Jones apologized to the crew in a statement released by her lawyer the same day Ponce returned home last week, saying that she hoped the public “will not overlook their positive story.”
Ponce spent its final operational week supporting air operations for II Marine Expeditionary Force’s air-ground task force. One sailor said he took a lot of pride in being one of the last to man the ship’s flight deck.
“This underway is the last time anyone will fly on Ponce,” Aviation Support Equipment Technician 3rd Class Morgan Butkus was quoted by Ponce’s public affairs office as saying. “How many years have people been here with stuff happening, and this is the last of it.”
Four decades on Ponce, by the numbers: It was served by more than 18,400 sailors and embarked by more than 24,500 Marines; it landed and launched aircraft more than 39,000 times; it was involved in more than 25 major operations; it was commanded by 28 different commanding officers.
The ship will be decommissioned in early 2012 and placed in long-term storage at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia.
Quartermaster 2nd Class Shixi Zhang mans a telescopic alidade on the starboard bridge wing of the amphibious transport dock ship Ponce as the ship gets underway from Naval Station Norfolk for its final scheduled underway period. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Nathanael Miller
Far from home, a meal in the lap of luxury
May 10th, 2010 | Life at Sea Mine warfare | Posted by Phil Ewing
The owners of the yacht Northern Sun played host to sailors from the minesweeper Patriot in Hong Kong last week. // Seanergy Ltd.
A lucky few sailors from the mine countermeasures ship Patriot will bring home a great sea story: Not only did they get to do a port visit in exotic Hong Kong, they were invited for dinner by an American couple — aboard their yacht. Steve and Barbara Watson, who now make their home in the Fragrant Harbor, entertained a few lucky Patriot crew members aboard their elegantly appointed, 167-foot Northern Sun, to show their gratitude for the American sailors’ service:
“You know I don’t want to sound sappy. You guys do a job that I don’t think a lot of people say thank you for, and we’d like to be able to do that. So, this is our little way of saying ‘Thanks guys, thanks for what you do,’” he said. The Watsons have lived in Hong Kong for 10 years.
Barbara Watson, whose father was a U.S. Navy Captain, had a different take on the evening. “It’s a pleasure. It makes me feel more at home because we’re not at home either. So it’s good to have other Americans here,” she said.
Shades of Jules Verne or “Apocalypse Now: Redux” — have you ever done a port visit that involved an unexpected encounter with wealthy American expatriates?
Catching the cool breezes, when you can
April 27th, 2010 | Life at Sea Mine warfare The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
Casual day topside: The mine countermeasures ship Dextrous came alongside the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Cardigan Bay in the northern Persian Gulf this week. // MC2 Ja'lon Rhinehart / Navy
Look: The north end of the Persian Gulf is really hot. It is really humid. It is really, really unpleasant. A surreal yellow haze hangs over everything: One minute you can pick up the sleek, ominous silhouette of a U.S. destroyer on patrol, the next minute you can’t. Would you wear long pants in that situation when you had the option to wear shorts? Thought so. So too with some crew members aboard the mine countermeasures ship Dextrous, it appears.
Problem is, if you’re handling lines and wearing shorts, how can you tuck your pants into your socks?
The end of an era at Ingleside
April 27th, 2010 | Mine warfare Shore duty | Posted by Phil Ewing
No more ships, no more "arfare": The Navy handed over Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, to the Port of Corpus Christi last week. // S. L. Standifird / Navy
In a ceremony last week at the former Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, Navy officials returned the base to the Port of Corpus Christi, closing the book on one of the most unusual bases in the service. Ingleside was originally built — get this — as a homeport for the battleship Wisconsin, back in the 1980s glory days of the 600-ship Navy, when the fleet was going to have a set of surface action groups, each built around a battleship, dispersed around the country.
The enthusiasm for that waned. So instead the Navy made Ingleside the home of its mine countermeasures ships, and for most of its history the base was home to Osprey and Avenger-class minesweepers — a lower profile but very important element of the surface fleet. But Big Navy and the Defense Department lost enthusiasm for the minesweepers, too, so the fate of Ingleside has been in the works for awhile.
The Navy decommissioned all its Osprey-class coastal minehunters. The Base Re-alignment and Closure Commission recommended Ingleside be closed. The Navy moved Ingleside’s Avenger-class minesweepers to San Diego — a process not without its hiccups — and so with no more ships, Ingleside is going away.
A towed array for LCS?
January 25th, 2010 | Mine warfare Science and technology Ships Submarines | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors in the littoral combat ships' mission control centers -- where FC1 Ronila Ivory stood ready to fire Freedom's 57mm gun in November -- could begin listening for submarines if the ships get a towed array sonar // Lt. Ed Early / Navy
The littoral combat ships weren’t designed with an onboard sonar because the Navy wanted LCS to use the sensors aboard its unmanned vehicles — including a remotely operated boat and submarine — but that, apparently, could be changing: Naval Sea Systems Command’s Underwater Warfare Center at Newport, R.I. has a request for proposal (pdf) out this month seeking ideas from contractors about a variable depth sonar for LCS with a towed array, like the ones carried on cruisers and early Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
(Navy officials said that one reason they canceled DDG 1000 in favor of more DDG 51s was the Burkes’ better anti-submarine capabilities (pdf), even though the newer ones don’t have a towed array. Funny, that.)
As Scoop Deck waits for Navy officials to respond to requests for comment on this, it’s worth thinking through how an onboard sonar could change the way LCS could operate.
When finite funds meet infinite needs
January 19th, 2010 | Aviation Ballistic missile defense Carriers leadership Maritime operations Mine warfare Navy Pirates Ships Submarines | Posted by Lance Bacon
It’s no secret the naval fleet has more gaps than O.J.’s alibi.
The Navy is lacking surface vessels, especially amphibs. Submarine and aviation gaps are on the horizon. Even the carrier fleet will drop below requirements for at least three years beginning in 2012.
Adding the crushing blow on this already sizable dog pile is the fact that SSBN(X) will cost $80 billion — which the Navy doesn’t have. Unless Congress coughs up the cash, the shipbuilding budget will be cut by half for a whopping 14 years.
Ouch.
Since it’s very unlikely the Navy will get everything it needs, the question of priorities comes into play. So what tops that list? Depends who you ask.
SNA day 2: Proclamations and predictions
January 13th, 2010 | leadership Maritime operations Mine warfare SNA The Middle East Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
After the second day of speeches, press avails and panel discussions, here are a few of the voices that attendees heard today at SNA, selected completely arbitrarily, with some statements and prognostications they made about the world as it is and the world to come:
- “Optimistically, we’re looking at a 275-ship Navy — which is even smaller than today’s. It’s a troubling realization, but however we slice it, that’s the bottom line.” // U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., who said the Navy would never reach its goal of at least 313 ships unless it asked for and got more money from Congress.
- “[People think] somehow, when we’re done with Iraq and Afghanistan, we can get back to more regular forms of like-on-like warfare — a lot of that does need to be done, but the good old days aren’t coming back, and [attacks] are coming to the United States, I’m afraid, too. The test will come. It’s inevitable, and we need to be ready.” // Retired Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, who was on a panel asked to discuss the implications of “hybrid warfare” for the Navy.
- “I keep a list in my book of all the boutique ‘warfares’ that are accumulating out there.” // Rear Adm. Philip Greene, who heads the Navy’s irregular warfare office in the Pentagon.
- “That’s the difference between the Coast Guard and the Navy. We can deploy our forces fast. We radioed the captain of the cutter and said, ‘go to Port-au-Prince.’ That’s what makes us unique.” // Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, on why the lifesaving service could respond so quickly to the disaster in Haiti. Coast Guard vessels don’t need to wait for the national military chain of command to act; they can take new tasking immediately, he said.
SNA: Not if, but when
January 13th, 2010 | Coast Guard Maritime operations merchant ships Mine warfare SNA Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
Retired Adm. Harry Ulrich, a former commander of Naval Forces Europe, gave a bleak prognostication during a panel discussion a few moments ago. A major maritime calamity is coming, he warned:
“If you like the way people almost blow up airplanes — how are we doing with our seaports? Does anybody in this room know? I argue they don’t. Let me tell you, it’s not a pretty picture. Just imagine, a ship blowing up over the Big Dig in Boston. What prevents that from happening? Or blowing up the San Diego Bridge at rush hour? I don’t think we’re ready for that. I know we’re not. And again, why not? Well, who does it belong to? Is it a Navy issue? No, we do 12 miles and out. Is it a Department of Homeland Security issue? Is it a Port of Savannah, or Charleston issue? Who owns it? It’ll get fixed when an incident occurs and we have a congressional investigation. That’s when it’ll get fixed.”
Ulrich also warned that since insurgents have become so adept at using roadside bombs, they should have no trouble planting what he called “maritime bombs,” i.e. mines, in American harbors.
So… ah… enjoy the rest of your day!
SNA: Updates for the record
January 12th, 2010 | leadership Mine warfare ordnance Science and technology Ships SNA Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
The last events are all done, the cocktails and finger-goods have been deployed in the exhibit areas, and Washington’s defense hacks have packed up their laptops and filed out of the building. At the conclusion of day one of the Surface Navy Association’s annual trade show, here are five of the latest dates, schedules and statistics that came up during the day’s presentations, all of which Scoop Deck found interesting for one reason or another:
1. The littoral combat ship Freedom has traveled more than 8,000 nautical miles since it was delivered last year, Lockheed Martin officials said this morning.
2. The littoral combat ship Fort Worth, now under construction in Wisconsin, is on track to be 85 percent complete by the time it’s side-launched into the shock-inducingly cold Menominee River this December, Lockheed says. The ship is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2012; company officials say it’s on cost and on schedule. What was that cost again? Ah, right.
3. Technicians will mount the Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System aboard a Seahawk helicopter this June and try for the first time to shoot mines in flight, said Capt. Mike Good, program manager for the littoral combat ships’ mission modules. Planners envision that an LCS in its mine-clearing mode will use a helo equipped with RAMCS to destroy the mines first spotted by its off-board robots — the helicopter will hover over the mine, even if it’s deep underwater, and then ZAP! WHOOSH! POW! It will shoot a supercavitating projectile that burns through the ocean and strikes the mine, destroying it or detonating it. Good said the RAMCS gun has shot and blown up mines in tests, and now the Navy needs to experiment doing that from a helicopter.
4. Naval Surface Forces recently graduated the 800th student from its waterfront surface-warfare training course, said SurFor commander Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis. He was given a pair of binoculars and told to use them “to look into the future.”
5. There are 27 women throughout SurFor who are commanding officers or who have been screened for command, Curtis said. If he had been appearing at the show a few years ago, he said, “you couldn’t say that.”
White knuckles and buried treasure
June 17th, 2009 | Foreign navies Mine warfare Video | Posted by Andrew Scutro
The discovery of a British Royal Navy torpedo during a naval training exercise in the Baltic Sea has not been the only noteworthy event thus far. Photo courtesy of U.S. 6th Fleet public affairs.
In what was sure to be a stomach-churning evolution, amphibious command ship Mount Whitney was refueled underway by the fleet oiler John Lenthall on June 12 in 12-foot seas and 40-mph wind in the Baltic Sea. As one observer put it, Mount Whitney must have been pretty thirsty to pull that off. By way of comparison, here is vintage footage of an unrep from 1973, in the Tonkin Gulf in “moderate seas” and the late John Denver on the 1MC, sort of.
Mount Whitney and John Lenthall are taking part in Baltic Operations 2009, or BALTOPS 2009, which has been a bit of a newsmaker as the same Swedish ship, HSwMS Faaroesund (MUL-20), last week found both evidence of a World War II-era minefield and also sniffed out a torpedo formerly owned by the British Royal Navy, picture above.
Here’s what torpedoes do when not stuck in the mud.