High-seas rescue
November 19th, 2009 | Maritime operations Pirates The Middle East merchant ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors from the cruiser Chosin rescued three fishermen clinging to a piece of wood this week in the Gulf of Aden // MC1 Scott Taylor / Navy
The Navy’s new slogan may have gotten a mixed reception internally, but there are three Yemeni fishermen, at least, who would probably agree it really is a global force for good. The cruiser Chosin spotted the men on Tuesday clinging to a piece of wood in the Gulf of Aden, and sent a launch to fish them out of the water.
But it wasn’t as though these guys went for a swim and let their boat float away. According to this statement from 5th Fleet, they told the crew of the Chosin they’d been hijacked:
According to the fishermen, they were left stranded in the water after 12 suspected pirates hijacked their vessel. The fishermen also said that the pirates gave them an ultimatum to either jump overboard with only a wooden plank as a flotation device or be killed.
After surviving for three days with only a few bottles of water, a passing merchant vessel spotted them in the water. The merchant vessel notified coalition forces and a Chosin rescue team picked up the stranded fishermen.
Sounds unpleasant, although forcing a crew to jump overboard seems more like something from the Boy’s Book of Pirates than a tactic used by modern outlaws off the coast of Somalia. Today’s pirates make their living by ransoming hostages, so doesn’t it seem odd they’d want these guys off their boat?
Watch your step out there, sir
November 18th, 2009 | Foreign navies Life at Sea Maritime operations The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
Climbing up or down a Jacob's ladder can be a tricky job, as when this Mexican sailor boarded a German warship this spring during an exercise // Coast Guard
Quick sea anecdote: One time Scoop Deck was standing in the upper vehicle stowage bay of the amphibious assault ship Makin Island, at sea in the Gulf of Mexico, waiting to climb down a Jacob’s ladder into a boat moored alongside. It was clear and sunny, but the sea was choppy enough that people were nervous about reporters not being able to get on the boat without taking a bath.
One chief boatswain’s mate counseled not to step down the ladder below the gunwale of the launch, because it would catch your leg and mangle it against the amphib’s hull. (”That’ll ruin your whole day,” he said.) But don’t step from the ladder to the launch when it’s at the peak of a wave, because as it starts to fall, he said, so will you. Scoop Deck stepped off at the peak, did a few semi-splits and cartwheels around the slippery deck, got covered with sea slime, but at least stayed aboard.
The presence of this story, hopefully, won’t make it sound too mean to point out these hilarious photographs of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had some trouble climbing from an inflatable boat to a Jacob’s ladder this week. “Trouble,” as in, he fell into some poor sailor’s lap.
Netanyahu wanted to congratulate the crew of an Israeli warship for interdicting a load of weapons bound for Hezbollah, but from the looks of it, the sailors probably congratulated him for not swimming in the Mediterranean.
Have you ever acquitted yourself less than gracefully when climbing on or off a small boat?
Another new LCS mission — BMD picket?
November 17th, 2009 | Ballistic missile defense Blogs Foreign navies Science and technology Ships The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
An international export version of Lockheed's littoral combat ship fired an imaginary missile in this artist's conception. The company is now saying it can augment its Aegis-edition LCSes with ballistic missile defense capability // Lockheed Martin
As Galrahn and Phib discuss the latest news about the littoral combat ship Freedom’s upcoming deployment, one of our senior shipmates at Defense News has some other interesting LCS gouge: This week at the Dubai Air Show, Lockheed Martin is pitching a “Surface Combat Ship” to the navies of the Gulf states — a variant of its Freedom-class LCS modded with Aegis radar and ballistic missile defense capability.
LockMart and its LCS rival, General Dynamics, both have shown off concepts for Aegis-equipped export versions of their designs, but neither of the trade-show fliers just pulled from Scoop Deck’s desk drawer say anything about BMD. They do include the possibility of a Mk 41 Vertical Launch System — which the U.S. Navy’s version doesn’t have — that could carry a battery of SM-3 or SM-6 interceptors. Or, as Defense News’s Pierre Tran wrote, an Aegis BMD LCS could be the eyes for land-based missiles:
Given fears in the region of a possible missile attack from Iran, a deployment of the Surface Combat Ship in the narrow waters of the Gulf would provide early warning of a missile launch and allow early destruction in the upper atmosphere by the SM-3 missile or at lower altitude by the Patriot PAC3 or other weapon.
No word on the price tag for this souped-up “SCS,” but given the cost issues the first two LCSes have had, it could be steep. It could also have implications for the U.S. Navy’s pending mission as the BMD protector of Europe, for which commanders could want as many hulls as possible, maybe including cruisers, destroyers and BMD-LCSes.
Just don’t call ‘em desert squids
November 3rd, 2009 | The Middle East individual augmentees | Posted by Andrew Scutro
At one point in the Navy’s recent history, sailors serving ashore in Iraq and Afghanistan, often as individual augmentees in Army units, took to calling themselves “dirt sailors.” The brass didn’t like that, we learned. Maybe it was due to the implied value of “dirt.” Sailors, accustomed to being at sea and surrounded by water were merely being observant, as their usual habitat had suddenly turned dry and ah, dirty.
Today however, a new light has been cast. In remarks during a ceremony for the Stockdale Award at the Pentagon, Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, was describing the current duties of the winners, both ashore in Iraq. He said they are what he “affectionately” refers to as “sand sailors.” So, sand sailors it is.
Heavy lift helo links
October 21st, 2009 | Historical Maritime operations Royal Navy Ships The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
A Marine CH-53E Super Stallion from HMH 464, the "Condors," flew over the Gulf of Aden, much as today's links fly new information to you // Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock/ Air Force
Big, loud, heavy, smelly, hydraulic fluid drippin’, cargo carryin’, mine sled dredgin’ links, getting ready to touch down on the flight deck and unload these updates:
- The crew of the cruiser Anzio — which you met a few weeks ago here on the Deck — made life unpleasant for some drug smugglers in the Gulf of Aden this week.
- As if South Carolina’s Patriots Point museum didn’t already have enough problems, Naval Sea Systems Command has passed the word: Either fix up the carrier Yorktown, which is in bad shape, or get ready to sink it.
- Today is the 212th anniversary of the launch of the frigate Constitution, or Old Ironsides, as we call it, which has made Maggie very excited, because she gets to take it out for a spin.
- Speaking of launches, the Royal Navy’s fifth Type 45 destroyer, or the Daring-class, as we call it, was set to launch today in the River Clyde in Scotland.
- Speaking of launches, the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy, check out this piece about the birth of the Continental Navy from Naval History and Heritage Command.
Gordon Brown’s SSBN situation
September 25th, 2009 | Ballistic missile defense Royal Navy Submarines The Middle East leadership | Posted by Phil Ewing
Arguments are taking place around the world over whether Britain should mothball one of its four Vanguard-class ballistic missile subs // Royal Navy
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s support for eliminating one of the Royal Navy’s four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines isn’t just a British issue anymore — there are reports about it from all around the world, including here in the States. The latest one to catch our attention was this editorial in the Wall Street Journal faulting Brown and his government for scaling back Great Britain’s nuclear deterrent:
[I]t’s no accident that Britain’s nuclear era coincides with her longest period of relative peace in history. Deterrence works, though its effects can only be inferred by crises evaded and battles not fought … All this, while Iran has just upgraded Britain to Most Evil Nation status. It’s an unpleasant reality and something Mr. Brown ought to think carefully about, lest he be accused of being Barack Obama’s poodle.
And that editorial was written before the world learned Friday that Iran has a second nuclear processing facility.
Here’s another thing to think about — what does Brown’s decision mean for the SSBN(X) program?
The U.S. and Royal Navies have said they want to share a common missile compartment for their next generation of ballistic-missile submarines. Will mothballing one Vanguard mean that work has to speed up? Or could it place Britain on the road to eliminating its deterrent mission altogether — as much of the population wants — and mean the U.S. will end up shouldering the whole load for SSBN(X)?
The first of many videos from 5th Fleet
September 14th, 2009 | Life at Sea Pirates The Middle East | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Scoop Deck recently returned from a month in the 5th Fleet area. We were lucky enough to ride the Norfolk-based cruiser Anzio from the pier in Bahrain to the counterpiracy patrol area off the coast of Somalia. Check out this video from Anzio as the ship finished its transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
The view from the bow
September 2nd, 2009 | Carriers The Middle East | Posted by Andrew Scutro
It's hard to tell from this photo, but it was was incredibly hot Aug. 9 aboard the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan. // Sheila Vemmer/ Staff
After entering the Persian Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, the ship passed several dhows nearby and was followed by a speedboat that kept up for quite some time. Among the crew watching the watchers was this sailor, positioned in the bow, just off the flight deck.
Smugglers!
September 2nd, 2009 | Life at Sea The Middle East | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Smugglers sped with their illicit cargoes across the Strait of Hormuz // Sheila Vemmer/ Staff
Scoop Deck was lucky enough recently to do a daylight transit through the Strait of Hormuz, out of the Persian Gulf, aboard the Norfolk-based cruiser Anzio. While passing islands off to the Oman side, these smugglers dashed toward Iran. They were really moving fast and went across the bow to avoid the big warship’s wake. Speculation on the bridge was they were hauling booze and cigarettes.
A horse sailor
September 2nd, 2009 | The Middle East Uniforms individual augmentees | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Navy leadership says IA tours will be a fact of life for some time, even with the expected withdrawal of forces from Iraq.//Photo by Sheila Vemmer/ Staff
Here’s one that might throw you off. From a distance you’d think “soldier,” but in fact Scoop Deck found this sailor in Kuwait turning in gear after an individual augmentee assignment with the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division.
According to the latest information from 5th Fleet, there are 4,950 IAs throughout the Central Command area.