NAC News – Edition 333 HMCS Toronto
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of November 29th, 2019
Edition – 333 HMCS Toronto; K333 HMCS Cobourg (WW2 revised Flower Class corvette)
Rod Hughes – Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca (comments welcome to help improve this service)
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NOTICES
- NAC Naval Affairs – need a Christmas gift for someone in your family or do you want to donate a book to a local school library – This book has now been published. Information on where and how to order can be found at – “Mom’s in the Navy”
- Vanguard ShipTech Forum (Editor – The Westin, Ottawa, ON 25 February 2020, 7:30 – 17:00)
- Robert Hampton Gray VC. DSC. RCNVR memorial fund raising
- BOA Gala Dinner, NAC National Conference/AGM and BOA Commemoration – Ottawa 30 April – 3 May 2020: Details coming soon!
- Vanguard Launches First-Ever Canadian Submarine Event (Editor – The next big RCN procurement challenge! The Deep Blue 2020 Forum, a one-day event, will take place on 29 October 2020, details to follow)
CANADA
- Canada facing renewed pressure from U.S. to meet NATO defence spending benchmark
- U.S. sent ‘blunt’ letter to Canada criticizing defence spending: sources
- Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2013-2019) (Editor – timely report, in precis the graphs on page 2 says it all, not enough in total, nor enough on equipment)
- Japan and Canada improve interoperability at KAEDEX
- Royal Canadian Navy plays a key role in 2nd Fleet mission
- Component transfers – Employment opportunities
- Canada warned of fallout on Five Eyes relationship if Huawei allowed on 5G
- Harry DeWolf’s Sea Trials Underway
- HMCS Margaret Brooke is launched
- Experts look at Arctic policies of region’s key players ahead of Halifax Security Forum
- Tackling veteran homelessness
- Military facing likely delay in delivery of new search-and-rescue plane
- Thomas S. Axworthy: As Russia and China step up their Arctic activity, Canada misses the boat
- Protests and Concerns over St. Lawrence Water Levels
- Seaway Shipping Stoppages in December Would Cost Millions
- Prince Rupert port growth poised to double over next decade
USA & AMERICAS
- USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Nov. 25, 2019
- Navy seeks to eject 4, including sailor championed by Trump, from elite SEALs, official says
- ★ Pentagon fires top U.S. Navy official over handling of controversial ISIS photo case
- Retired Rear Adm. Kenneth Braithwaite Tapped to be Next SECNAV
- Report on Navy Laser, Railgun and Gun-Launched Guided Projectiles
- Trump says he wants to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups (Editor – I presume this would up the resources and military assets committed to drug interdiction)
- Boxer ARG, 11th MEU Wrap Up 5th, 7th Fleet Deployment
- Scary USS Gerald R. Ford – How Powerful is the CVN-78? US Navy’s $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier (Editor – quality summary in a 11:10 min video…an impressive ship)
- Former 4-Star Fleet Commanders: Don’t give up on carriers
- The US Navy sent this officer to sail the Arctic with the Canadians — here’s what he learned about this unforgiving environment
- Riachuelo submarine of Brazilian Navy has successfully passed its first static immersion trials
INDO-PACIFIC
- ★ China’s debt and bureaucracy spell big trouble (Editor – not a maritime article, but the ramifications of the potential for destabilization are daunting)
- Chinese navy set to build fourth aircraft carrier, but plans for a more advanced ship are put on hold
- Iran, Russia, China to hold joint naval drills in Indian Ocean soon
- How we talk about China — and why it matters (Editor – not a maritime article, but a corollary to the article above)
- Chinese aims in the South China Sea
- China’s military–civil fusion policy has far-reaching implications for universities (Editor – a recurring “theme” highlighted during the recent NOABC Conference in Vancouver)
- U.S. carrots have failed to reform China. It’s time to use sticks. (Editor – not a naval article, but there are significant perhaps global implications…but appeasing bullies doesn’t work. Includes 18:15 min video)
- Russia dials back peace talks with Japan
- U.S. warships sail in disputed South China Sea, angering China
- South China Sea tensions hot and getting hotter
- First achieved for Australian command task group element
- Chinese ships and radar boost navies of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
- DSEI Japan 2019: JMU unveils preliminary LHD design
- India will acquire 13 MK 45 5 inch 62 caliber naval guns from United States
- Female RAN sailor appointed Warrant Officer of the Navy for first time
- China Establishes World’s Largest Shipbuilding Group
EUROPE
- U.S. nuclear sub leaves Norway to track Russian subs in North Atlantic
- Russia’s tsunami-creating drone
- Review of Russia’s strategy for the development of marine activities to 2030
- Russian Baltic Fleet ships to make over 10 long-distance deployments next year
- ★ For sale: Used British nuclear submarines
- NEDS 2019: Walrus-class replacement program with Navantia, Naval Group, Saab, TKMS (Editor – 9:35 min video that is a useful primer for Canada’s own nascent submarine project?)
- SAAB DAMEN Team for the Dutch Walrus Submarine Replacement Program (Editor – 7:15 min video)
- Russia is winning support for its claims on Arctic shelf, says chief negotiator
- How not to get stuck in the Arctic sea ice
- Spain seizes submarine with 2,000kg of cocaine – police sources
- Rosatom: Shipping is Up in the Arctic Despite Environmental Concerns
- Rosatom Plans Multi-Billion-Dollar Expansion into Ocean Freight
- Russia’s Taymyr plan: Arctic coal for India risks pollution
- Queen Hind cargo ship carrying sheep overturns off Romania (Editor – sorry, just couldn’t resist)
MIDDLE EAST
- Could Naval Mines Win Iran A War Against the United States?
- CMF and EUNAVFOR welcome international delegates to 45th SHADE conference
- Russian Baltic Fleet ships en route to Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy mission
- Qatar, Kuwait told U.S. they will join naval coalition, official says
- Yemen’s Houthi Group Releases Seized Vessels
- Launch of the production of first Multi-Mission Surface Combatant MMSC for Saudi Arabia
- Aussie-led Combined Task Force 150 ready to go
GLOBAL INTERESTS
- Russian missile cruiser visits Cape Town for drills with navies of South Africa and China
- Pirates Attack Anchor Handler off Equatorial Guinea
- IMO Backs Polar Waters Navigation Training
- Corrosion simplified and solved
- How do you find a sinking ship? | How EPIRBs Work
SCUTTLEBUTT
- A Brief History of Naval Armour – Successfully Forging Onwards (Editor – not so “brief” at 50:54 min video, but educational)
- Midget Submarine Attack New York City 1943 (Editor – 11:08 min video)
- The U.S. Navy in the War of 1812: Winning the Battle, Losing the War
- The War the U.S. Navy Lost at Sea but Won on the Great Lakes
SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – NOVEMBER
(Month by month building a comprehensive list of significant RCN/Maritime events – if you see any glaring omissions or errors please inform me, and any more modern significant dates are welcomed. The list draws primarily from the Directory of History and Heritage’s comprehensive “Significant Dates in Canadian Military History”, the “Canada Channel”, and “Legion Magazine”)
- 1 November 1914 Battle at Coronel A brass plaque at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Esquimalt, BC, is dedicated to the four ex-cadets of the Royal Naval College of Canada and men of Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Good Hope who were killed in action in 1914. Four cadets of the first class of the Royal Navy College of Canada, were the First Canadian Navy casualties in the First World War. Midshipman Malcolm Cann, Midshipman John V.W. Hatheway, Midshipman William Archibald Palmer, and Midshipman Arthur Wiltshire Silver, died when the British warship HMS Good Hope went down with no survivors, sunk by the German navy.
- 1 November 1920 Three British ships, Aurora, Patriot and Patrician are officially commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy at Portsmouth.
- 5 November 1962 A fire heavily damages the prototype hydrofoil BRAS D’OR under construction in Quebec.
- 8 November 1910 HMCS Rainbow arrives in Esquimalt for the first time.
- 8 November 1942 The first German agent is landed from a U-boat off New Carlisle, Quebec and is promptly arrested by the police.
- 9 November 1910 His Majesty’s Dockyard, Esquimalt, is transferred to Canadian ownership and forms the basis for Pacific Command
- 9 November 1940 HMCS Collingwood, the first corvette built in Canada for the RCN, is commissioned.
- 13 November 1942 Captain (RN) Frederick Thornton Peters born in Charlottetown and raised in Vernon and Victoria was awarded the VC for his actions 13 Nov 1943. Captain Peters was in the suicide charge” by two little cutters at Oran. The “Walney” and “Hartland” were two ex-American coastguard cutters which were lost in a gallant attempt to force the boom defences in the harbour of Oran during the landings on the North African coast. Captain Peters led his force through the boom in the face of point-blank fire from shore batteries, destroyer, and a cruiser – a feat which was described as one of the great episodes of naval history. The “Walney” reached the jetty disabled and ablaze, she and went down with her colours flying. Blinded in one eye, Captain Peters was the only survivor of the seventeen men on the bridge of the “Walney”. He was taken prisoner but was later released when Oran was captured. On being liberated from the gaol, he was carried through the streets where the citizens hailed him with flowers. He earned the Distinguished Service Order (George V), London Gazette 30 March 1915, Distinguished Service Cross (George V), London Gazette 8 March 1918 and Bar – London Gazette 11 July 1940. British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star with Bar (North Africa 1942-43) 1939-45 Medal, Distinguished Service Cross (USA).
- 16 November 1857 PO1 William Hall, ‘Captain of the Foretop,’ of that HMS Shannon, were recommended by the late Captain Peel for the Victoria Cross, for their gallant conduct at a 24-Pounder Gun, brought up to the angle of the Shah Nujjiff, at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857. William Hall was the first Nova Scotian, the first Naval VC earned by a Canadian citizen, and the first Black person to receive the Victoria Cross.
- 20 November 1943 HMCS Snowberry, Calgary and Nene sink U-536 in the North Atlantic.
- 20 November 1957 HMCS Labrador, an Arctic patrol vessel, is paid off and later transferred to the Department of Transport.
- 24 November 1944 HMCS Shawinigan While on independent anti-submarine patrol in the Cabot Strait, she was torpedoed and sunk by U1228. All hands were lost, 91 perished.
- 29 November 1957 HMCS Kenora and Kentville, two paid off minesweepers, are transferred to the Turkish navy as Bandirma and Bartin.