NAC News – Edition 348
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of March 13th, 2020
Rod Hughes – Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca (comments welcome to help improve this service)
Contact David Soule executivedirector-nac@outlook.com if you wish someone (who may be a member or perhaps a good candidate to join) to be added to the NAC News email distribution.
★ Editor’s stars of the week
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NOTICES
- 2020 NAC BOA Gala, conference and AGM – 30 April – 3 May 2020 in Ottawa.
- 30 Apr (Thursday) – Evening – 2020 BOA Gala Dinner at Canadian War Museum
- 1 May (Friday) – Day – NAC National Conference
- 2 May (Saturday) – Morning – NAC National 2020 AGM
- 3 May (Sunday) – 1000-1400 – National RCN BOA ceremony/parade and associated social gathering
- 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
- More delays affect delivery of navy’s new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships
- Navy’s aging warships getting harder to repair: Defence report (Editor – sometimes a statement of the obvious is necessary)
- Surprise retirement leaves military searching for sixth vice-chief in four years
- Shortage of seafarers opens the door for new recruits (Editor – do we need a National Maritime Personnel Strategy (NMPS) in conjunction to the NSS?)
- CAF Story | Military Bravery Ends Knife Attack at Recruiting Center (Editor – the RCN does have great sailors, 3:15 min video)
- Government doesn’t know when a defence procurement agency might be created
- The Battle of Atlantic – 75th Anniversary (Editor – poignant 3:22 min RCN official video)
- Then and Now (Editor – 1:08 min official RCN video links past RCN with today’s RCN)
- MND International Women’s Day 2020
- Breaking down the barricades: 2020 women in Defence
- Female Chief Petty Officers hope to inspire younger women
- Defence Team News – 11 March 2020
- Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer former HMCS Provider medical officer
- Navy considers replacing ‘seaman’ ranks with gender-neutral terms
- Self-Harm Should Be Dropped As Military Offence, NDP MP Randall Garrison Says
- New PSHCP pensioner contribution rates for 2020
- Gold medal win for former CFB Edmonton sergeant
- Worldwide search for WW2 Russian Arctic convoy veterans (Editor – know anyone?)
- B.C. port authorities preparing for arrival of Grand Princess cruise ship currently under quarantine
USA & AMERICAS
- USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 9, 2020
- Modly: U.S. Navy Might Not Buy More Ford-Class Carriers
- Why Does US Military Equipment Cost So Much Money? (Editor – useful 12:50 min video, many points not just applicable to the US)
- Pentagon Deploying More Ships, Forces to Latin America
- Pentagon Suspends Troop Travel in Affected Countries; Trump Limits Travel from Mainland Europe
- Navy to Commission Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams
- HMCS Whitehorse takes part in Exercise Namsi Pacific-ex 2020
- Document Likely Shows SM-6 Hypersonic Speed, Anti-Surface Role
- Bath Iron Works Begins Building Next US Navy Destroyer
- US Navy to can older DDGs in attempt to focus limited resources
- Navy Says Ending Super Hornet Line Frees Up Resources for Life Extension Work
- Austal USA Lays Keel of Future USS Canberra – 30th Littoral Combat Ship for the U.S. Navy
- Lockheed Martin To Integrate Layered Laser Defense Weapon Aboard LCS
- Report on U.S. Hypersonic Weapon Development
- Nautical Charts: Marine Navigation Joins the Geospatial Revolution
- Merchant Mariners for the Gold (Editor – US merchant mariners getting the recognition they deserve, sadly, very too late for many)
- Watch the Trailer for Tom Hanks’ Latest Maritime Thriller GREYHOUND (Editor – 2:44 min official trailer included)
INDO-PACIFIC
- Ignorance of China is not bliss (Editor – the conclusion is applicable to our NAC!)
- 650 Warships and Counting: Here’s How Large China’s Navy Is
- PACFLEET Commander: RIMPAC 2020 Will Be More Complex, Feature More Countries
- China slams US for warship sail-by in disputed waters
- Russia’s Pacific Fleet Forms Two New Anti-Submarine Strike Groups
- Subs: do the jobs numbers stack up (Editor – an interesting debate going on)
- Double down on sub program, what could go wrong? ASPI
- Chequebook diplomacy: The battle for influence in the south Pacific
- Philippine Coast Guard to get its biggest patrol ships
- Delivery of Guardian Class patrol boat to Fiji
- RAN’s next-gen S-100 UAS completes acceptance trials (Editor – I wonder if it can operate in Canadian weather conditions?)
- Pirate Attacks Increase in India
- Boeing wins $800m US Navy P8-A contract
- OOCL Orders Five 23,000 TEU Giants in China
EUROPE
- Steel to be cut on first Type 31 Frigate next year
- Pakistan Navy ship Yarmook visits Turkey’s Golcuk Port
- German Navy F124-class Frigate Hamburg Set for 5-month Indo-Pacific Deployment
- US wants to provide Ukraine with patrol boats of type Mk VI
- Navantia: Development Of S80 Submarine’s AIP System Completed
- Belgian & Dutch Navies Future MCM Motherships (Editor – impressive 4:04 min video)
- Charles de Gaulle Carrier – Surprisingly, This Is The Only Carrier Of A Power Like France (Editor – great 10:20 min video)
- Royal Navy Takes Part In NATO’s Largest Mediterranean Exercise
- Flying Tigers sink their claws into subs on NATO exercise
- Franco-British Sea Venom Anti-Ship Missile Passes First Test
- Future Littoral Strike Ship work to ‘feed into’ upcoming defence review
- Captain Faces Court Over Viking Sigyn Collision
MIDDLE EAST
- Carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Operating in Red Sea
- CENTCOM Commander: Middle East Aircraft Carrier Presence Key to Deterring Iran
- Iran seeks IMF help for first time since the Shah
- Israel Navy’s New SA’AR 6 Corvette Begins Initial Sea Trials
- Shia militias now a greater threat than ISIS in the Middle East, says Canadian commander
- SIPRI: Saudi Arabia is World’s Largest Arms Importer
- Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition DIMDEX 2020 Cancelled
GLOBAL INTERESTS
- SA Navy can support Gulf of Guinea anti-piracy ops, but…
- Nigeria receives two special mission vessels to fight piracy, maritime crime
- ★ “Spyglass” Reveals Fisheries Crime
- Greenland and Antarctica ice loss accelerating
- Princess Suspends Cruise Operations for 60 Days
- Allianz: Coronavirus is Worse for Commerce Than U.S.-China Trade War
- Ports Act as Weather Vanes as Economic Clouds Darken
- Two Pirate Boardings in One Day in Gulf of Guinea
SCUTTLEBUTT
- The most remote place in America: Midway Atoll (Editor – after watching the new Midway movie, in searching I found this 7:35 min documentary)
- Mystery Solved: The Submarine Spy Drone Captured By North Korea
- Submarine USS Stickleback Found
- Japan’s Secret Supercarrier Only Seen Twice in WW2 (Editor – ignore the commercial, interesting part of history, the narrative is interesting, but the pics are often unrelated in this 13:07 min video)
- Russian Navy Recovers Torpedo Boat Lost During the Siege of Sevastopol
SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – MARCH
(If you see any omissions or errors please inform me, and any more modern significant dates are also welcomed. The list draws primarily from the Directory of History and Heritage’s comprehensive “Significant Dates in Canadian Military History”, the now defunct “Canada Channel”, “Legion Magazine”, and Roger Litwiller’s excellent web site http://www.rogerlitwiller.com)
- 1 March 1928 HMC Ships Champlain and Vancouver are commissioned into the RCN, replacing HMC Ships Patriot and Patrician.
- 3 March 1921 HMC Submarines CH-14 and CH-15 are commissioned into the RCN.
- 4 March 1943 HMC Ships Shediac and St. Croix sink the German submarine U-87 in the North Atlantic.
- 6 March 1944 HMC Ships St. Catharines, Chilliwack, Gatineau, Fennel and Chaudiere assist Royal Naval warships in the sinking of the German submarine U-744 in the North Atlantic.
- 7 March 1945 HMC Ships La Hulloise, Strathadam and Thetford Mines sink the German submarine U-1302 in St. George’s Channel.
- 9 March 1945 HMCS Uganda arrives in Sydney, Australia, to join the British Pacific Fleet.
- 10 March 1944 HMC Ships St. Laurent, Owen Sound and Swansea assist Royal Navy warships sink the German submarine U-845 in the North Atlantic.
- 12 March 1918 Lieutenant (RCN) William McKinstry Heriot-Maitland-Dougall (RCNC 1911–1914) at age of 23 years of age was in command of HMS D3 and was killed with his submarine’s crew of 29 off Le Havre, France. HMS D3 was sunk in error by French dirigible AT-9, which could not see D3’s insignia because of the sub’s reflection off the waves and took her to be a U-boat firing upon it. The French hadn’t been informed that D3 was assigned to their waters in the English Channel and were not aware that British submarines were identifying themselves with rockets as opposed to flashing lights.
- 13 March 1943 HMCS Prescott sink U163 off Cape Finisterre, the kill was originally credited to a USS Herring a USN submarine.
- 17 March 1945 HMCS Guysborough is torpedoed and sunk by U878 off Ushant. 51 of her crew were lost.
- 20 March 1943 – World War II – UK destroyer commissioned into RCN as HMCS Griffin; 3 weeks later, renamed HMCS Ottawa; second of name. Halifax, Nova Scotia
- 21 March 1945 HMCS New Glasgow (frigate) rammed and fatally damages U-Boat 1003 off Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland .
- 23 March 1965 Fifteen RCAF aviators are killed when their Argus patrol plane goes down in a night exercise off Puerto Rico.
- 24 March 1941 The Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817, which restricted the number of naval vessels allowed on the Great Lakes, is modified to allow both American and Canadian naval vessels to operate on the Great Lakes in greater numbers.
- 26 March 1941 – World War II – Disaster – RCN armed yacht HMCS Otter destroyed by an accidental explosion and fire, off Halifax; two Officers and 17 men lost.
- 29 March 1945 HMCS TEME (frigate) is torpedoed by U Boat 246 in the English Channel off Falmouth and declared a total loss.
- 31 March 1945 HMCS Conestoga, the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service training establishment, is paid off.
- 31 March 1991 The Gulf War between Iraq and the United Nations coalition ends.