naval affairs

NAC News – Edition 438

NAC News – Edition 438

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of December 3rd, 2021

Edition – 438  “China is not developing its nuclear forces for some bolt out of the blue attack on America.  It’s trying to lock the U.S. and China into some deeper mutual vulnerability stalemate, so that the U.S. cannot play the nuclear card in a conventional war, for example over Taiwan.”  15 November 2021, Caitlin Talmadge, Financial Times

Rod Hughes – Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca  (Comments welcome to help improve this service.)

Links to keep in touch with the NAC and RCN can be found at the bottom of this email.

NOTICES

9 December 2021 – 12:15 to 1pm Ottawa time – the Navy League of Canada Virtual Maritime Affairs Lunch event is pleased to host the guest speaker RAdm (Retd) Simon Page ADM Defence and Marine Procurement PSPC.  To join in with this likeminded organization email cmarch@navyleague.ca and the login details will then be provided.

Our NAC 2021 Sponsors – their sponsorship and support are an essential in enabling us to provide you, the member, with this News and other NAC media.  Check out their links at the bottom of our National site main webpage.  NAC thanks our sponsors for their support.

NAC Endowment Fund Campaign 2021 underway!  This is your fund, and it provides some key support to several maritime activities.  Donor form and information available here. And check out what your fund has done over the past many years.

Salty Dips Volume 11 – Some things pass. Some things change. Some just stay the same.  by NAC-Ottawa…Christmas gift?   Note you can order a print-on-demand soft/hard copy from Friesen Press and other providers. Soft and hard copy books. An e-book version in a wide-variety of formats is also available (Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, etc…)

NAC Children’s Books – 3rd in the series “Over the Horizon” now for sale $10 plus $3 for shipping. Special Holiday offer – buy all 3 for $25 (includes shipping) or 2 for $20.

Starshell Fall 2021 – (Editor – recently released)

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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES

Unvaccinated soldiers put others at risk: Gen. Eyre (Editor – a wider ranging 12:12 min video interview with the CDS than the title indicates) then CAF improves promotion selection process, beginning with General and Flag Officers

Louise Mercier joins Navy League of Canada National Board of Directors, appointed Vice President Maritime Affairs

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CANADA

$500M in cocaine, pot seized in international waters offloaded in Broward, Coast Guard says (Editor – I missed pointing out last week that HMCS Harry DeWolf on her way around North America was in on the bust…indeed, great versatile ships) and a few more details HMCS Harry DeWolf makes first two drug busts

Defence minister and Canada’s top soldier to apologize to sexual misconduct victims plus a revelation Over 40 per cent of military sexual misconduct class action claims are from men: Eyre

Gen. Wayne Eyre felt need to respond to predecessor’s letter to senior officers and Analysis: His own words sank Admiral Art McDonald as chief of the defence staff then Military says Adm. Art McDonald already faced ‘significant’ action as police report released

Want real change in the Canadian Forces? Cut 100 Generals: Commentary

Post-acceptance trials begin for Royal Canadian Navy’s second AOPS

New commander named for third AOPS

PMO JSS attends in-water Factory Acceptance Test for Sea-to-Shore Connector

Helicopter crew member’s journey to sea

In this 22:15 min podcast Gale Force Wins interviews the Coxswain of HMCS Windsor Jason Thompson followed by PO2 Marcus Hibbert who is the senior Sonar Technician.  They then chat with the Executive Officer Lt. Jay Finlayson and finally the Commanding Officer, CDR. Drew Matheson.

3,000 Wreaths Destined for Veterans’ Headstones Stolen

Christmas Daddies Navy Divers 2021 (Editor – support the 4 Dec 39th annual Christmas Daddies Navy Divers Run 50KM and fundraising campaign)

Heavy Rain Delays Rail Service Restoration for Port of Vancouver and Ship Backlog Builds at Port of Vancouver After Floods

Royal Canadian Naval Reserve Link, Vol 29, No 1, 2021

Special issue of the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health

Your Future Starts Today (Editor – 15 sec RCN recruiting video)

60 Seconds With Irene Laskowski (Editor – CAF combat rations in a 1:40 min video)

A Chance Exhibit

Final Island-class ferry passes through Panama Canal en route to Victoria

Babcock International Group has announced the appointment of Jerry McLean as Babcock Canada’s Chief Executive Officer. (Editor – Excellent retired RCN CSE, and Babcock is one of NAC’s sponsors)

U.S. Tankers Begin Delivering Fuel To Flood Ravaged British Columbia

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USA & AMERICAS

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Nov. 29, 2021

Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group Leaves For Deployment

USS The Sullivans Completes Historic Deployment

Think Differently about Naval Presence and Can-Do Is Not Working

Float, Move, and Fight – (Editor – an essay on how the U.S. Navy lost the shipbuilding race.)

Diesel Submarines Can Help Resist China

The Use—and Misuse—of Submarines in Great Power Combat

MQ-25A Unmanned Prototype Now on Carrier George H.W. Bush for At-Sea Testing

US Navy to Equip Poseidon With Lockheed Anti-Ship Missile

Brazil progresses nuclear submarine project

Argentine and Peruvian navies focus on joint submarine training as they eye fleet revamps

Huntington Ingalls Delivers Destroyer Named for First Black Marine Corps Aviator

F-35B Releases StormBreaker Smart Weapon In First-Ever Munition Drop and a Raytheon 56 sec video about the Stormbreaker

Trinidad And Tobago Commissions Two Cape-Class Patrol Boats

Icebreaker Season is Here

Pop-Up Container Yards Offer Pressure Valve for Port Congestion and Federal Trade Commission Launches Inquiry Into Supply Chain Disruptions

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INDO-PACIFIC

Dutton’s China warning: ‘The times in which we live have echoes of the 1930s’ (Editor – not a maritime article but an interesting look at Australia’s point of view)

Japan Plans To Double Military Spending In Rush To Bolster Air And Sea Defenses (Editor – another country bolstering their defences)

South Korea relaunches aircraft carrier plan

Australian Prime Minister: Chinese Navy Has ‘Every Right’ to Operate In Our Exclusive Economic Zone

U.S. 7th Fleet Calls for Increasing Carrier Presence in the Pacific

Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and US wrap up joint military drills in Asian waters

First Russia-ASEAN naval exercise begins in Indonesia

Intrigue on the high seas between Indonesia, China

U.S. Navy Wraps Up Drills With Partners in Philippine Sea, Strait of Malacca

South Korea’s Navy Growing to Counter More Regional Threats Beyond North Korea

Corvette Gremyashchny, two Varshavyanka class subs arrive in Vladivostok

Bilateral Exercise MTA Malaysia 2021 Concludes, Strengthens Maritime Relationships

Russia deploys coastal missile system on island chain near Japan

As China Menaces Taiwan, the Island’s Friends Aid Its Secretive Submarine Project and Indra to Equip South Korea’s KSS III Sub With Electronic Combat System

New pictures released of Chinese Type 075 LHD Guangxi and China’s Third Type 075 LHD Starts Sea Trials

INS Vikrant to be commissioned by August 2022, says Navy Chief Adm Karambir Singh

The past, present and future of maritime trade warfare (Editor – food for thought)

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EUROPE

Russia Ukraine: Lavrov warns of return to military confrontation nightmare

U.S. Navy Ships And P-8A Poseidon MPA Join French-Led Exercise Polaris

First Two EDA-S Next Gen Amphibious Landing Craft Delivered To French DGA

Naval Group Rolls Out 2nd Barracuda Type Submarine

Russia’s Growing Secret Submarine Fleet Key to Moscow’s Undersea Future

Naval Group Lays Keel Of 1st MCM Vessel Of Belgian-Dutch RMCM Program plus Keel Laying for the 1st MCM Vessel of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM Program (Editor – a 7:02 min video of the ceremony)

US missile-armed warship heads into Black Sea and Destroyer USS Arleigh Burke Operating in Black Sea After Bulgaria Port Visit

Video: Royal Navy F-35 Crashes on Takeoff Aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth (Editor – 16 sec video) and Crashed British F-35B found on sea bed

Russia begins the mass production of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles

Two advanced nuclear-powered subs to enter service with Russian Navy in December

CSG21: First ship returns home to UK after seven months deployed and CSG21 waves goodbye to Dutch ship HNLMS Evertsen

OCCAR Progressing Towards Charles De Gaulle Carrier’s SAAM-FR Update

HMS Defender passes through Strait of Messina on homeward-bound journey (Editor – 27 sec highspeed video included)

Turkey’s New Submarine CMS ‘MÜREN’ To Enter Service In 2022

Babcock Marks Completion Of New Assembly Hall For Type 31 Frigate

RN Submariner Memorial taking Shape watch the video 54 sec video

More icebreakers coming to aid Russian Arctic ships in need

Estonia to merge navy and police vessels into one fleet

Hellenic Navy welcomes new support ship (Editor – her earlier sistership in more detail Hellenic Navy Commissioned New General Support Ship HS Iraklis and a 3:41 min video)

Salvaging the jet – the race to recover the ditched F-35 from the seabed

The underwater ‘kites’ generating electricity as they move

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MIDDLE EAST

Russian naval ships to arrive in Egypt on Dec. 3 for joint drills

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GLOBAL INTERESTS

How The Internet Travels Across Oceans (Editor – illuminating 6:24 min video)

Royal Navy joins international counter-piracy efforts in West Africa

World Catalina News – November 2021 (Editor – interesting look at an old aerial warrior)

Security Breaches to hit 1 in 3 critical infrastructure firms (Editor – not a maritime specific article, but certainly one with maritime implications)

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SCUTTLEBUTT

The Secret Mulberries of D-Day (Editor – USNI amazing story in a 9:03 min video)

Titanium Submarines: The Soviet Secret Which Shocked The West (Really) (Editor – really good 24:14 min video)

Iconic Ships 13: Thermopylae – The Finest All-Round Clipper of Them All? (Editor – 40 min podcast)

naval-encyclopedia.com (Editor – web site I’ve stumbled upon, here is the Canadian WW2 section, love the pics)

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SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – DECEMBER

(If you see any omissions or errors please inform me, and more modern significant dates are also welcome.  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”, Roger Litwiller’s excellent website, the encyclopedic guidance of NAC member and author Fraser McKee, and anywhere else I can find credible information.

  • 1 December 1948 HMCS Shearwater, RCN Air Station, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is commissioned.
  • 2 December 1946 HMCS Middlesex goes aground on Shut-in Island near Halifax and becomes a total loss.
  • 2 December 1968 The Canadian submarine HMCS Rainbow is commissioned; purchased from the United States, it was originally the USS Argonaut launched in 1944.
  • 3 December 1969 As the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure is decommissioned, the aviation fuel tanks are emptied and cleaned, but on of the tanks does not vent properly; two sailors are overcome by the fumes and another two lose their lives during the rescue attempt.
  • 4 December 1940 HMCS Prince Henry is commissioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser.
  • 4-6 Dec 1950 A United Nations task force under Captain J.V. Brock, RCN, in HMCS Cayuga, and consisting of HMC Ships Athabaskan and Sioux, His Majesty’s Australian Ships Warramunga and Bataan, the USS Forest Royal, covered the seaborne withdrawal of civilians and elements of the 8th Army (US) threatened by enemy advances in the Chinnampo area, Korea.
  • 5 December 1950 HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Cayuga bombard the port of Chinnampo, Korea (04-05 Apr).
  • 6 December 1917 Halifax Explosion.  A huge explosion in Halifax harbour destroys the naval facilities and much of the city.
  • 7 December 1941 Canada declares war on Romania, Hungary, Finland, and Japan.
  • 7 December 1941 HMCS Windflower is lost and 23 of her crew perish after a collision with a Dutch freighter SS Zypenburg on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.
  • 8 December 1918 The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service is discontinued and the cadets being trained are demobilized.
  • 10 December 1939 The first Canadian troop convoy of 7,400 soldiers sails for Britain escorted out of Halifax by HMC ships Ottawa, Restigouche, Fraser and St. Laurent.
  • 12 December 1969  RCN retires aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure after 12 years of service; “Bonnie” never saw combat, but was scram­bled dur­ing the Octo­ber Mis­sile Crisis; later sold for scrap. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 13 December 1940 HMCS Royal Roads is commissioned as a training establishment for Probationary Sub-Lieutenants.
  • 14 December 1915 Flight Sub-Lieutenant A.S. Ince, RNAS while flying as observer in a Viewpoint aircraft shot down in flames a German two-seater.  The victory, the first confirmed success credited to a Canadian airman, won for Ince the DSC, the first decoration awarded a Canadian in the RNAS.
  • 17 December 1944 HMCS MONTREAL (frigate) rescues survivors of U-Boat 1209 wrecked on Wolf Rock southwest of Land’s End.
  • 19 December 1945 The Government of Canada approves in principle the formation of a naval air branch.
  • 20 December 1941 HMCS Adversus, ex-RCMP patrol ship, while on patrol was lost at sea when caught in a blizzard and run aground on McNutts Island near Shelburne, NS.  All 16 crew survive.
  • 20 December 1943 HMCS Prince David is re-commissioned as a Landing Ship Infantry (Medium).
  • 24 December 1944 HMCS Clayoquot is torpedoed by a U806 and sinks while taking station on convoy XB.139, in the approaches to Halifax harbour.  Eight of her crew were lost.
  • 26 December 1954 HMCS ships HURON and IROQUOIS leave Korea for their home base in Halifax.
  • 27 December 1942 HMC Ships St. Laurent commanded by LCdr Guy S. Windeyer, RCN, with HMCS Chilliwack, commanded by LCdr Clifton P. Coughlin,  RCNVR, with HMCS Battleford commanded by Lt F.A. Beck, RCNVR, and HMCS Napanee commanded by Lt L.S. Henderson, RCNVR and other escorts in a melee sank the German submarine U-356 in the mid-Atlantic.
  • 27 December 1944 HMCS St. Thomas commanded by LCdr Leslie P. Denny, RCNR in company with HMCS Sea Cliff commanded by LCdr J.E. Harrington, RCNVR directed St. Thomas onto her ASDIC contact and sank the German submarine U-877 in the North Atlantic.
  • 28 December 1940 HMCS Prince David is commissioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser.
  • 29 December 1837: Canadian ‘volunteers’ under Captain Andrew Drew (ex-RN) cross upper Niagara River, seize supply schooner Caroline, supporting W.L. Mackenzie’s rebellious force on American Navy Island above the Falls.  1 US citizen killed, the ship is cut loose, strands on rocks above the Falls, breaks up and goes over.  Canadians row home.
  • 31 December 1990 The crew of HMCS Preserver flies to the Persian Gulf to relieve HMCS Protecteur’s crew.
  • 31 December 1992 New Canadian military honours are created: The Victoria Cross, Star of Military Valour, Medal of Military Valour and Mention in Dispatches.

 

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