naval affairs

NAC News – Edition 446

NAC News – Edition 446

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of January 28th, 2022

Edition 446 “If Russia can do this to Ukraine, what’s to stop other countries doing it to neighbors?” 20 January 2022, Fiona Hill, BBC Newsnight

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.  Contact David Soule executivedirector-nac@outlook.com if you wish someone to be added to the NAC News email distribution. (Perhaps an influencer or a good candidate to become an NAC member)


NOTICES

NEW 31 January 2022 16:00-17:00 Ottawa time. A CSIS livestream “The Future of the French Navy: A Conversation with Admiral Pierre Vandier”, Chief of the French Navy (Marine Nationale).  The Admiral will join Dr. Seth G. Jones, CSIS Senior Vice President and Director of the International Security Program, to discuss an overview of the priorities of the French Navy, his vision on French-U.S. naval cooperation, and how the French Navy envisions future growth capabilities.  To Register.

NEW 31 January 2022 15:00-16:30 Victoria time.  Davie National Icebreaker Centre and CIC sponsored – Climate Change: The Arctic is the Bellwether…temperatures, tides and turbulence. A zoom presentation.  The Arctic is warming up at some three times the rate of the global average and in Canada’s Arctic, climate and environmental transformation is having an enormous, and many would say, ominous impact.  The panel will explore the issue, its interconnections with northerners’ health, the economy, housing, security, education, food, and culture, and what Canada can do now to become more resilient in the face of rising temperatures, tides, and turbulence.

2 Feb 2022 0900am -1500pm Ottawa time.  CCG’s Industry Day on Maritime Cybersecurity from Ship to Shore.   The Canadian Coast Guard’s Industry Day on Maritime Cybersecurity brings together stakeholders from critical infrastructure, industry, and government from Canada and around the world, and provides meaningful conversations on collaboration about what industry, government and academia are doing to protect their physical and cyber infrastructure.

NEW 7 February 2022 19:00 Ottawa time NAC-O’s GoToMeeting Speakers Evening with guest speaker for February will be Mr. Shaun Padulo, President of Heddle Shipyards.  Mr Padulo will present an overview of the capabilities of Heddle, and will also speak about some current projects and past refits of HMCS Haida.  Register at WildApricot Registration.

24-25 February 2022 Vanguard Ship Tech Forum 2022 – A virtual Defence Event. 0800-1700 Ottawa time.  Keynote Speakers: Deputy Commissioner Andy Smith, for Shipbuilding and Materiel of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG); and, RAdm (RCN) C.P. Donovan, CD – Director General Future Ship Capability. To register.

28 April 2022 – Initial planning has commenced for a BOA Gala Dinner in 2022.  This will be the first BOA dinner since 2018 and as in the past, the NAC will honour Canada’s Naval Veterans with a special evening at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.  Subject to COVID restrictions, the Dinner will be held on the evening of 28 April 2022, the Thursday before Battle of the Atlantic Sunday.  Mark your calendars and details to unfold.

14-16 November 2022 The MSC organisers have decided given the ongoing COVID-19 environment to postpone MSC22 which was originally scheduled for March 2022.  The team announced that the in-person MSC22 will now take place in Victoria, BC.  The draft program for this November’s MSC22 is now posted on the MSC website and is available on the MSC social media channels.

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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES

Putin’s Thoughts on Invading Ukraine – What He Needs for Success (Editor – useful analysis in a 8:49 min video) and Ukraine: Russian ship head for Med

Pentagon places 8,500 US troops on ‘heightened alert’, US government confirms

Canada expands training mission in Ukraine, promises non-lethal aid

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CANADA

Defence Team News | 28 January 2022 (Editor – Sea Dragon 22 – BZ RCAF! 2:38 min video)

Ottawa’s talks with Quebec shipyard to build much needed icebreakers shrouded in fog

Canadian Coast Guard Conducts Offshore Sea Trials of VTOL UAS with Shield AI and Kongsberg Geospatial

Surgeon General of the Canadian Armed Forces – Bell Let’s Talk 2022 (Editor – 4:44 min video)

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialists (Editor – RCN 2:36 min video)

27 January, the Crow’s Nest Officer’s Club marked its 80th Anniversary having been started during the World War II.  This is the 55:29 min CBC radio podcast.  The Crow’s Nest is a private club, and a National Historic Site, which began as a club for visiting and stationed naval officers during World War II.  The Crow’s Nest is rich in history and the club has become a sort of museum, housing hundreds of military artifacts.

27 January marked the 60th anniversary of the CCG.  Happy Birthday!

Centenarian veteran survived Battle of the Atlantic, D-Day and Korean War (Editor – longstanding NAC member Peter Chance – to quote him rhyming “101 and still fun!”)

First Rabbi deploys in RCN ship to better understand challenges sailors face

Former head of national vaccine task force pleads not guilty to sexual assault charge

CAF members support booster clinics in Quebec

Fish populations are shifting around the planet and ‘someone is going to lose out,’ says UBC researcher(Editor – conflicts often arise over resources)

Ghost gear: Debris from fishing and oyster farms lurks underwater, endangering sea life

Editor – Love it!  Team Canada’s Olympic bobsleigh and skeleton teams are set for Beijing 2022 and they’ll be competing at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games with sleds paying homage to the RCN and more in a 1:20 min video too!

Editor – NAC-O’s Volume 11 of our Salty Dips Series is available in hardcover, paperback, and electronic versions.  This edition contains extracts of the diaries of a submarine commander during the cold war and many other stories.

Editor –  It was recommended by an NAC member that I trial the shortening of the format of the RCN history section and only covering the upcoming week’s events, plus we are adding wartime merchant ship sinkings (some amazing stories).  We are working on posting the full calendar on the NAC website to make it fully accessible year-round.

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USA & AMERICAS

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Jan. 24, 2022

Report to Congress on Chinese Naval Modernization and Report to Congress on Great Power Competition

Northrop Grumman delivers 51st E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to US Navy

For Navy’s new frigate, design changes carry risks and rewards (Editor – interesting article given Canada’s use of the Brit Type 26 as a “parent design”.)

US Navy’s Virginia-class submarine PCU Oregon heads out for sea trials

How the Navy Can Avoid a 21st-Century Gallipoli (Editor – a wake up call)

Four carriers being prepped for Navy’s Project Overmatch and an older article about Project Overmatch Navy Dedicates More Resources To Secretive Project Overmatch

Navy Offering Up to $50K in Recruiting Bonuses

Navy Officer Pleads Guilty in ‘Fat Leonard’ Bribery Investigation as 6 Others Face Federal Trial

US Navy conducts flight operations with MQ-8C unmanned helicopter from Littoral Combat Ship

Situation ‘dire’ as 38 still missing off Florida coast in suspected human smuggling case and Coast Guard Intercepts 191 Haitians near Bahamas

USCGC Thetis Returns Home from 68-day Counter-Narcotic Deployment

Sailors Turn to Courts as Religious Vaccine Exemptions Weigh Readiness Over Belief

Photos Show Madrid Bridge Cargo Collapse

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INDO-PACIFIC

Tonga: Covid hits crucial Australian aid ship bound for tsunami-struck nation and Tonga tsunami: Royal Navy ship delivers aid plus Assistance to Tonga in the Wake of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Eruptions and Tsunami

US Navy and JMSDF Flat Tops Conduct Epic Power Demonstration and US aircraft carriers enter South China Sea amid tensions between Taiwan, China

CIMSEC Sea Control 313 – Chinese ASW sorties with Dr. Olli Suorsa (Editor : 29:14 min podcast)

Pilot Ejects After F-35 Lightning II ‘Landing Mishap’ on USS Carl Vinson in South China Sea more details Seven injured in US fighter jet landing mishap in South China Sea, Navy pilot ejects safely hence Navy to salvage stealth fighter that crashed in South China Sea

New Zealand Navy Ship Arrives in Tonga Carrying Fresh Water then Navy’s largest ship to leave Tonga to help US Antarctic ship that broke down

German, Swedish subs better for Taiwan, Australian needs (Editor – there are wonderful new conventional boats on the market)

Indian Navy decommissions first IL 38 Aircraft

HMS Tamar enforces UN sanctions against North Korea

Pakistan Navy Commissions New Type 054 A/P Frigate ‘PNS TUGHRIL’

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EUROPE

Ukraine urges calm, saying Russian invasion not imminent and German navy chief resigns over Ukraine comments

NATO, US Navy Aircraft Carrier To Start Exercise In Mediterranean and Neptune Strike ’22 maritime exercise Kicks off Monday in Mediterranean (Editor – useful 34:29 min video) and Italian Navy And Air Force Participate In Neptune Strike 2022

140 Russian Navy Warships Drilling Across Europe, Middle East as Ukraine Tensions Simmer and Russian Navy Live Firing Off Irish Coast During Tensions In Europe and Russian Baltic Fleet’s 20 warships deploy to sea for sweeping drills

Russia proposes US returns American nuclear weapons from NATO countries stateside (Editor – not a naval article but one with rippling implications)

NATO ships patrol Baltic Sea

Exclusive: UK attempts to dismantle nuclear submarine in a world first (Editor – a big special programme explained with a 7:47 min video included)

Russian Navy Commissioned New SSBN, SSGN And SSK In Late 2021

Norway’s P-3C MPA Tracks Russian Surface Group Off Norwegian Coast

The Future Maritime Aviation Force – UK naval aviation in 2030

NATO Begins the First OSG Patrol of 2022 in the East-Med

MIL-OSI Russia: Mine defense ship “Vladimir Emelyanov” and rescue tugboat “Sergey Balk” of the Black Sea Fleet pass the Bosporus and Dardanelles

Spanish frigate Almirante Juan de Borbon to join French Carrier Strike Group

Analysis: Why Do Turkey’s Upcoming Reis-Class Submarines Have Potential To Affect Balances In The Region?

UK plans to introduce its new class of destroyers in 2030s

Tsirkon Hypersonic Missile Enters The Final Stage Of State Trials (Editor – unclassified explanation in a 8:04 min video How Powerful Zircon missile)

Future Turkish STM-500 mini-submarines could be game-changer

Future Spanish Navy’s NH90 to enter assembly line by mid-year

Stolen Yachts Used To Smuggle Migrants From Turkey To Italy

Why Russia is Building an Arctic Silk Road (Editor – the scope is startling, a 7:56 min video)

World’s largest ocean carrier in action to save Mediterranean whales

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MIDDLE EAST

New boss in Bahrain as Commodore Adrian Fryer takes reins of RN’s Middle East mission

New US Coast Guard Sentinel-class Cutters Visit Egypt Marking Arrival to 5th Fleet

U.S. detains smuggling ship and U.K. seizes drugs in Mideast waters

Royal Navy makes second multimillion-pound drugs bust in days

NZ Navy leadership ends Arabian Gulf mission with $15M drug bust

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GLOBAL INTERESTS

EU Navies to continue with Gulf of Guinea patrols

Pirates Attack Bunker Tanker Off Ivory Coast -Report

Ship demolition: 301 tankers sold for scrap in 2021

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SCUTTLEBUTT

The Concrete Battleship (Editor – a quirky bit of history in a 13:09 min video)

How to Become a Naval Officer: Part 1 The U.S. Naval War College, Rhode Island (Editor – The Mariner’s Mirror 33:00 min podcast)

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THIS WEEK IN RCN / MARITIME HISTORY

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”, The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History Vol 1-3, and Roger Litwiller’s excellent web site, encyclopedic guidance from Fraser McKee, the Uboat.net site, and anywhere else I can find credible information.  For a comprehensive list of the staggering merchant losses – sunk, damaged, or lost – here is an excellent web page: Canadian Merchant Ship Losses of the Second World War, 1939-1945 by Rob Fisher {Revised June 2001})

JANUARY

  • 29 January 1914  First public parade of  Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve
  • (RNCVR) in Victoria.  With ex-RN instructors.
  • 30 January 1991  At the Battle of Babiyan two CF-18s were diverted to attack an Iraqi fast patrol boat that had managed to escape destruction by other aircraft.  After two strafing runs with the CF-18s 20 mm guns, the boat was irreparably damaged and later found to have sought safe-haven in Iran.
  • 31 January 1923  The Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve are established.  Twenty-two years later during the second world about 100,000 officers and men were enrolled in the RCN, the RCNR, and the RCNVR, and some 6,500 women in the WRCNS.  The peak strength of the entire Naval Service was reached in January 1945 with over 92,000 including Wrens.

FEBRUARY

  • 1 February 1911  The first recruiting posters for the RCN are issued to post offices throughout Canada.
  • 1 February 1968  The personnel and organization of the RCN, Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force were unified into a single organization, the Canadian Armed Forces.
  • 2 February 2003 HMCS Regina joins the Canadian Naval Task Group, part of the international anti-terrorism campaign in the Persian Gulf.
  • 4 February 1942  The unescorted Canadian tanker MV Montrolite was hit in the stern by a torpedo, followed minutes later by a coup de grace torpedo fired from U-109 about 325 nm northeast of Bermuda.  27 crew members and 1 gunner were killed.  The 21 survivors were rescued by the merchant ship SS Winkleigh.
  • 5 February 1942  The Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. passenger ship RMS Empress of Asia (an armed merchant cruiser and troopship under the Admiralty’s Liner Requisition Scheme) was sailing from Bombay to Singapore.  Embarked were troops and supplies to reinforce Singapore in the face of the rapid Japanese advances and their recent conquest of British Malaya.  The Empress was in convoy BM-12 and within eyesight of her destination, when she became the enemy’s primary target among the five merchant ships in the convoy. Nine Japanese dive-bombers focused their assault on the Empress of Asia. She eventually sank after anchoring and burning on the Sultan Shoal at the entrance to Singapore.  Sixteen passengers were killed.  The 1884 survivors were rescued by HMAS Yarra, HMAS Bendigo, and HMAS Wollongong.
  • 5 February 1944  HMS Puncher, an aircraft carrier, is commissioned into the Royal Navy at Vancouver with a Canadian crew, but a British air complement.

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