NAC News - Edition 450 - Naval Association of Canada

NAC News – Edition 450

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of February 25th, 2022

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

Looking for high resolution pictures of HMC ships St Croix (DDE 256) and Iroquois (DDH 280) for a presentation. Please contact Colin Darlington in Halifax if you have them.

9-11 March 2022 CDAI 90th Ottawa Conference Security and Defence. The Ottawa Conference is an annual gathering of Canada’s defence and security community. CDAI is an umbrella group for organizations who represent 400,000 active and retired members of the CAF, the event brings in foreign guests, Canadian government leaders, academia, and the business community to reflect on how to make Canada and the world safer. To Register. (Note – free to students)

NEW – 16 March 2022 1-3 PM Halifax Time RUSI(NS) – Distinguished Speaker – “Surveillance of Sea Surface Activities in Atlantic Canada” by Jan-Andrej Skopalik, Regional Manager, National Aerial Surveillance Program, Transport Canada Atlantic Region. To register, email RUSINovaScotia@gmail.com by close-of-business Sunday, 13 March. As the subject line for your registration email, put: RUSI(NS) Distinguished Speaker 16 March 2022 Registration. In addition to your name, please provide your organization (association, company or unit).

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

Live streaming : Extraordinary virtual summit of NATO Heads of State and Government

and Statement by the North Atlantic Council on Russia’s attack on Ukraine

Massive Russian Navy Armada Moves Into Place Off Ukraine and The Last Cruise of the Giants and UPDATED: Russian Navy Cruisers Positioned to Counter U.S., French and Italian Carrier Groups in the Mediterranean

Germany Freezes Nord Stream 2 Gas Project as Ukraine Crisis Deepens and an interesting perspective Putin controls the West’s technology supply chain. So who’s bluffing?

U.S. Coast Guard Offloads Over $1 Billion Worth of Drugs at Port Everglades

Drewry: Ocean carriers close 2021 with $190 billion profit

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CANADA

CDS Message to the Defence Team regarding the Invasion of Ukraine and Operation REASSURANCE: Canada’s NATO mission explained

HMCS Halifax to join NATO’s Ukraine support mission

Trudeau ends use of Emergencies Act, says ‘situation is no longer an emergency’

HMCS Margaret Brooke crew praise new platform ahead of ice trials

Navigating through change (Editor – interview with Petty Officer Second Class Chris West, Seamanship Supervisor with HMCS Harry DeWolf)

Maintaining HMCS Ottawa’s big gun no small feat

Coast Guard, Navy host international exercise with Royal Canadian Navy

CDR Radio Episode 24 – Interview with Kevin Mooney, President of Irving Shipbuilding. The discussion covers a wide range of topics including the recently delivered AOPS, new capabilities for CSC, building schedules & more.

High-power fuel cell concept for larger ships gets DNV’s blessing

New PSHCP pensioner contribution rates for 2022

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USA & AMERICAS

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

CNO Gilday: ‘We Need a Naval Force of Over 500 Ships’

Wife of Navy Nuclear Engineer Pleads Guilty to Role in Sub Secrets Conspiracy and Report on Virginia-class Attack Submarine Program

Aerojet Rocketdyne Demonstrates Groundbreaking Propulsion for Next Generation Torpedoes

US Navy’s V-22 Osprey Aircraft Ready for Deployment

Textron Systems Awarded $41 Million US Navy Contract for Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS)

USCG’s First Polar Security Cutter to be Named Polar Sentinel

Coast Guard Commissions 46th Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutter

Navy Separates 50 Enlisted Sailors for COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal

Report to Congress on Columbia-class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program

Marines Need the Maritime Prepositioning Force More Than Ever

French Navy Seizes 435kg Cannabis with Surveillance Frigate

Coast Guard Cutter Reliance Returns from 52 Day Patrol

Video: World’s Largest Cruise Ship Arrives at Port Everglades (Editor – OMG, Wonder of the Seas 236,857 gross tons!)

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INDO-PACIFIC

Chinese navy laser attack on RAAF plane has Canberra fuming useful video and map then PM condemns Chinese laser attack on RAAF P-8A Poseidon and surprise surprise China suggests Australia is to blame for laser attack on surveillance plane

China’s New Submarine Is Unlike Anything In Western Navies

China’s railgun tech on a surprising fast track

RIMPAC ‘22 Commanders’ Conference Solidifies Planning Partner-Building Efforts

22 February 2022

USS Chafee Returns Home to Pearl Harbour

Navy, Marines Drill with Japanese Forces in Test of New Island-Hopping Concept

Philippine Coast Guard Multi-Role Response Vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua Began Its Journey Home

Indian Navy welcomes 12th P-8I maritime patrol aircraft

Ultra and Mahindra partner on Indian Navy’s IADS program

ROK Navy Finds Major Defects On Three Of Its Type 214 Submarines

India Scraps $3 Billion Predator Drone Deal with US: Report

Malacca: US v China

The curious case of Blenheim Reef

China Port Delays Slow Shipments From Iron Ore to Electronics

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EUROPE

Ukraine maps: Tracking Russia’s invasion a small part Russian Navy Captures Ukraine’s Outpost on Snake Island (Editor – I can’t help but ask; why would you bother killing the occupants and ruining an outpost that would have been so isolated? Sigh.)

Message from the President of the Russian Federation (Editor – what President Putin is saying to Russians)

Consequences of misunderstandings with Russian ships grow as invasion looms, CNO says

Major Buyers of Russian Oil Struggle with Bank Guarantees

Ukrainian Commercial Ports Closed After Russia Reports Ships Attacked and Turkish-Controlled Bulker Reportedly Hit by Shell in the Black Sea then Two Russian cargo ships hit by Ukrainian missiles, Russia says for info Ports & Pipelines, These Are Ukraine’s Key Commodity Sites and the Ukraine Plans to Ask Turkey to Close the Bosporus to Russian Warships (Editor – noteworthy situation for the NATO member nation of Turkey to ponder) and more Op-Ed: Can Turkey Close Straits To Russian Ships?

Homecoming: Nuclear submarine crew return from Christmas patrol

HMS Albion leaves UK for month-long Arctic exercise (editor – two videos included) and Cold Response 2022: 35,000 Soldiers from 26 Countries in Northern Military Exercise (Editor – 23 NATO countries sending forces: USA, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. In addition, partner countries Finland and Sweden will participate. But of course, Coercive diplomacy is back, says Norwegian FM as Russia announces drills in Nordic country’s Economic Zone

NATO’s advanced anti-submarine warfare Exercise Dynamic Manta Underway in Italy

Fleet Commander: “German Navy shows alliance solidarity”

Kormoran II class MCM Vessel ORP Kormoran joins Polish Navy

Thales to deliver FLASH SONICS for German Navy NH90 MRFH

Royal Norwegian Air Force’s First Boeing P-8 Poseidon Landed at Evenes Air Base

Construction starts on last German Navy’s K130 corvette

UK set to unveil multi-billion pound refreshed shipbuilding strategy

A 12,000-ton gas plant module shipped on Northern Sea Route from China to Murmansk

Update: First Fatality Reported After Blaze On Euroferry Olympia, 10 Still Missingthen Euroferry Olympia To Be Towed to Port Following Fire

Why did 20,000+ TEU Mumbai Maersk run aground?

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MIDDLE EAST

Russian Navy Masses 16 Warships Near Syria

Egypt, France Kick off Military Drills in Mediterranean

US Navy retires Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship after almost three decades of service

Israel completes live-fire tests of C-Dome aboard Sa’ar 6-class corvette

U.S. Eyes 100-Vessel Unmanned Drone Fleet in Middle East

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GLOBAL INTERESTS

War In Ukraine Will Magnify The Global Trade Crisis

French Amphibious Ready Group Set Sails For Mission Jeanne D’Arc 2022

Spanish Navy Santa Maria-class Frigate Canarias Sets Sail Towards the Indian Ocean

French ATL 2 maritime patrol aircraft is operating in Djibouti with Spain

UK Increases Royal Navy Spending By £7.5 Billion Over Next Decade

Volkswagen Confirms Thousands of Vehicles — Including VW, Porsche, and Audis — On Board Burning ‘Felicity Ace’ and Lithium-ion Batteries From Electric Vehicles Aboard The Felicity Ace Are Keeping The Fire Alive and Cost of Felicity Ace Ro/Ro Fire Could Top $400 Million

Ships to become ‘vacuum cleaners’ for seas with Grimaldi & Wärtsilä

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SCUTTLEBUTT

Why Russia’s Economy is Immune to Western Sanctions (Editor – I do not know the credibility of this 5:46 min video, but it is a shrewd perspective if true)

The Raid on St Nazaire – How to make an explosive entrance (Editor – converging slices of history come together in a 42:05 min video)

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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY

SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – 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, NAC member Roger Litwiller’s excellent web site, encyclopedic guidance from NAC member Fraser McKee, the Uboat.net site, and anywhere else I can find credible information. For the merchant ship history, I thank NAC member Bill Dziadyk for his able assistance and detailed work. A comprehensive list of the staggering merchant losses – sunk, damaged, or lost – Canadian Merchant Ship Losses of the Second World War, 1939-1945 by Rob Fisher {Revised June 2001}, and for the loss of individual personnel RCN Ship Histories, Convoy Escort Movements, Casualty Lists 1939-1947)

27 February 1930 HMCS Thiepval a battle class armed trawler is lost after striking an uncharted rock in Barkley Sound, BC. No casualties.
28 February 1946 HMCS Cornwallis is paid off (taken out of service) and new recruit training begins to be conducted at local naval depots.
28 February 1991 Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase of the Persian Gulf War ends.
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. The submarines are H-Class ordered by the RN and built in the US. They did not see action during WWI and were eventually gifted to Canada. They were both scrapped and broken up in 1927.
4 March 1943 HMC Ships Shediac commanded by Lt John E. Clayton, RCNR with St. Croix commanded by LCdr A. Hedley Dobson, DSC, RCNR sank the German submarine U-87 off the coast of Leixões in Portugal.