NAC News - Edition 451 - Naval Association of Canada

NAC News – Edition 451

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of March 4th, 2022

Edition 451 “We should not assume, however, that massive wars between states are no longer possible. One of many wrong predictions of the 1990’s was that the age of the nation-state, with its pronounced identity and strong central government, was disappearing in an increasingly internationalized world where borders were becoming meaningless.” Margaret McMillian: War, How conflicts shape us, Penguin Canada 2020 pg. 269

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. (Influencer or good candidates to become a NAC member, and note the first year’s NAC & Branch membership dues are waived)

NOTICES

7 March 2022 NAC-O March Speakers Evening 7-9 pm Ottawa time. The speaker will be Commodore Jason Armstrong, Director General Naval Force Development at National Defence HQ. He will speak to us about the RCN’s Force Development Program in relation to current and future requirements. This is virtual event, to Register.

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)

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

Ukraine conflict: What are the nuclear risks?

Turkey Closes Bosphorus, Dardanelles Straits to Warships and Turkey rejects Russia’s request for navy ships to pass Bosporus and Turkey Steps Up Support for Ukraine, Risking Russian Retaliation

BP to Abandon Stake in Russia’s Rosneft at cost of $25B over Ukraine Invasion (Editor – Rosneft is the third largest Russian company and the second-largest state-controlled company (after Gazprom) in Russia in terms of revenue. The 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Rosneft was ranked as the 53rd-largest public company in the world. The company operates in more than twenty countries around the world.) then ExxonMobil Starts Removing US Employees from Russia and Exxon to Exit Russia, Leaving $4B in Assets, Sakhalin LNG Project in Doubt

Germany announces major defense policy shift in face of Russia’s Ukraine invasion

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CANADA

NATO sending part of response force to shore up European allies threatened by invasion of Ukraine

CDS Message to the Defence Team regarding the Invasion of Ukraine / Message du CEMD à l’Équipe de la Défense au sujet de l’invasion de l’Ukraine

From shore to sea: FMF Cape Scott and Fleet Engineers help ready HMCS Montreal for deployment

Canada’s troop commitment to Eastern Europe is exposing weak points in its military

Tasha Kheiriddin: Canada needs the ability to defend itself in an increasingly uncertain world

Former Canadian military commander wants no-fly zone over Ukraine (Editor – frank talk in a 9:08 min video) and from General Leslie in a 5:35 min ‘This is the closest we’ve been to world war three in a very long time’: Retired Army commander

Government of Canada prohibits Russian ships and fishing vessels from entering Canadian ports and internal waters and Russian Oil Tankers Rerouting from Canadian Destinations

Canada’s CP-140 Aurora MPA Upgraded To Block IV Takes First Flight

Ship-to-Shore Connector Barges

Margaret Brooke crew praise new platform ahead of ice trials

HMCS Calgary: Ship’s diver hailed for life-saving heroics

Joint DM/CDS Message: CDS/DM Directive on DND/CAF Operating and Reconstituting in a Persistent COVID-19 Environment

Delivery of new pistols for Canadian Army delayed until 2023 (Editor – quote, “an example of a highly dysfunctional Canadian military procurement system”)

CDR Radio Episode 24 – Kevin Mooney (Editor – interview with the President of Irving Shipbuilding in a 40:04 min video)

Navy brings gift from Maritimes to West African chimps

Lookout Newspaper, Issue 8, February 28, 2022

Opening dates announced of the 2022 Seaway navigation season

VAC’s Salute! – March 2022

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USA & AMERICAS

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 28, 2022

Future USS Oregon delivered to US Navy

CNO Gilday: Navy Balancing New SSN(X) Attack Submarine Design Against Need For NGAD, DDG(X)

VCNO: Retention Strong; Recruiting Difficult; Surface Fleet Manning Improving

Report to Congress on Russian Nuclear Weapons

Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Wraps Up Maintenance Availability

Report to Congress on U.S. Navy Destroyer Programs

Here’s the damage the submarine Connecticut sustained when it hit an undersea mountain

Failing US Navy Warship Still Can’t Perform Mission

Navy to demo new MQ-8 Fire Scout mine countermeasure system

Marine Corps Continues to Lead COVID-19 Vaccine Separations

Sailor accused of torching USS Bonhomme Richard will go to court-martial, Navy decides

President Biden Puts Ocean Carriers in the Crosshairs

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INDO-PACIFIC

HMAS Canberra arrives in Tonga (Editor – a great 1:50 min video included…what a versatile ship, a true national asset) and Chinese Navy completes delivering disaster relief supplies to Tonga (Editor – western style 48 sec video, impressive capability too)

US warship transits Taiwan Strait and you guessed it China Calls U.S. Warship Sailing In Taiwan Strait A “Provocative Act”

40 nations join forces in Indian Navy-led exercise MILAN 2022

Chinese Type 075 LHD Hainan reach IOC and could play a role in case of Taiwan taking

Biden Sends Navy Admiral To Taiwan

Chinese PLAN Reveals New Landing Craft in East China Sea Amidst Taiwan Invasion Rhetoric

Boeing will supply Harpoon Coastal Defense System to Taiwan

Lockheed to Equip Australian Super Hornets With Advanced Missiles (Editor – I wonder what maritime weapons the new Canadian fighter will carry?)

U.S. Navy Recovers F-35C from South China Sea

Philippine Coast Guard welcomes new multi-role response vessel MRRV-9701

New report reveals extent of Chinese surveys in South China Sea

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EUROPE

Russia’s Plan C (Editor – a must read insightful analysis)

Around the halls: Implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Editor – not a maritime article, but several experts give their observations)

More than 10,500 tons of humanitarian aid is prepared for Ukraine — Russian ministry

Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaidachny reportedly scuttled (Editor – Ukrainian flagship)

Russia May Have Mined Ukrainian Waters Says NATO

Russian Navy role in invasion of Ukraine emerges and Maritime forces and Ukraine crisis

UPDATED: Russian Navy Launches Amphibious Assault on Ukraine; Naval Infantry 30 Miles West of Mariupol

Snake Island: Ukraine says troops who swore at Russian warship are alive one of only a few chuckles Hackers Deface AIS Data of Putin’s Personal Yacht

A dozen Russian Navy’s landing ships spotted off Crimea then Russian Navy Fleet Nears Port Of Odesa

Russia Says Captured Key Water Supply Route to Crimea (Editor – another factor to the Russian invasion! The Crimea has been facing a dire manmade water shortage) and a video Update on Ukraine-Russia Conflict #shorts

HMS Diamond sets sail for NATO duties in Mediterranean (Editor – 1:39 min video included)

French CSG Retasked With NATO Support Role

Germany Virtue Signals FGS Alster to the Baltic Sea

Shipping Group Warns of More Supply Chain Disruption if Free Movement of Ukrainian and Russian Seafarers is Impeded rippling implications not just Merchant Ships Attacked and on Fire off Ukraine, Turkish bulker hit by bomb off Odessa arrives in Turkey and inevitably Black Sea Insurance Rates Soar As NATO Fails To Protect Commercial Shipping Separately Reports of Russian Navy detaining three vessels next Bangladeshi Ship Hit By Missile at Ukrainian Port -Reports then Cargo vessel sinks off Ukraine after explosion, multiple crewmembers missing the latest Updated: NATO member owned ship sinks off Odessa – Russia Used Civilian Ship As A Human Shield

Russian Caspian Flotilla ships practice air defense exercise near Caucasus (Editor – Europe or Asia…at the boundary of?)

Ten Russian ships conduct Air Defense exercise near Kaliningrad

Russia’s New ‘Poseidon’ Super-Weapon: What You Need to Know

Delivery of many critical Royal Navy capabilities still years away

Changes ahead for Navy diving teams in biggest shake-up in 25 years

All You Need To Know About Russian Yacht Arrests

France Arrests Russian Heavylift Ship Owned By Sanctioned Oligarch

French Amphibious Ship Joins NATO Exercise in North Atlantic

Turkey’s Future LHD Anadolu Starts Sea Trials (Editor – yet another NATO country about to have such a versatile ship)

Greece OKs ‘Biggest’ Naval Modernization Plan in 20 Years

Ireland to procure two patrol vessels from New Zealand

Spotted: World’s largest hospital ship calling in Rotterdam

Nord Stream 2 Owner Mulls Insolvency in Wake of Pipeline Halt, Sanctions, Say Sources and Wintershall Dea Writes Off $1.1B Nord Stream 2 financing

Norway Wealth Fund’s Russian Investments are Worthless, says CEO

Germany to break free from Russian gas with two LNG terminals

US imposes sanctions on Russia’s largest shipping company and World’s Largest Shipping Lines Suspend Shipping to Russia

$23B of Russia to UK trade to be disrupted by British ports closure to Russian ships

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MIDDLE EAST

FS Charles de Gaulle in Operation CHAMMAL for 7th Time (Editor – France

Operation Chammal)

French La Fayette-class frigate seizes drugs in Gulf of Oman

DSIT rolls out new underwater communication system for multiple platforms

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GLOBAL INTERESTS

Arctic Council “in pause mode” as seven of eight member states condemn war (Editor – Russia should hoist in the law of unintended consequences) actual Joint statement on Arctic Council cooperation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Ibsamar planning underway, no exercise date given

Felicity Ace Sinks in Atlantic Ocean and Bentleys And Lambos Sink In Storm Aboard Burning Ship Felicity Ace

USCGC Polar Star Reaches Southernmost Waters on Earth

Plastic pollution: Green light for ‘historic’ treaty

UN bodies outline critical actions to end seafarer crisis

Tanker Rates Soar Alongside War Risk Premiums

Ghana commissions Flex Fighter vessels; will be acquiring more OPVs

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SCUTTLEBUTT

Steam Boilers in the 1900’s – The Unusual Case of the Car and Ship (Editor – 47:28 min video)

The East India Company and the ‘Anarchy’ (Editor – The Mariner’s Mirror in a 57 min video)

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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, 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)

6 March 1944 HMC Ships St. Catharines commanded by LCDR Herbert C.R. Davis, RCNR, HMCS Chilliwack commanded by LCDR Clifton P. Coughlin, RCNVR, HMCS Gatineau commanded by LCdr Harold V.W. Groos, RCN, HMCS Fennel commanded by A/LCdr William P. Moffat, RCNVR, and HMCS Chaudière commanded by A/LCdr C. Patrick Nixon, RCN, assist Royal Naval warships in the sinking of the German submarine U-744 in the North Atlantic.
6 March 1945 The SS Green Hill Park was one of about 400 freighters built for the allied merchant navies by the Park Steamship Company which was owned by our Government of Canada. On the 6th of March 1945, the Green Hill Park exploded, and burst into flames, in Vancouver harbour while loading cargo at the Canadian Pacific Railway pier. The ship’s cargo included 85 or 95 tons of sodium chlorate, commonly used as a fertilizer. One of the fertilizers, under certain conditions, could be a powerful high explosive. Observers saw three explosions, and, initially, it was believed that portions of the ship’s cargo of sodium chlorate exploded. However, it could have been due to ignition of fumes from the barrels of overproof whiskey located in her holds. Her cargo also included six tons of flares. Six longshoremen, and two seamen, lost their lives. The ship was badly damaged but repaired. After the war, she sailed under the Panamanian flag as the SS Phaeax II and later as the SS Lagos Michigan until scrapped in 1967.
7 March 1945 HMC Ships La Hulloise commanded by LCdr John Brock, RCNVR, with HMCS Strathadam commanded by LCdr Howard L. Quinn, RCNVR, and HMCS Thetford Mines commanded by LCdr John A.R. Allan, DSO, RCNVR sank 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 commanded by LCdr George H. Stephen, OBE, DSC, RCNR with HMCS Owen Sound commanded by A/LCdr John M. Watson, RCNR and HMCS Swansea commanded by A/CDR Clarence A. King, DSO, DSC, RCNR assisted RN 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.