NAC News – Edition 505
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of March 17th, 2023
Edition: 505 Quote: “Over-commitment, trying to man too many ships with too few personnel, immediately became a factor affecting personnel policy. This demand created an environment of instability in ship’s companies that eventually became chronic. Instability worked like a dry rot against fleet operational effectiveness.” Wilfred Lund: Maritime Command Pacific – The Royal Canadian Navy’s West Coast Fleet in the Early Cold War, David Zimmerman, pg. 5, UBC Press 2015
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 Kevin Goheen 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
NEW 5 April 2023 ABCMI: You are invited to a Celebration of BC’s Maritime Heritage: Workboats for the World. The Robert Allan Story
NEW 18-20 April 2023 MARTECH Conference: Evolution Through Technology and Talent, Vancouver BC.
NEW 3 May NAC and the RCN will mount a Battle of the Atlantic Gala Dinner, an event that in the past has been a highlight of the Associations’ annual programme. As in the past, it will be a memorable evening held at the Canadian War Museum. The evening will commemorate the contributions of the members of the RCN, RCAF, and Canada’s Merchant Navy who served in the Battle of the Atlantic, as well as naval veterans of the Korean War. This year we will also celebrate the Naval Reserve Centennial. This is an advance notice to NAC members to give you the opportunity to register in advance of the open registration. If you have not already done so, this would also be an opportune to renew your NAC membership for 2023. Detailed information on the event and the menu options is available at 2023 Battle of the Atlantic Gala. Registration can be completed from that page. Should you need assistance with the registration or have further questions, please contact us at NACcoordinator@outlook.com.
DND and CAF Open Public Consultations on Update to Canada’s Defence Policy
UPDATED Editor – Miscalculation of Disability Pensions Class Action. If you received a Veterans Affairs Canada disability pension or certain related benefits between 2003 and 2010, you are eligible for a corrective payment because of a discrepancy in VAC’s calculations during those years. Most payments to recipients are automatic. However, if: you no longer receive these benefits, or you are the legal representative of the estate of a deceased recipient, and you are legally entitled to inherit the assets of a deceased benefit recipient, you should apply to receive a corrective payment. For more information, please visit our frequently asked questions page or contact VAC at 1-866-522-2122.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
FACT SHEET: Trilateral Australia-UK-US Partnership on Nuclear-Powered Submarines (Editor – more articles and info in Indo-Pacific section below)
Assessing Canada’s contributions to NATO | At Issue (Editor – must hear bell ringing [first 6 min] 16:07 min video)
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CANADA
Message from His Majesty The King regarding the Order of Military Merit
Lt.-Gen. Michel Maisonneuve (ret’d): Canadians deserve an operational Navy (Editor – it will be interesting to watch how the Australian nuclear submarine programme unfolds. It will be upsettingly expensive, perhaps crippling so, as Canada accepted decades ago.)
Canadian Surface Combatant Land-Based Testing Facility
Canada at crossroads on submarines as cost, need butt heads and allies press ahead
Upgraded missiles to better defend ships against air attacks
2023 Navy Command and Senior Appointments
National Post Opinion: Jamie Sarkonak: Liberals impose a culture of wokeism on the Canadian Armed Forces
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin suing Trudeau, federal government over his termination from vaccine rollout
General Officers and Flag Officers (Editor – DND website with info of the 144 [yep, 144] GOFO’s in the CAF) and Ranks and appointment
How Hard is Canadian JTF2 Training and Selection? (Editor – quirky inside look in a 27:16 min video)
CAF Story – A cook at sea (Editor – 2:53 min video)
From the UNTD website an apt summary: Citizen Sailors Chronicles of Canada’s Naval Reserve 1910 – 2010
NAC Naval Affairs Program Briefing Note # 3 Why Canada Needs a Navy (Editor – please share)
Lookout: Volume 68, Issue 10, March 13, 2023
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USA & AMERICAS
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 13, 2023
USNI: Battle of Midway Was Won in the Shipyards (Editor – lessons to learn abound in a 24:51 min Podcast. Where are Canada’s “navalists”?)
Aircraft carrier Ford embarks with full air wing for first time with hurdles VIDEO: Navy’s Newest Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Faces Toughest Test Yet
FY2024 Budget: Navy Request Calls for 9 New Ships, Asks to Shed 2 Littoral Combat Ships, 9 Other Ships further info U.S. Navy Gets $11B Budget Boost, Plans to Cut Amphib Fleet
U.S. Coast Guard Fact Sheet Fiscal Year 2024 President’s Budget
CIMSEC: Fighting DMO, Pt. 4: weapons depletion and the last-ditch salvo dynamic hence FY 2024 Budget: Pentagon Asks for $30.6B to Beef Up Munitions Stockpile Citing Lessons from Ukraine War
CIMSEC: gaining the operational intelligence advantage through data literacy
Rise of Hybrid Warfare Drives New Approach for Naval Services
US lacks the explosive firepower to truly deter China
US DoD awards $2.8 billion contract to replace Dry Dock 3 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard
Fewer Than 1/3 of Navy’s Amphibious Ships Are Ready to Deploy
USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) Receives Service Life Extension
HMS Protector says farewell to the Falklands and begins long journey home
USCGC Spencer home from Africa
Eight Killed in Maritime Smuggling Accident off San Diego
Retired Navy captain sentenced for role in ‘Fat Leonard’ scandal
Two Dead in Cocaine-Smuggling Mishap Off Colombia
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INDO-PACIFIC
AUKUS Plan: Aussie Sailors to Serve on American Subs, RAN to Buy U.S. Virginia Attack Boats and Aukus deal: US, UK and Australia agree on nuclear submarine project and the question arises Canada on sidelines as U.S., Britain, Australia move ahead on new security deal SSN’s don’t come cheap Australia’s Submarine Program with U.S. and Britain Could Could Run Up to $245 Billion and to help facilitate Britain to temporarily base nuclear submarine in Australia plus South Australia to deliver nuclear-powered submarine build and an extra wrinkle Watchdog pledges ‘demanding’ oversight of nuclear sub deal
China expected to prepare for AUKUS nuclear submarine program with underwater buildups and Buckle up! China could very soon propose a new anti-AUKUS military alliance
Former top U.S. admiral cashes in on nuclear sub deal with Australia
In AUKUS, Navy eyes a full-service submarine garage in Asia-Pacific
AUKUS Nuclear Sub Deal Opens Door to Advanced Undersea Operations
Obituary: Rear Admiral James Goldrick AO CSC RAN Retired
INDOPACOM: China Has Not Responded to U.S. Attempts to Establish Communication
North Korea Launches Underwater Cruise Missiles Drills
AUKUS: US approves delivery of Tomahawk missiles to Australia (Editor – I expect the same process will take place for the CSC)
Makin Island, America ARGs Wrap Up Exercises with Thai, Japanese Forces
The Mageshima Island will Become the Biggest US Military Base near the South China Sea
Japanese Navy to acquire MQ-9B SeaGuardian from General Atomics (Editor – MQ-9B SeaGuardian)
China’s Coast Guard Enters Disputed Waters in East China Sea
China’s new ‘super island builder’ set to roil South China Sea and Over The South China Sea, Dispute Simmers Via Radios And Rhetoric
Navies of India, Australia, Japan, US, France and UK to participate in Exercise La Perouse
Austal splashes fifth evolved Cape-class patrol boat for Australia
DSEI Japan 2023: JMSDF Programs with ATLA, MHI USV, JMU OPV
South Korea Eyeing Larger Aircraft Carrier for Its CVX Program yet South Korea’s supersized aircraft carrier folly and S. Korea approves plans to buy F-35A fighters, SM-6 interceptors
China Launches Two More Type 052DL Destroyers In Dalian
Japanese BILLIONS $ Aircraft Carrier Is Finally Ready For Action! | US Shocked (Editor – odd premise but interesting nonetheless 9:32 min video)
ADF helps cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu
China Lifts Unofficial Ban on Australian Coal
MSC shatters records with delivery of 24,346 TEU MSC Irina
ONE installs bow wind shield on another 21,700 TEU behemoth
DP World To Install First High-Bay Container Storage System at Pusan Terminal
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine War: What missiles have Russia fired? (Editor – not maritime but a pertinent 4:17 min video)
US drone crashes after encounter with Russian jet of course…not me Russia denies its fighter jets struck U.S. drone over Black Sea and then Russia Attempts to Salvage Downed American Drone in Black Sea
The Netherlands to deliver minehunters to Ukraine
Slovakia sending Ukraine its 13 Soviet MiG-29 warplanes and Poland to send four fighter jets to Ukraine ‘in coming days’
Russian spy network accused of sabotage arrested in Poland
Turkey Blocks Sanctioned Goods to Russia
Russia Finds Plenty of Tonnage for Crude and Refined Product Exports
Russia Extends Black Sea Grain Deal for 60 Days as Ukraine and Turkey Call for Full Renewal
General:
France challenging Russia as second biggest arms exporter behind US
Huge NATO exercises demonstrate ability to defend alliance with RFA Mounts Bay conducts ‘unusual’ replenishment at sea with Dutch Navy’s largest ship
Russian submarines to practice surfacing in Arctic ice — Navy chief
Russian nuclear subs to conduct volley fires by ballistic missiles for testing purposes
KRI Frans Kaisiepo Conducts Joint UNIFIL Training with ITS Andrea Doria
More Nordic MH-60R Seahawks On The Horizon
UK: Royal Navy takes delivery of jet-powered Banshee drones (Editor – Banshee aerial targets)
LSS “Jacques Chevallier” First Flag Ceremony
Royal Navy escorting Russian task group close to UK waters
Putin Says Nord Stream Blasts Carried Out on ‘State level’ then Tiny Baltic Island Finds Itself ‘a pawn’ in Nord Stream Gas Drama and then! Putin says another Nord Stream bomb has probably been found (Editor – can’t wait for the movie) and from TASS FACTBOX: The Nord Stream pipelines and what is known about their destruction
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MIDDLE EAST
Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore relations
Iran, China, Russia kick off joint naval drill
Interview with the UK Maritime Component Commander (UKMCC), Commodore Phil Dennis
Russian Oil Floods UAE’s Fujairah Port
New Record for Daily Transits of the Suez Canal
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Breaking China’s rare earths monopoly
The looming threat of deep-sea mining
French Navy Seizes Record Cargo of Cocaine from Ship off W. Africa
Algerian Type 056 (F-15A) corvette El Moutassadi (940) arrives home from China
Scientists track iceberg the size of London
Why East Antarctica is a ‘sleeping giant’ of sea level rise
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SCUTTLEBUTT
US Genius Technique to Recover Billions $ Ship in Middle of the Sea (Editor – starts slowly but becomes interesting, a15:30 min video)
The Bizarre Nazi Machine Discovered on a Secret Submarine (Editor – something different, an SSH/K?, explained in a 11:03 min video)
The Black Prince Accident / Soviet K-324 Nuclear-Powered Submarine (Editor – 45 sec video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
19 March 1941 Lt R.J.C. Pringle, RCNVR, appointed C.O. of HMCS Suderöy V, first RCNVR officer in command of an HMC Ship, a requisitioned Norwegian trawler.
20 March 1943 World War II – UK destroyer commissioned into RCN as HMCS Griffin; 3 weeks later, renamed HMCS Ottawa; second of four now so named. Halifax, NS.
20 March 1943 The Canadian built (Prince Rupert Dry Dock Co., Prince Rupert, BC) but British crewed SS Fort Mumford sailed from Vancouver on 14 January 1943 on her maiden voyage across the Pacific via Lyttelton, New Zealand; and then to Colombo, Ceylon. She departed Colombo on 18 March bound for Aden and the Suez Canal. On 20 March 1943, the Fort Mumford was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-21, about 570 nm NW of Colombo. There was only one survivor.
20 March 1945 HMCS New Glasgow commanded by LCDR Ross M. Hanbury, RCNVR was rammed by accident by U-1003 while snorkelling. The boat severely damaged her snort and conning tower, and part of New Glasgow’s hull plating and her port propeller. U-1003 limped seaward, but by the next morning of 21 March had to abandoned and the crew took to the life rafts, where they were found the next day.
20 March 1949 Thirty-two aircraft handlers on the carrier Magnificent, which was on fleet manoeuvres in the Caribbean Sea, briefly refused an order to turn to morning cleaning stations. This was the fourth and final incident that led to a commission of inquiry and a report named the Mainguy Report.
22 March 1944 SS Watuka (Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Company, New Glasgow, NS) with a cargo of 1998 tons of coal, was one of five ships transiting from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Halifax in an unescorted convoy SH-125. The five ships departed Sydney on 21 March. The ships were approaching Halifax when U-802 fired a spread of three torpedoes at the overlapping ships and an acoustic torpedo was fired at one of the ships. Three detonations were heard but only Watuka was hit and she sank 15 nautical miles SE of Halifax. Two crew members were killed. However, the master, 22 crew members and two gunners were picked up by the trawler HMCS Anticosti.
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.
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, a special thanks to NAC member Bill Dziadyk for his able assistance and detailed work. The RCN lost 1,965 men and 24 ships during the War, most of them in the Atlantic. 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)
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