NAC News – Edition 514
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of May 19th, 2023
Edition: 514 “Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy is a communications strategy to hide weakness at home and abroad and the lack of a national commitment to international security in a region of vital economic interest.” RAdm (RCN) Paul Maddison (Retd) and NAC member Tweeted 6 May. Paul is currently the Director of the UNSW Defence Research Institute.
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
31 May – 1 June 2023 CANSEC trade show will be held at Ottawa’s EY Centre. A CDR13:46 min podcast speaking with CADSI President and CEO, Christyn Cianfarani gives “the inside scoop” on CANSEC 2023.
2 November 2023 Mark your calendars, the Deep Blue Forum 2023. Venue – The Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Drive.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Shadow of war hangs over G7 summit as Trudeau arrives in Hiroshima
USNI: China: Growing and Going to Sea (Editor – lengthy but really worthwhile 53:20 min podcast) and China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities – Background and Issues for Congress
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CANADA
Korea eyes submarine deal with Canada
Bombardier teams with Ottawa firm to offer RCAF new surveillance aircraft
Great Lakes Labor: Filipino Mariners Can Now Sail On Canadian Merchant Ships
Canadian Shipbuilder Seaspan Imports Electric Tug
Military referred 93 sexual offence cases to civilian police, 64 under investigation
Former wartime Reservist celebrates Centennial with Naval Reserve
The Navy League of Canada elects new National President (Editor – congratulations to NAC member RAdm (Ret’d) Jennifer Bennett…always a contributor!)
CNMT: Action Stations 2023 Spring Edition
NAC Naval Affairs Program Briefing Note #10 RCN Assets and Platforms (Editor – please share to anyone you think may benefit from the knowledge)
Trident: 15 May 2023 Volume 57, Issue 10 with HMCS Montréal, MV Asterix assist in Sudan region
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USA & AMERICAS
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: May 15, 2023
Exclusive: Navy Will Spend $200 Billion—Equal to Ukraine’s GDP—on Subs It Barely Uses
US Navy shipbuilding too little, too late to catch China
After a 35-year break, the US Navy is building frigates again, and it has a lot of catching up to do
SUBLANT Completes Exercise Agile Player 23
US Navy to build Modified Virginia class Subsea and Seabed Warfare
Shipyards and shortages hindering US Navy
Bath Iron Works Lays Keel for Shipyard’s First Flight III Destroyer
Austal USA Delivers 34th LCS To The U.S. Navy
Austal USA Wins Detail Design Contract for Navy T-AGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Ship
Raytheon secures $15.9m for Standard Missile-2 Block IIIC
CIMSEC: The broadening global effort to accelerate unmanned maritime systems development
Navy Finishes Seismic Repairs to Dry Dock 4 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Navy Talks Details on LCS Mine Countermeasures Mission Package
Brazil starts construction of Antarctic support ship
JFD Unveils ‘Shadow Seal’ For Naval Special Forces
Colombia Stops Largest Semi-Submersible Loaded With $100M of Cocaine
U.S. Coast Guard’s Message Migrants: ‘Do Not Take to the Sea’
Record U.S. Crude Exports, Rising Shale Output Boosts Oil Flow to Houston
NOAA Finds Three New Gas Seeps South of Aleutian Islands
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INDO-PACIFIC
China Vows to “Crush” Taiwanese Independence
CIMSEC: Winning high-end war at sea: insights into the PLA navy’s new strategic concept
Indra installs Lanza-N 3D radar on Indian Navy’s frontline ship, boosting surveillance capabilities
Five Power Defence Arrangement exercise concludes
High-Seas Search for 39 Crewmembers of Capsized Chinese Fishing Vessel and Two Bodies Recovered as Search Continues for Chinese Fishing Vessel
Philippines Places Buoys In Parts Of S.China Sea To Assert Sovereignty
China verifies far sea capabilities of Type 055 large destroyer in South China Sea, West Pacific (Editor – zero combat experience)
Risch, Hagerty Introduce TORPEDO Act and How Australia’s New Submarines Fuse Western Military Tech to Counter China | WSJ (Editor – 4:24 min video) but Budget reveals pressures on Defence for savings to fund nuclear-powered submarines
Navies of India, Indonesia begin 6-day exercise
KiwiRail Signs On to Inflatable-Lifeboat Revolution
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
CBC news documentary: What is Putin’s endgame? (Editor – 43:48 min video)
European leaders approve “Register of Damage” to document damages caused by the Russian forces (Editor – Interesting twist in a 5:33 min news video)
Ukraine war: Kyiv not attacking Russian territory – Zelensky
Ukraine war: Russian navy launches ‘scarce’ land attack cruise missiles
Turkey Reports Progress on Freeing Ships Blockaded by Russia and Black Sea Grain Corridor Nearly Void of Ships as Russia’s Exit Looms
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to meet 240th anniversary without parade, festivities – source
General:
NATO Steps Up Response to ‘Clear and Present’ Undersea Infrastructure Risk and Ireland likely to join Nato project to protect undersea cables
US Navy Chief Calls for RIMPAC-Style Exercise in Euro-Atlantic Region
Russia’s new Navy icebreaker steers clear of Arctic waters
HMS Glasgow: Investigation launched into ‘act of sabotage’ on frigate
Huge fleet of NATO warships gathers off Scotland
MoD to procure deep-water ‘Remotely Operating Vehicle’
Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigates to be fitted with Mk41 vertical launch system
Watch Officer From Lost Norwegian Frigate Sentenced to Probation
British aircraft carrier sets sail from Portsmouth
Wallace: HMS Prince of Wales not being mothballed
Italy’s new warships will boast bigger bellies for landing forces
MSC sets record as 1st ocean carrier to hit 5 mil TEU in fleet capacity
Germany inks deal with China’s COSCO on Hamburg port
HMS Mersey illuminated in Ukrainian colours docked at home in Liverpool
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MIDDLE EAST
Syria’s Assad tells Arab leaders to take ‘historic opportunity’ to remake Middle East (Editor – not a maritime article but interesting implications)
US Will Bolster Posture in Persian Gulf as Iran Seizes Third Tanker and Could Iran’s Tanker Seizures Bring Navy Convoys Back to the Gulf?
Seven more Swiftships coastal patrol craft for Egypt
IRGC vessels now equipped with new long-range cruise missile: top commander (Editor – one wonders how they would do targeting at these ranges)
Fincantieri delivers final Al Zubarah-class corvette to Qatar
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
South Africa says US ambassador apologised for alleging country supplied arms to Russia
The melting Arctic and raising tensions among Arctic nations
BIMCO: Scrapping Volumes to Double, Driven by Emission Regulations
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SCUTTLEBUTT
History Briefs: Captain John Walker RN – Britain’s Greatest Fighting Naval Commander since Nelson
Lost British warship set to be investigated 150 years after sinking
Survey explores underwater battlefield in western Pacific
The Mariner’s Mirror – Elizabeth II’s Navy 1952-2022 (Editor – 34 min podcast)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
20 May 1941 – The unescorted SS Rothermere (Newfoundland registry) was hit in the engine room by one torpedo from U-98 southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland. The ship sank by the stern after being hit for a second time. Rothermere had 18 crew members and three gunners killed. 32 crew members, one gunner and one passenger were picked up by the Icelandic steam merchant Bruarfoss and landed at Reykjavik.
21 May 1917 The Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) is established by Royal Charter.
21 May 1939 King George VI unveils the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
22 May 1931 HMCS Saguenay is commissioned at Portsmouth-one of the first ships built for the RCN.
24 May 1941 HMS Hood is sunk by the Bismarck in the Denmark Straits: three Canadian Midshipmen Christopher Norman (Victoria BC), Francis Jones (Revelstoke BC), Thomas Beard (Victoria BC), serving in the battle cruiser are killed. All three midshipman were sons of RCN and Canadian Army officers.
24 May 1963 Sea King helicopters enter service with the Royal Canadian Navy.
25 May 1941 The first seven corvettes for the Newfoundland Escort Force arrive in St. John’s.
25 May 1945 HMCS Ontario was a Minotaur-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy as HMS Minotaur, but transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy. HMS Minotaur was laid down on 20 November 1941 by Harland & Wolff of Belfast and launched on 29 July 1943. She was transferred to the RCN in July 1944, and completed and commissioned as HMCS Ontario on 25 May 1945 at Belfast.
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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