NAC News - Edition 525 - Naval Association of Canada

NAC News – Edition 525

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of August 12th, 2023

Edition: K525 HMCS Ribble (WWII River Class Frigate) Quote: “Veterans of the Battle of the Atlantic agree that their survival depended as often on the weather as on the disposition pf enemy warships. Still, at the height of the war, as many as 125 merchant ships from North America arrived at ports in the United Kingdom evert week, thanks to Allied escort.” Battle of the Atlantic – Gauntlet to Victory, page 14, Ted Barris, 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 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

17/18 October 2023 ABCMI’s Annual Business Opportunities Conference & Trade Show – Vancouver Conference Centre ABCMI’s Annual Business Opportunities Conference & Trade Show. See the website for developing Event Details including Exhibitor Spaces and Sponsorship Opportunities.

2 November 2023 The Deep Blue Forum 2023 Super Early Bird Registration is Open! Venue – The Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Drive.

13 November 2023 0900-1600 hrs Vancouver BC Day Sail event on warship for women and girls

6 December 2023 7:30 am – 6:30 pm Ottawa time. Industrial Participation Association of Canada (IPAC) announced their first ever Industrial Participation Conference, titled The Changing Landscape of Industrial Participation in Canadian Federal Procurements Conference to be held at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa.

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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES

As Naval War Intensifies, Ukraine and Allies Seek Peace in Saudi Summit and Evening Update: Canada to attend conference on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia

Canada Invests in Shipbuilding Preparing for Surface Combatant Construction

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CANADA

The Naval Experience Program (NEP) will provide you with enough exposure to life in the Royal Canadian Navy to decide if it is right for you.

Construction Starts on Canadian Coast Guard’s Arctic Patrol Ships and Canada Continues to Buy Local with New AOPS Bearing Deal for Thordon with Unifor leadership tour the expanding Halifax Shipyard

Former head of military HR pleads not guilty to sex offences

Celebrating 40 years in Canada’s naval industry

Keep those questions coming! 🗣️ / Continuez à poser vos questions sur le PEM! (Editor -short RCN recruiting video)

Canadian Armed Forces to phase out old housing benefit over three years

B.C. port dispute ends as workers vote to accept new deal

Lookout: Volume 68, Issue 31, August 8, 2023

Trident: 7 August 2023 Volume 57, Issue 16

NAC Naval Affairs Programme Briefing Note #20 History of Canadian Naval Aviation (Editor – please share to anyone you think may benefit from the knowledge, after all, that’s what our naval affairs programme is all about…educating Canadians)

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USA & AMERICAS

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Aug. 7, 2023

U.S. Coast Guard Rescued 12 People From the Water During Lahaina Fire

New Report Calls for Rethinking Undersea Warfare with Emphasis on Uncrewed Systems

How Powerful is the USS Carney Destroyer (Editor – 5:03 min video) and Navy Approves Service Life Extension for Four Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyers

‘Detect, Control, Engage’: The Aegis Concept (Editor – RAdm (USN) Wayne E. Meyer)

Bartlett Maritime Pitches New Plan to Repair U.S. Attack Submarines

Bollinger Cuts First Steel on Polar Security Cutter

USS Porter, USNS William Mclean Perform Vertical Launch System Re-Arm Demonstration

Sailor Accused of Spying for China Was Not an American Citizen

Report to Congress on John Lewis Class Oiler Program

US Navy Reverses Course on San Antonio-Class Flight II Ship Buys

Report to Congress on SSN(X) Next-Generation Attack Submarine

French Frigate Ventose Participates in UNITAS 2023

Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returns home after 120-day Bering Sea patrol

Textron Systems Wins $241M Contract for Hovercraft SSC LCAC 100 Class Vessels

World’s Strangest Research Vessel Heads for Scrapyard After 60 Years

Panama Canal Draught Restrictions Spark Liner Surcharges and an animated explanation in “The Engineering Marvel called Panama Canal” a 14:38 min video) then Panama Canal Reduces Booking Slots to Help Ease Congestion

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INDO-PACIFIC

Navy, Marines Send Aid to Hawaii, Papua New Guinea Following Disasters

Rohingya: At least 23 dead, 30 missing after boat sinks

How Adm. Paparo will lead the US military in the Indo-Pacific

US sends Ronald Reagan CSG for exercise Talisman Sabre 23 and Largest Ever Talisman Sabre Exercise Wraps in Australia

China hacked Japan’s sensitive defense networks, officials say

China Coast Guard urges the Philippines to remove grounded warship and restore the original state of Ren’ai Reef and predictably Philippines Tells China It Won’t Abandon Disputed Reef After Water Cannon Incident then International backlash grows after Chinese vessel fires water cannon on Philippine boats (Editor – closest I can figure they are the same – “Ren’ai Reef” or “Second Thomas Shoal” or “Ayungin Shoal”. Someone please correct me if I’ve errored) then China ‘fully prepared’ for any possible situations around Ren’ai Reef

China’s Type 075 amphibious assault ship serves as ‘fist’ in safeguarding national unity: captain (Editor – lots of bravado for a fist that never thrown a punch)

India’s Sea-based Ballistic Missile Defence System (BMD)

Unmanned combat subs to strengthen Taiwan’s asymmetrical combat power

Not just another naval exercise: Malabar’s vital messaging

Japan to supply 5 countries with free patrol boats to counter China

Chinese coastguard ships sent on fisheries patrol mission to the northern Pacific

U.S. Nuclear-Powered Submarine Visits Western Australia, First Since AUKUS Announcement

India to Develop Six new Nuclear Powered Submarines

Indian Navy Issues RFI For 12 MCMVs, Marking Progress After Significant Delays

PT PAL Begins Construction Of The Philippine Navy’s LPD

China’s Trade Plunges More Than Forecast in Blow to Recovery

Lloyd’s of London Leads Insurers Tightening Taiwan Cover as Conflict Risks Rise

Warning Issued Over Increase in Sea Robberies in Singapore Strait

Clean energy vessels propel Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s soaring orderbook to $14.70 bln and World’s largest LNG bunkering vessel refuels first VLCC in milestone operation

OOCL celebrates arrival of 4th 24,188 TEU mega vessel

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EUROPE

Ukraine:

Ukraine war: Russia still gets key war kit despite sanctions (Editor – greedy over ethics)

Ukraine Military Now Has Combat Kayaks for River Attacks

Ukrainian drones strike Russian tanker after warship hit (Editor – attack video included) Naval Drone Strikes Will Likely Slow Russian Oil And Grain Exports then After Attacking Ukraine Wheat Exports, Russia Faces Own Shipping Challenge

How Ukrainian sea drones work – and why they terrify the Russian fleet | Defence in Depth (Editor – 7:39 min video)

US to equip Island class patrol boats for Ukraine with six Gun Weapon systems

Someone is Paying to Refit a Detained Russian Megayacht Worth $700M

Black Sea Exporters Struggle to Clear Danube Shipping Backlog plus Ukraine Opens Temporary Shipping Channels in Black Sea

General:

Forty-one migrants die in shipwreck off Lampedusa

Russia’s Northern Fleet issues missile NOTAM for Bear Gap

USS Roosevelt arrives in Latvia as part of its Baltic deployment

Retired Royal Navy submarine prepares for final dismantle in world first

Royal Navy LPD capability gapped as HMS Albion bows out before HMS Bulwark is available

French Navy’s First Félix Éboué-Class Offshore Patrol Vessel Officially Commences Service

Russia Navy to receive three Karakurt class corvettes before year end

Indian & Greek Navies Hold Rare PASSEX in Mediterranean

Bulgaria’s First Modern Corvette Launched by Local Shipyard

Maltese Police Intercept 97 Kilos of Cocaine Hidden in Containership’s Hull

2nd LNG-fueled 23,600 TEU behemoth joins Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet

Fremantle Highway Towed To Port | Heading To Eemshaven | Salvage Crews Onboard & Stability Issues (Editor – background in a 4:10 podcast)

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MIDDLE EAST

CENTCOM Commander Conducts Strait of Hormuz Transit and Visits United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

Iran Navy Readies Drones And Missiles As US Marines Prepare To Board Oil Tankers

Israeli Navy takes possession of its first new US-built landing craft

U.S. Forces Arrive to Support Deterrence Efforts at Strait of Hormuz

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems to Deliver Third Dolphin 2-class Submarine to Israel Navy This Year then Latest Israeli Submarine’s Big Sail Seen In New Images

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GLOBAL INTERESTS

NATO’s Future Must Be Global

The world’s most powerful navies in 2023, ranked (Editor – not sure I agree with the rankings, a case of beer debate)

Seas of Discontent: Seafarer ‘Happiness’ Continues to Decline

Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet

At least 11 dead, dozens missing after migrant boat sinks off Tunisia’s coast

Royal Navy warship helps West African nations with maritime security

BIMCO: Soaring containership deliveries to push fleet growth by 4.5 m TEU

Liberian Coast Guard rescues hijacked Chinese fishing vessel

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SCUTTLEBUTT

The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) (Editor – great article by NAC member Rich Gimblett)

Captain Explains How He Docks the World’s Biggest Cruise Ship | WSJ Travel Guides

Manufacturing World’s Largest Diesel Engine | Inside Germany’s Top Engine Factory (Editor – 12:53 min video)

When Pilots Landed on the Wrong Ship – Solutions to the Problem and HMS Hermes – The First Aircraft Carrier (By Design) (Editor – 18:21 min video)

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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY

12 August 1814 Royal Navy Capt Alexander Hobbs, commanding 70 seamen and marines, attacks three U.S. armed schooners supporting Major General Jacob Brown’s Fort Erie campaign; masquerading as American supply boats, the British board and seize USS Somers and USS Ohio while USS Porcupine escapes; the vessels are renamed Huron and Sauk; last naval engagement on Lake Erie in the war.

12 August 1917 HMCS Shearwater and submarines CC-1 and CC-2 are the first Canadian warships to pass through the Panama Canal. They arrive in Halifax 14 Oct but are deemed unfit for transatlantic crossing and remain in Halifax.

12 August 2010 HMCS Winnipeg intercepts a Thai ship, the MV Sun Sea carrying Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, off the coast of British Columbia. BC.

13 August 1813 British schooner HMS Nancy discovered and trapped by a US squadron at the Nottawasaga River; Capt Lt Miller Worsley of the Royal Navy, warned of a close American presence, had the Nancy towed two miles up the river, where he built a blockhouse armed with two 24-pounder carronades and a 6-pounder gun from the schooner; his force consisted of 21 sailors, 23 Ojibwa and 9 French-Canadian voyageurs; the following day, 14 August, some American wood-cutting parties discovered the schooner’s hiding place, and Worsley was forced to scuttle the ship. Wasaga Beach, Ontario.

13 August 2010 The MV Sun Sea, carrying 490 Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka, is towed to the docks at CFB Esquimalt; the Thai cargo ship was intercepted off Vancouver Island on 12 August; the Tamils are moved to detention centres in the Vancouver area to await processing of their refugee claims.

14 August 1944 HMCS Iroquois commanded by CDR James C. Hibbard, DSC, RCN during a mixed melee ran German minesweeper M-385 aground.

14 August 1945 Japan offers its unconditional surrender.

14 August 1946 11 Naval Reserve Air Squadrons authorized to be formed. Not all were ever established.

14 Aug 2008 Leading Seaman Robert Teodor Binder MB, of Mississauga was a member of the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Bravery on 26 November 2010. The citation to his award notes that on the night of 14 August 2008, at the age of nineteen, he and two others repeatedly dove and performed CPR to rescue the occupants of a sinking car.

15 August 1827 Royal Navy Captain John Franklin lands at the entrance of the Rideau Canal, on his return down the Ottawa River from the Arctic, welcomed by Colonel By, he is escorted up to Barracks Hill (what is now Parliament Hill), then the encampment of the 71st Regiment. The following day, 16 August, he will lay the foundation stone of the Ottawa Locks being built by Thomas Mackay. A reporter from the Montreal Herald witnessed the event: “I have this evening to communicate to you one of the most important events that ever occurred in the Canadas — an event which will doubtless form an era in the history of this country for ages to come. It was no less than the depositing of the first stone of the locks of the Rideau Canal… to the tap of MacKay’s trowel young Capt. Franklin put the one-and-one-quarter ton stone to bed while the garrison band played and loud “huzzas” went up from the excavation in a strange and wild setting.”

15 August 1914 The Panama Canal was opened to traffic. During WW1, Canada’s first submarines CC-1 and CC-2 spent the first three years of the war patrolling the Pacific; however, the lack of German threat saw them reposted to Halifax in 1917. With their tender, HMCS Shearwater, they became the first warships to transit the Panama Canal flying the White Ensign (the RCN’s service flag). Arriving in Halifax on 17 October 1917.

15 August 1940 Convoy SC1 sailed. SC series of convoys were introduced to provide a system of protection for slow merchant ships (7.5 knots minimum, often not achieved) which had previously been sailing independently, with disastrous consequences. Sydney, Cape Breton, was chosen as the western terminus to help ease congestion on the port of Halifax. During the winters of 41 and 42 the SC convoys were shifted to Halifax, due to ice in Sydney harbour and its approaches. In Aug 42, when the terminus for the HX series of convoys was shifted to New York City, the SC convoys were moved to Halifax, with an interval originating from New York between Sep 42 and Mar 43. Of the 177 SC convoys, only three failed to reach their destination. SC52 lost 4 of its 34 ships to U-boats in Oct 41 and with the prospects for continued heavy opposition, was returned to Sydney by a tortuous circumnavigation of Newfoundland. SC62 and 63 were scattered by bad weather in Jan 42 and completed their voyages as independently routed ships. In all, only 29 of the 177 SC convoys were attacked, mainly made possible by signals intelligence and evasive routing, and only 145 ships were lost from the total of 6,806 (2.1%). This number is somewhat misleading as many ‘stragglers’ were sunk when they dropped out of convoy that were not counted against convoy losses. Likewise, a few ‘rompers’, ships that detached from the convoy to move ahead independently, were lost, and not counted.

15 August 1944 HMC Ships Prince David and Prince Henry participate in the Allied landing in southern France, codenamed Operation Dragoon.

15 August 1945 VJ-Day ends WWII.

16 August 1940 LCdr Henry “Harry” George Dewolf, RCN, was posted ashore to NSHQ, Ottawa as the Director of Plans and Secretary to the Chiefs of Staff Committee, after a tour of duty as the Commanding Officer of HMCS St Laurent since 1937.

16 August 1956 HMCS Assiniboine is commissioned into the RCN as the second of the new St. Laurent class of destroyer escorts. She was the first to be converted to a DDH reaching the fleet in 1963.

16 Aug 1977 VENTURE, the Naval Officer Training Centre (NOTC), was established in the Canadian Forces Fleet School in NADEN in September 1976, and welcomed its first students on 16 August 1977.

16 August 2011 Government announces that the name “Air Command” is being changed to the air force’s original historic name: Royal Canadian Air Force, and the name of Maritime Command to RCN to better reflect Canada’s military heritage and align Canada with other key Commonwealth countries whose military units use the royal designation.

17 August 1809 Construction of Admiral Horatio Nelson’s Monument begins; at the top of Jacques Cartier Square. Montréal, Québec

17 August 1940 Mackenzie King meets Franklin D. Roosevelt for two-day conference at Ogdensburg to discuss North American Defence; will sign Ogdensburg Agreement on August 18 the parties will discuss modifying cash and carry principle for delivery of arms from US factories to Canadian forces; on August 18, the parties will agree to set up a Canadian-American Permanent Joint Board of Defence, composed of senior officials from both countries.

17 August 1943 The first Quebec Conference (codenamed “QUADRANT”) – Mackenzie King hosts Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and the Combined Chiefs of Staff at the sixth Anglo-American War Conference, held at the Citadelle and in the Chateau Frontenac hotel; ends August 24, 1943; plans developed for Overlord, the 1944 landings in France; Churchill and Roosevelt also secretly signed the Quebec Agreement to share nuclear technology.

18 August 1833 Steamship Royal William leaves Pictou NS; will arrive in Gravesend September 11; the first vessel to cross the Atlantic under steam power.

18 August 1944 HMC Ships Ottawa II commanded by Cdr James D. Prentice, DSO, RCN, HMCS Kootenay commanded by A/LCdr William H. Wilson, RCN, and HMCS Chaudière commanded by A/LCdr C. Patrick Nixon, RCN sank the German submarine U-621 while on patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

18 August 2005 HMCS Fredericton (FFH 337) deployed to the Canadian Arctic to prohibit illegal fishing and to reassert sovereignty in the North.

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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