NAC News – Edition 530
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of September 15th, 2023
Edition: 530 HMCS Cedarwood (Research/Survey Vessel)
Quote: “The real action at a multilateral gathering like the G20 is in the bilateral, private meetings. It’s where the real deals are cut. And you can’t do it if you’re not there.” 7 September 2023, Bruce Jones, Politico
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 Editor – It’s that time of year again for nominations for the Admirals’ Medal! Responsibility for the Admirals’ Medal Foundation was transferred from the RCN to the Naval Association in 2021. NAC Naval Affairs is now responsible for ensuring that the Medal is awarded on an annual basis through a proper solicitation – nomination – selection – award process. To that end, a committee of Flag/Senior officers has been stood up to carry out the review and selection process. Nomination instructions.
29 Sept 2023 HMCS Donnacona invites you to their Centennial “Gala-at-Sea”. 1800 for 19:00 Grand Quai 200 De la Commune St W, Montreal, QC, H2Y 4B2. Tickets $160, dress Mess Kit/Black Tie. (Editor – I’ve received no reply about another way beyond Google Docs at the link to register)
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. Registration. The $50 ticket discount code for NAC members is DB23_NAC. All serving navy & government personnel can register for FREE. Venue – The Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Drive. Not Able to Attend in Person? All speaker sessions will be live streamed, to allow for virtual attendance.
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. Registration is free for public sector!
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
DM/CDS Message: Reductions to Defence spending (Editor – what mixed messaging!)
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CANADA
Patrolling the high seas: An inside look at working, living and playing on board a Canadian warship (Editor – great pics, great ship, great crew!)
(Editor – I haven’t given this project the visibility that it deserves, so here is a series of related articles/info to combat the Victoria Class capability nay-sayers)
Canada’s most modern submarine returns to the water
EXCLUSIVE: Canada to pay double on US torpedo deal first struck in 2014
Lockheed Martin Partners With Royal Canadian Navy To Advance Torpedo Capabilities
Retired corporal says she’s lost faith in the justice system after sex assault charge stayed
Settlement finalized in $283M disabled veterans class action, but benefits policy changed
Canadian Coast Guard Welcomes the CCGS Gabarus Bay Into Service
Team Canada Participates 2023 Invictus Games Düsseldorf
Canada Place is the World’s Leading Cruise Port
Divers find long-lost artifact from sunken Empress of Ireland in St. Lawrence River
Lookout: 11 September 2023 Volume 68, Issue 36
NAC Naval Affairs Programme Briefing Note #25 Crewing Naval Ships (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: Sept. 11, 2023
8 Things You Need to Know About the Navy’s Failed Multibillion-Dollar Littoral Combat Ship Program (Editor – a 29:05 min video for NAC member Dave Kyle)
The US Navy Next Insidious Missile Truck #shorts (Editor – funny title for this short video about a very capable future RCAF aircraft. I wonder what weapons Canada will buy for them?)
MCPON Honea Lays Out Expectations for Chief Petty Officers
Royal Navy Destroyer Interdicts Drugs at Sea – And Above It Too
US Navy decommissions another littoral combat ship, the USS Milwaukee
USNI Proceedings: Management Makes Warfighting Possible (Editor – 35:24 min podcast)
Argentina buys P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft from Norway
Naval Special Warfare Interoperates with USS John P. Murtha in Bering Sea
U.S. is the Largest LNG Exporter Topping Australia and Qatar
Expedition Cruise Ship Grounds in Remote Area in Northeast Greenland then Grounded Expedition Cruise Ship Remains Stuck in Remote Greenland Fjord
First U.S. Training Ship Empire State is Delivered to MARAD
Inside the World’s Largest Cargo Shipping Bottleneck Today | WSJ (Editor – excellent and alarming summary in a 9:44 min video)
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INDO-PACIFIC
China claims ownership of the Taiwan Strait. Canada just sailed a warship through it (Editor – the written article with a 2:02 min video embedded) and a follow on Chinese destroyers confront Canadian warship in waters off Taiwan (Editor – 3:08 min CBC news video) then HMCS Ottawa shadowed by Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait (Editor – 3:35 min video)
Taiwan records approach of 68 Chinese aircraft, 10 ships
Chinese Warships Shadow Canadian, U.S., Japanese Warships in East China Sea, the Philippines Resupply Second Thomas Shoal and Swarm of Chinese Vessels Tries – And Fails – to Block Philippine Convoy
What a Canadian warship is doing in the Taiwan Strait (Editor- 5:59 CBC news video)
China’s PLA Navy Conducts Largest-Ever Carrier Drill in the Pacific
PLA’s Fujian aircraft carrier poses ‘substantial threat’, Taiwanese defence ministry warns
Australia, Philippines Commit to Strategic Partnership, Pledge Joint Patrols
PLA Navy’s semi-submersible ship holds first nighttime operation training
Vladimir Putin Attends Naming for Ships to Show Off Zvezda Shipyard
Japanese V-22 Lands On JMSDF Vessel For The First Time
Indonesia acquires advanced UK submarine rescue system
India speeds up development of Marine Gas Turbines for the Indian Navy
China’s Domestically-Built Cruise Ship Completes Trials Ahead of Delivery
Tonga volcano triggered seafloor debris stampede
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine offensive could have only 30 days left – US Army chief (Editor – not a maritime article. but an authoritative comment from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and will this happen Putin Betting on Massive Russian Conscript Surge to Win in Ukraine, Expert Says
Video: Ukraine Hits Two Russian Ships in Strike on Sevastopol and What do we know about the Sevastopol strike? (Editor – explanatory 3:51 min video) with Ukraine Claims to Have Destroyed a Russian Submarine
Rogue Russian pilot tried to shoot down RAF aircraft in 2022
WATCH: Ukraine seizes control over Black Sea oil & gas drilling platforms from Russia
Ukrainian Gulfstream Company unveils GS7300 fast boat
Naval Kamikaze Sea Drone How it works using Starlink Satellite (Editor – 8:10 min video)
Commercial Ships Carrying Grain are Getting Air Support from UK’s RAF
General:
Royal Navy flagship sails to lead international carrier strike group deployment and F-35s return to flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth
NATO to Conduct First Major Drills Focused on Repelling Russian Attacks (Editor – during the Cold War NATO did this sort of exercise, dust off the old plans!) and NATO naval exercise as alliance vows to ‘defend every inch’
US Navy brings massive fire power to Tromsø
First fixed wing drone lands on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier (Editor – 5:45 min video)
Norway Orders Additional Naval Strike Missiles
Dutch Navy improves radar, adds Tomahawk missile to fleet
DSEI 2023: Team Resolute Unveils Evolved Design Of FSS For The RFA
First Capesize Bulk Carrier and Non Ice-Class Tanker Transit the Northern Sea Route to China
Thales introduces Remotely Operated Vehicle for Maritime Mine Countermeasures program
Norway and Germany mark production start of submarine design
Hanwha Voices Hope for Poland’s Submarine Acquisition Project
Short of Capacity, Russia Turns to India and China for Ice-Class Ships
DSEI 2023: Survitec launches Sublite compact multi-seat liferaft to improve submariner survival
Royal Navy warships to be sold for spare parts after decades of service
RFA Argus first naval ship to get OneWeb LEO connectivity
Russia Labels Global Transport Union ITF ‘Undesirable’ Organization (Editor – this is strange. It doesn’t explain how damaging this will be and to whom…)
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MIDDLE EAST
INS Sumedha participates in ‘Exercise Bright Star-23’ in Egypt
U.S. Disrupts Multimillion-Dollar Shipment of Iranian Crude and Seizes Cargo
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
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SCUTTLEBUTT
Canada’s Forgotten Aircraft Carriers (Editor – great documentary with all sorts of pics in a 19:56 min video)
USNI Proceeding: Honda Point Remembered (Editor – horrific accident dissected in a 44:19 min podcast)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
16 September 1910 The cruiser HMCS Niobe formerly of the Royal Navy becomes the second warship to join the Canadian Navy arriving at Halifax in October.
16 September 1939 – The first convoy of the war—designated HX-1—leaves Halifax for the United Kingdom. Eighteen merchant ships are escorted by HMCS Saguenay and HMCS St. Laurent to a North Atlantic rendezvous with Royal Navy cruisers Berwick and York. Subsequent convoys included all ships bound for the United Kingdom whose speed was between nine and fifteen knots, and unarmed vessels of over fifteen knots. Other vessels, including all ships sailing to destinations outside Britain, were able to proceed independently for some months after the beginning of the war. Soon, two convoys a week were sailing from Halifax. By the end of 1939, some 410 ships in 14 HX convoys had crossed the Atlantic. Escort work would remain the RCN’s chief responsibility for the duration of the war.
16 September 1942 The first of sixteen RCN corvettes sails for the Mediterranean Sea to take part in the North African landings (Operation Torch).
17 September 1904 Captain Joseph Bernier departs from Québec on the Canadian government steamship ‘Arctic’; given the command because of his interest in the Polar regions (he had devised a plan to reach the North Pole via the Bering Strait); will make 12 expeditions into polar seas in the next 20 years; he will spend the winter in Hudson Bay collecting Canadian customs duties from whalers and traders.
18 September 1943 Commander (later Captain) Adelaide Sinclair became the first Canadian director of the WRCNS, an appointment she held until the service was disbanded. Formerly a lecturer in political science at the University of Toronto, Sinclair went on after the war to prominent positions in public service. From 1957 until retirement in 1967 she was deputy executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
19 September 1940 HMCS Bras D’or sank in a storm in the St. Lawrence with the loss of all 30 hands.
19 September 1941 German U-74 torpedoed and sank the Flower Class corvette HMCS Lévis 200 km off Cape Farewell, Greenland; 18 lives were lost.
19 September 1969 During the reorganized of the Canadian Armed Forces a 50% cut in NATO Canadian manpower was made, and the retirement of RCN’s only aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure was directed. Unification and the loss of HMCS Bonaventure was the one two punch that caused the demise of naval aviation. This step was counterintuitive given that aviation is arguably the most significant enabling element of any modern military. To this day Canada remains the only major nation without a dedicated naval air force, and the only G7 nation without the amazing versatility of some sort of large aviation ship.
20 September 1943 German U-boat U-305, using a new acoustic torpedo (GNAT), hit and sank the RCN Town Class destroyer HMCS St. Croix, while she is escorting convoy ON.202, south of Iceland; 65 members of the ship’s company perish; five officers and 76 men are rescued by HMS Itchen, however, only two days later, the Itchen is also torpedoed by an enemy submarine; only one St. Croix sailor, Stoker W. Fisher, survives the two sinkings; one of the men lost was Surgeon Lt W. L. M. King, RCNVR, Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s nephew.
20 September 1917 Borden government passes the Military Voters Act and Wartime Elections Act, giving the vote to soldiers and sailors under 21, and serving women; wives, widows, mothers, and sisters of servicemen also get the vote; the first women ever to be able to vote in Canadian federal elections
21 Sept 1943 In 24 hours, Canadian and British minesweepers cleared a lane through a minefield laid by U-boats off Halifax. No lives were lost.
22 September 1917 Flight Sub Lieutenant N.A. Magor (Royal Navy Air Service) a Canadian pilot of a Curtiss H12, a large American flying boat sank the UC 72 in the North Sea with direct hits by two 230 lb bombs. This was one of a few submarines destroyed by air action during WW1. The RNAS was formerly the Naval Wing of Britain’s Royal Flying Corps (RFC), with 936 Canadians serving in the RNAS and more than 100 dying.
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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