NAC News – Edition 538
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of November 10th, 2023
Edition: K538 HMCS Toronto (WWII River Class Frigate)
Editor – Last edition incorrectly labeled HMCS Riviere du Loup as K537 when she was K357. To the member that picked that up, and to the other fact checkers that pop up from time to time, thank you for helping keep things as accurate as possible.)
Quote: “It’s hard to see how anyone other than Israel can do counterinsurgency work [in Gaza]. As unappealing as the return of a partial Israeli presence is, chaos is worse, but ideally with as light and short an Israeli presence as possible.” 9 November 2023, Natan Sachs, The New York Times
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
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
Long-delayed defence policy update is being recrafted again, Blair says (Editor – There are 32 ongoing conflicts in the world right now, ranging from wars of aggression, drug wars, terrorist insurgencies, ethnic conflicts, and civil wars. When will Canada take defence seriously and resource it properly?)
Air Force Commander Says RCAF Not Ready for Conflict
Chief of Royal Canadian Navy Outlines Ottawa’s Pacific Strategy (Editor – first-rate 44:55 min CSIS interview is embedded, well worth a listen)
U.S. Navy Considers Extending All Its Nimitz-Class Carriers (Editor – Each carrier has an airwing and surrounding battle and support group…where does this come from?)
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CANADA
Petition to the Government of Canada to make Battle of the Atlantic Sunday a National Day of Observance – e-4639 (Holidays and observances) (Editor – Only 627 signatures so far, only a 100 increase this week. NAC members need to sign on. It only takes a minute – sign the petition and spread the word! For those NAC members who are members of other associations/organizations please pass the word to them too. To their credit CNMT already has, and now the Legion is running it in their social media.)
Trudeau government unveils plans to cut $500 million in spending
Future Protecteur-class Joint Support Ships provide vital capability to the Royal Canadian Navy
Disposing of MINES in the Republic of Korea (Editor – RCN 1:27 min video)
The enduring loyalty of a Canadian general derailed by scandal
RCN Digital Leadership: Julie Alonso, PO2
Editor – Two of our four naval Victoria Crosses awarded to Canadians were earned in this week in history. Both Maritimers; Captain Peters (1942), and PO1 Hall (1857), see details in the RCN/Maritime history section for details.
Veteran honoured with commemorative street naming (Editor – another hero recognized: Thomas G. Fuller)
Submarines: Canada’s underwater prospects foundering yet Hanwha Ocean of Korea signs MOUs with four Canadian partners, including an Indigenous group (Editor – South Korea’s Sophisticated KSS-III Submarines and Discover Hanwha Ocean South Korean JangBogo KSS III Batch / Canada submarine candidate in a 9:14 min video)
Government spending $3.5 million on spare parts for aging submarines that rarely patrol
Davie Completes Acquisition of Helsinki Shipyard to Expend Ice-Class Skills
Forging the future of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet
Peru and Canada Hold Bilateral Naval Meetings in Esquimalt
Military families among Canadians caught up in benefits mess
Canada’s largest fishing vessel will be ready for 2024, says Baffin Fisheries CEO
Decommissioned BC Ferries vessel sinks in Sechelt Inlet
Naval Reserve Association of Canada (NRAC): Inaugural issue of “Mess Deck Connexions du Carré”
Current Version of CNR is now available: Volume 19, Number 2, 2023 (Editor – some articles are available if you don’t have a subscription, and might spur you to subscribe!)
Federal Retirees: November update on the PSHCP from the pensioners’ representative
Lookout: Volume 68, Issue 44, November 6, 2023
NAC Naval Affairs Programme Briefing Note #33 Naval Tactical Operations Group (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: Nov. 9, 2023
British and American aircraft carriers sail together and US Marines F-35B completes first night-time SRVL aboard UK’s HMS Prince of Wales
Navy Keeps Expanding Littoral Combat Ship Missions Even as Both Classes Shrink and logically Navy changing LCS maintenance and staffing practices
UK-US firms to develop submersible stealth drone with 1000kg payload
Tactical Resupply UAS Ready for the Fleet
US Navy fields RTX’s StormBreaker smart weapon
Navy Mulling Large Diameter Sub Hulls After 12 Columbias, SSN(X) Requirements Due Next Year
Brazilian Police Seize 1.5 Tonnes of Cocaine From Grimaldi Con/Ro
USS Farragut Going Full Speed Ahead Making Multiple Drug Busts
Captain found criminally negligent in deaths of 34 people in fire aboard California dive boat
LPG Tanker Pays Record $4 Million for Panama Canal Slot
U.S. Wheat Exports Plunge as Mississippi River Dries Up
Colombia Speeds Up Plan to Raise “Holy Grail” Wreck’s $20B Treasure
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INDO-PACIFIC
The US is quietly arming Taiwan to the teeth (Editor – not a maritime article but one with implications)
U.S. and China Hold Talks on South China Sea Issues and U.S. Navy Destroyer Conducts Freedom of Navigation Operation in the South China Sea
China’s Shandong Aircraft Carrier Sails into South China Sea and PLA’s carrier Shandong doubles aircraft sortie rate record in latest far sea drill (Editor – just for comparison the USS Gerald F. Ford is intended to sustain 160 sorties per day for 30-plus days, with a surge capability of 270 sorties per day.)
Japan To Procure 12 New FFM In Just 5 Years
Navantia Unveils Three New Warships Including Tier-2 Corvette and Gibbs And Cox Unveil Australian Light Frigate
Maritime Strategic Fleet Taskforce (Editor – Australia)
National defence and the RAN (part 1): achieving deterrence by denial
National defence and the RAN (part 2): tasking for deterrence by denial
National defence and the RAN (part 3): structuring the fleet for deterrence by denial
Australia Will Announce AUKUS Nuclear Attack Boat Build Partner Next Year
Germany to deploy Berlin-class oiler, first Type 125 frigate for Indo-Pacific tour
CIMSEC: The strategic impact of military drone proliferation on Indo-Pacific maritime security
Chinese navy tries to address pilot shortage by widening recruitment drive to postgraduates
Rheinmetall Unveils ‘World-First’ Naval Mine Rail Deployment System
BAE Offers Evolved, Up-Armed Hunter For Australia (Editor – noteworthy evolution)
Australian Defence Force Aircrew undertake Joint Maritime Training with Indian Navy
USN sends hospital ship USNS Mercy to help Marshall Islands in Indo Pacific
U.S. Invests $550M in Colombo Terminal Next to Chinese Megaproject
India to Build 24 Cargo Ships for Russia
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Hints of a military breakthrough for Ukraine overshadowed by concerns about the future
Video: Ukraine Confirms Strike on Another Russian Warship
Ukraine Strikes Another Naval Shipyard in Russian-Occupied Crimea
CIMSEC: Sea Control 478 – a sober analysis of Ukrainian success in the Black Sea with Thord are Iversen (Editor – 27:30 min podcast)
Russia attacks Liberian civilian ship Kmax Ruler in port of Odessa
General:
UK flagship under NATO command for the first time
Russian Nuclear Submarine Test Intercontinental Missile
Unable to Return to Black Sea Fleet Submarine Krasnodar Heads to Kronstadt
NATO warships obliterate sea mines
Vard Group Hands Over Jan Mayen-Class OPV “KV Bjørnøya” To Norwegian Coast Guard
UK’s Type 23 frigate shadows Russian warship in North Sea
Future submarine The largest Nuclear submarine ever delivered to Britain, along with the stealthiest (Editor – 8:03 min video)
UK navy Upgraded Phalanx Gatling gun Weapon system to destroy enemies in the air and sea in seconds (Editor – useful summary in a 8:03 min video)
Babcock progresses with construction of Type 31 frigates
The Spanish Navy Receives Its First Airbus H135 P3H ‘NIVAL’
Three months after Moscow’s delivery law, crisis looms in Arctic (Editor – cracks in the veneer)
Maersk to Reduce Headcount by 10,000 Amid Challenging Market Conditions (Editor – @10% cut)
Help reveal the working lives of Royal Navy chronometers, tracking the people and places they encountered over more than a century (Editor – for the naviguessers amongst us)
Anchor-Drag Incident off Finland May Have Damaged Russian Telecom Cable with Russian Firm Says Baltic Telecoms Cable was Severed as Chinese Ship Passed Over
MSC names 24,000 TEU giant in Türkiye
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MIDDLE EAST
Italy Deploys Fleet Oiler to Serve as Floating Hospital off Gaza
Zr.Ms. Holland to depart for Gaza next week
US Navy’s Devil Ray USV hits target during exercise in Middle East
U.S. Sixth Fleet Conducts Bilateral, Dual-Carrier Operations in Eastern Mediterranean Sea
US submarine Florida enters Persian Gulf to deter Iran — Bloomberg
Houthis Shoot Down U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Over Red Sea
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Now Operating in the Red Sea
Royal Caribbean Alters 2024 Cruise Itineraries To Skip Israel
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Greece and China Dominate Charts as Ship-Owning Nations (Editor – fascinating stats)
How Russia Is Restructuring Wagner’s Africa Operations | WSJ (Editor – 5:43 min video)
French frigate Floreal visits Cape Town
Scientists warn Earth warming faster than expected — due to reduction in ship pollution
The floating desalination machines powered by the waves
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SCUTTLEBUTT
The Admiral who killed 2000 of his own men- The Great Naval Disaster of 1707 (Editor – 7:31 min video)
The Royal Charter Storm of 1859 and the Roots of the Marine Forecast
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
11 November 1918 Armistice Day for the “War to end all Wars” came to an end after more than four years of bloody fighting. 8,826 Canadians served in the RCN and RNCVR. 24 became casualties. Note the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR) was a naval reserve that was established in Canada in May 1914 and existed until 1923. The Canadian contribution was no small one: 628,462 men were enrolled of whom 424,589 went overseas. 24,095 into the British Air Services. In all 60,661 Canadians gave their lives for the Allied Cause. For a country whose greatest military effort for over 150 years had not exceeded 10,000, and whose population had only reached eight million, this was truly a staggering effort.
12 November 2001 HMCS Vancouver is part of a US Battle Group departing San Diego California for the Persian Gulf.
13 November 1942 Captain (RN) Frederick Thornton Peters born in Charlottetown and raised in Vernon and Victoria was awarded the VC for his actions 13 Nov 1943. Captain Peters was in the suicide charge” by two little cutters at Oran. The “Walney” and “Hartland” were two ex-American coastguard cutters which were lost in a gallant attempt to force the boom defences in the harbour of Oran during the landings on the North African coast. Captain Peters led his force through the boom in the face of point-blank fire from shore batteries, destroyer, and a cruiser – a feat which was described as one of the great episodes of naval history. The “Walney” reached the jetty disabled and ablaze, she and went down with her colours flying. Blinded in one eye, Captain Peters was the only survivor of the seventeen men on the bridge of the “Walney”. He was taken prisoner but was later released when Oran was captured. On being liberated from the gaol, he was carried through the streets where the citizens hailed him with flowers. Captain Peters was killed in an air crash three days after his release on 13 November 1942 when returning to Britain the Sunderland flying boat crash-landed in Plymouth Sound in thick fog. Captain Peters has no known grave and is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial Hampshire, England. The Captain is arguably the highest decorated naval Canadian ever. He also earned the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Service Cross and Bar, the British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star with Bar (North Africa 1942-43) 1939-45 Medal, and the Distinguished Service Cross (USA).
13 November 1944 HMCS Algonquin commanded by LCdr Desmond W. Piers, DSO, RCN sank German Minesweepers M-416 and M-427.
15 November 1942 While escorting a convoy, HMCS Saguenay is accidentally struck in the stern by freighter SS Azra, which sinks. Saguenay is towed to St. John’s.
15 November 1952 First Naval Reserve Air Squadron established, VC-920 at Toronto. To fly Swordfish and Avengers.
16 November 1857 PO1 (RN) William Hall, ‘Captain of the Foretop,’ of that HMS Shannon, were recommended by the late Captain Peel for the Victoria Cross, for their gallant conduct at a 24-Pounder Gun, brought up to the angle of the Shah Nujjiff, at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857. William Hall was born in Horton NS was the first Nova Scotian, the first Naval VC earned by a Canadian citizen, one of only four Canadian born Naval VC winners ever, and the first Black person to receive the Victoria Cross. He is buried in Hantsport Baptist Church Cemetery, Nova Scotia. PO Hall is the first of four naval Canadians to earn the Victoria Cross, with HMCS William Hall named in his honour.
16 November 1941 HMCS Prince Robert arrived in Hong Kong escorting units of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada in TS Awatea.
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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