NAC News – Edition 545
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of December 29th, 2023
Edition: 545 Happy New Year
Quote: “[Prime Minister Netanyahu] is looking at a potential election campaign a few months down the road…This is going to be his platform: ‘I am the leader who can stand up to Biden and prevent a Palestinian state.’” 13 December 2023, Itamar Rabinovich, 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
27 February 2024 7:30 – 18:00 Ottawa time, ShipTech Forum 2024. This year’s theme is “Pushing Fleets Beyond Designed Life”. NAC is an official supporter of the organizer VANGUARD, Canada’s leading trade media that serves the Canadian defence and security industries. Vanguard expects 300+ attendees and 12 exhibitors. As such there is a $50 discount for NAC members who wish to purchase a ticket and the promo code is STF24_NAC. All CAF, CCG, & government personnel can register for FREE. Not Able to Attend in Person: all speaker sessions will be live streamed, to allow for virtual attendance.
Editor – NAC is a member of the Conference of Defence Association, and their Institute (CDAI). Established in 1932, CDAI is an umbrella organization for 36 member associations who represent over 400,000 active and retired members of the CAF. CDAI has requested to know if any NAC members would like to get involved with either their youth mentorship programme, or to be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and speak to the media on naval matters. NAC sees this as a first-rate opportunity to bringing naval affairs to the forefront. If you are interested in the youth mentorship programme please contact the NAC ED Kevin Goheen, and for the potential maritime SMEs contact either our President Bruce Belliveau or our Naval Affairs Director Tim Addison.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Analysis: With $30 billion in new deals, Canada hopes to send U.S. a message on defence
International F-35 Customers, Your Airplanes Will Be Delayed
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CANADA
CDAI: Canadian Defence in Focus: 2023 Recap and Prospects for 2024 (Editor – lengthy but worthwhile read)
Commander MARLANT Christmas Message
Seaspan Shipyards Q4 Update: Cross Country Impact and CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier arrives at Vancouver Drydock for extensive refit project
Comment: Let U.S. shipyards build for the Royal Canadian Navy
Teachers on strike block ports in Montreal and Quebec City
‘Droids of the deep’ go to new depths to collect data from the northeast Pacific
Citizen Sailors Guardian 2023 / Guardien des marins citoyens 2023
NAC Naval Affairs Programme Briefing Note #39 Logistics and Support
(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: Dec. 28, 2023
Report to Congress on Constellation-class Frigate Program (FFG-62)
Drone umbrellas for all US Navy ships
Surface navy emphasizes frigates in its latest modernization plans
Report to Congress on Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense
Report on Virginia-class Attack Submarine Program, AUKUS Proposal
Inside US Nuclear Submarine Tracking Massive Targets in Silence (Editor – 16:43 min video)
USNI proceedings It’s All About Sea Control (Editor 42:14 min podcast)
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INDO-PACIFIC
This Clunky Chinese Disinformation Effort Has Spread To All Corners of The Internet (Editor – not a maritime story but one with significant implications)
Japanese Cabinet Approves Largest Ever Defense Budget
Work begins on Australia’s nuclear-submarine construction yard and 700 Americans to base in WA
Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group Conducts Maritime Operations in South China Sea
Tanker hit off India coast by drone from Iran, says US then of course Iran Dismisses US Intelligence Tying It To Red Sea Attacks but India Vows Vengeance After Merchant Vessel Attacks then Indian Navy Deploys Destroyers After Drone Strike
U.S. Navy Divers Recover Wreckage from Downed Aircraft off Japan
Chinese Submariner Appointed Head of People’s Liberation Army Navy
Hanwha Ocean to build third JangBogo III KSS-III Batch II submarine
Revived North Korean Port Aids Russia’s War Effort in Ukraine
Indian Navy inducts Unmanned Shipborne Copter Schiebel S-100
22,000 TEUs! ONE Claims New Cargo World Record
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine Strikes Russian Warship in Crimea (Editor – yet again!) and 2:05 min video Ukraine attacks Russian warship in Crimea
Greek Bulker Hits Mine off Ukraine Injuring Captain and Crewmember then Wheat Futures Surge After Grain Ship Hits Mine
Ukraine digs in as the West stumbles to keep up with Russian war production
Ukrainian military intelligence SBU unveils new drone USV Mamai
General:
Sweden’s bid to join NATO approved by Turkish foreign affairs committee
World’s largest aircraft carrier arrives in Greece
Iran Threatens Strait of Gibraltar Closure Without Saying How
SINKEX: Turkiye’s First Indigenous Heavyweight Torpedo AKYA Sinks Target at Live Test
Propelled Forward – EDA Project on Low-Noise Naval Propeller Development Finalised
Fire Out Aboard World’s Only Nuclear-Powered Cargo Ship
45 yards included in the renewed EU list of ship recycling facilities
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MIDDLE EAST
Spain, Italy, France Decline US Command Of Red Sea Operation Prosperity Guardian
US Says It Downs Many Drones, Missiles Fired by Houthis Over Red Sea with U.S Destroyer, Super Hornets Splash Red Sea Attack Drones and Missiles and another USS Mason Shoots Down Houthi Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile
Africa’s Maritime Security Experts Weigh In on Red Sea Attacks
USS Bataan, USS Carter [Hall] Back in the Eastern Mediterranean After 5 Months in Middle East
Red Sea Shipping Workarounds Add Costs, Delays for Suppliers, Retailers with 299 Containerships Reroute to Avoid the Red Sea, Doubling in Number from Last Week
Maersk Preparing to Resume Transits Through Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
Hapag-Lloyd says Red Sea route still ‘too dangerous’
Iranian Navy Receives New Cruise Missiles, Advanced Choppers
French Navy Escorts CMA CGM Ships While US Ships Remain Stranded
Ship Charter Rates Continue to Escalate Due to Red Sea Diversions
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star departs Australia, en route to Antarctica
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SCUTTLEBUTT
5 Naval Myths & Misconceptions – Range, Ramming and Sinking (Editor – a 1:13:05 hr video for your New Year’s downtime!)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
30 December 1941 HMCS Sackville was commissioned at Saint John Shipbuilding. A Flower Class corvette vessel, HMCS Sackville now serves as Canada’s Naval Memorial and a National Historic Site in Halifax.
30 December 1944 A Wellington from RCAF Squadron 407 sank U-722 in the English Channel.
31 December 1990 The crew of HMCS Preserver flies to the Persian Gulf to relieve HMCS Protecteur’s crew.
31 December 1992 New Canadian military honours are created: The Victoria Cross, Star of Military Valour, Medal of Military Valour and Mention in Dispatches.
1 January 1923 The National Defence Act, which was passed in June 1922, takes effect, creating the Department of National Defence.
1 January 1907 British Admiralty provisionally hands over the Halifax Dockyard to Canadian authorities.
1 January 1946 The Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve together become the RCN (Reserve). From this date officers of the Regular Force and Reserve wore the same straight sleeve lace.
3 January 1941 Canada and the U.S. acquire air bases at Gander, Newfoundland, and Goose Bay, Labrador, on a 99-year lease.
4 January 1943 HMCS Prince Henry is re-commissioned as Landing Ship Infantry (Medium).
4 January 1945 German U-boats torpedoes steamship “Polarland” near Halifax; Canadian merchant ship “Nipiwan Park” also had her bow was blown off up almost to the bridge, but she was towed into Halifax, rebuilt, bought by Irving Oil as a tanker. As an extra note, all the Park ships were named after actual parks. But the park this ship was named after is the Nipawin Park in Manitoba. The spelling & launching name error was not noticed until much later!
4 January 1781 Royal Navy press gang seizes Lunenburg farmers in Halifax and puts them on a British Man-of-War, despite a jury finding that the impressment is illegal.
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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