NAC News – Edition 550
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of February 2nd, 2024
Edition: 550 Quote: “If there’s one clear consensus that this election revealed, it’s the fact that the people of Taiwan are overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining the cross-Strait status quo, as reflected in the campaign platforms of all three candidates.” Patricia M. Kim, Fellow – Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
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.
7-8 March 2024 CDA Institute – Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence. The Ottawa Conference on Security & Defence is the largest and longest-standing event of its kind in Canada. Founded in 1932, the Conference of Defence Associations is an umbrella organization for 45 member associations who represent over 400,000 active and retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces. NAC is a member Association.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
As Europe’s armies brace for war, allies call on Canada and others to catch up ]
(Editor – Canada sleepwalking? The embedded 13:23 min video [despite commercials] is well worth a listen)
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CANADA
How Canadian volunteer sailors helped win the Battle of the Atlantic
SEA bags deal to supply torpedo launch systems to Canada (Editor – I presume for the CSC programme!)
Rents for Canadian Forces personnel to increase on April 1
This Unit Is Canada’s Best Kept Secret
Divers involved in Franklin expedition say the 2023 season ‘highly productive’
No, Canada’s navy did not sink 312 Chinese ships
WWF: Canada urged to tackle underwater noise pollution this year
Courier sentenced to eight years for trying to transport fentanyl to Vancouver Island
New Pensioners’ Dental Services Plan transition date — Nov. 1, 2024
Lookout: Volume 69, Issue 4, January 29, 2024 including CFAD Rocky Point sends ammunition donation to Ukraine (Editor: on page 7)
Naval Reserve Association of Canada Mess Deck Connections January 2024 Edition
NAC Naval Affairs Programme Briefing Note #45 Actors and Stages of Warship
Procurement (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: Jan. 29, 2024 (Editor – I hope anyone that looks at this map scrolls down below it as the pics included each week are superb)
Lawmakers Call on Biden to Create a New Maritime Policy Czar
U.S. State Dept. Summary of FY2023 Foreign Arms Transfers and Defense Trade (Editor – big business with strategic implications)
Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) Completes Builder’s Trials
Lockheed Martin APY-9 radar sets new benchmark for Advanced Hawkeye
HII Awarded USS Harry S. Truman $913M Mid-Life Overhaul Contract
US Navy names Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship USNS Robert Ballard
US Navy Lowers Bar for Recruitment by Removing Education Requirements
Inside US Navy Most Advanced Patrol Boat Patrolling Water at High Speed (Editor 15:14 min video)
Venezuela wins vote claiming oil-rich area of neighbouring Guyana (Editor – yet another conflict smoldering)
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INDO-PACIFIC
Two U.S. Aircraft Carriers Drill with Japanese Big Deck in Western Pacific Exercise
Chinese crime and geopolitics in 2024 (Editor – not a maritime article one with wide-reaching strategic implications)
U.S. Approves Potential $3.9B MQ-9B UAV Sale to India
Philippine Air Base Gets U.S.-Funded Upgrade Under China Deterrence Plan
Philippines says China ‘imagining’ special arrangement in Ayungin
Philippine Navy Spots Swarm of 200 Chinese Vessels at Mischief Reef
Philippines Plans to Buy Submarines to Defend Sovereignty in South China Sea
India and Seychelles Stop Latest Pirate Attacks in the Indian Ocean with Pirate Motherships Active in Indian Ocean
Babcock to provide submarine weapons system for South Korean Navy
S. China Sea’s Subsea Features Get New Chinese Names
Developer Breaks Ground on $3B Oil Port on Strait of Malacca with more details Oil spice: With $3 billion port, Malacca eyes slice of shipping giant Singapore’s pie
Deep-Sea Search Company Claims to Have Found Amelia Earhart’s Plane
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine ‘hits Russian missile boat Ivanovets in Black Sea’ (Editor – Tarantul-class corvette and includes a 39 sec video)
Russia believed to have 17x more tactical nuclear weapons than Nato (Editor – not a maritime video but one worth a ponder in a 4:54 min video)
Ukraine support package worth €50bn agreed by EU leaders
Russia to begin repairs of damaged Minsk landing ship in 2024 (Editor – can anyone tell me why an aluminum-magnesium alloy superstructure?)
Video: Ukrainian Drones Hit Russian Refinery at Port of Tuapse (Editor – Black Sea port 400 kms SE from the Ukraine)
To Keep its Edge at Sea, Ukraine Considers Drone Subs
General:
US approves F-16 fighter jet sale to Turkey worth $23bn and Exclusive: Canada to re-start Turkey arms exports after Sweden NATO backing -sources (Editor – I understand why Türkiye now supports Sweden joining NATO)
U.S., Allied Naval Chiefs Talk Aircraft Carriers, Gray Zone Conflict (Editor – includes a Paris Naval Conference 7:34:10 hr (yep 7 hour) video)
Russia commissions new ultra-silent submarine and Russia achieves 100-percent import substitution in warship construction
Navy received almost 8,000 missiles in 2023, including Caliber, Zircon — Defense Ministry
Italian Navy’s future U212 NFS submarines to be equipped with lithium battery systems
Spanish and US navies combine $90m purchase of Mk41 VLSs
US to transfer 4 Littoral Combat Ships to Greece Navy to counter Turkey
Russia Begins Naming its Icebreakers After Soviet Cities
Naval Group to develop Extra large UUV XLUUV for French Navy
Exclusive sneak peek at Royal Marines’ new improved raiding craft (Editor – 1:54 min video)
Carrier Seal tactical diving vehicle giving special forces extra stealth (Editor – 1:40 min video)
Gas-Addicted Europe Trades One Energy Risk For Another
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
For the First Time, US Navy Shoots Down Iranian Drones Over Gulf of Aden (Editor – the plot thickens)
Houthi Red Sea attacks: Group claims to have hit US container ship (Editor – hard to keep straight of all the events and participants)
US Navy works on war response plan amid Red Sea ship surge
UK Says Warship Repelled Houthi Drone Attack In Red Sea
U.S. Destroys Houthi Suicide Drone Boat in Red Sea
Red Sea Tanker Fire Extinguished
Houthis Claim Missile Attack Targeting U.S. Navy Sea Base USS Lewis B. Puller but Pentagon Denies USS Lewis B. Puller Was Attacked; 3 Soldiers Killed in Jordan Strike Identified
Indian Navy Flexing Naval Muscle in Fight Against Pirates
Red Sea Security Crisis Affects a Widening Swath of the Global Economy
EU Moves to Launch Red Sea Defense Mission in February
Denmark Sends Frigate to Join Operation Prosperity Guardian in Red Sea
China and Russia Get a Free Pass Through Houthis’ Red Sea Blockade in theory, oops Houthi Hit on Russian Fuel Has Traders Recalculating Risks
Houthis attack British-linked tanker Marlin Luanda in Gulf of Aden
General:
Cooper Hands Over Command of U.S. 5th Fleet to Wikoff
Colombia Joins Combined Maritime Forces in Middle East as 41st Member
U.S. mixed up enemy, friendly drones in attack that killed 3 troops
Iran Seizes Tanker on Allegations of Diesel Oil Smuggling
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Survey Reveals Alarming Decline in Global Seafarer Happiness
NTSB Urges Use of Personal Locator Devices to Boost Safety for Mariners
The GENIUS of Inertial Navigation Systems Explained (Editor – educational 11:04 min video)
The Law and Practice of Container Shipping
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SCUTTLEBUTT
The Greatest U-Boat Commander You Don’t Know (Editor – a remarkable naval officer, and a droll connection, and a unique piece of history 14:43 min video)
The Last U-Boat Attack 1982 (Editor – 13:33 min video)
WW2’s Underwater Mother of All Bombs (Editor – a wow part of history in a 12:55 min video)
How $5 Billion US Gigantic Nuclear Submarine Turned into Scrap? A Mesmerizing Process (Editor – 9:25 min video) and Spent naval nuclear reactor compartments: Part of Hanford’s complicated issues
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
5 February 1942 The Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. passenger ship RMS Empress of Asia (an armed merchant cruiser and troopship under the Admiralty’s Liner Requisition Scheme) was sailing from Bombay to Singapore. Embarked were troops and supplies to reinforce Singapore in the face of the rapid Japanese advances and their recent conquest of British Malaya. The Empress was in convoy BM-12 and within eyesight of her destination, when she became the enemy’s primary target among the five merchant ships in the convoy. Nine Japanese dive-bombers focused their assault on the Empress of Asia. She eventually sank after anchoring and burning on the Sultan Shoal at the entrance to Singapore. Sixteen passengers were killed. The 1884 survivors were rescued by HMAS Yarra, HMAS Bendigo, and HMAS Wollongong
5 February 1944 HMS Puncher, an aircraft carrier, is commissioned into the Royal Navy at Vancouver with a Canadian crew, but a British air complement
6 February 1941 SS Maplecourt was the first Canadian registered merchant ship to be sunk during WW2. The freighter (with 3604 tons of cargo, including 1540 tons of steel) was one of 38 ships in slow convoy SC-20 which departed Halifax on 22 Jan 1941. The armed merchant cruiser HMS Ranpura was the sole mid-ocean escort. On 2 Feb, before nearing the Western Approaches, Ranpura broke off and returned to Halifax. Five RN Ships (destroyer Harvester; corvettes Arbuties, Camellia and Erica; and the armed yacht Philante) then became escorts. Five merchant ships were sunk before the convoy reached Liverpool. Maplecourt had been a straggler when she was torpedoed by U-107 on 6 Feb 1941. She rapidly sank about 360 nm west of Northern Ireland. The crew of 38 were lost
6 February 6, 1943 – Italian aircraft attack and sink RCN Flower Class corvette HMCS Louisbourg east of Oran while she is escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to Bone, Algeria; 2 Officers, 35 crew, and 5 RN seaman are lost
8 February 1943 HMCS Regina commanded by LCdr Harry Freeland, RCNR sinks the Italian submarine Avorio in the Mediterranean Sea.
9 February 1941 HMS Mayflower and Snowberry (with Canadian COs) departed Halifax as local escort for the 47-ship convoy HX-108, bound for Liverpool. Both ships were Flower-class corvettes. Both ships had recently been delivered from Canadian shipyards and were subsequently completed in British yards on the Tyne River. Mayflower was fitted with a ‘dummy’ 4-inch gun built of wood for the transit to the U.K., an infamous example of the inferior condition of the early wartime Emergency Expansion Plan warships of the RCN. Although guns were acquired later, technological inferiority plagued the RCN until relatively late in the war. 269 Flower class corvettes (total varies by source) were built in British and Canadian yards, 123 vessels achieving service in the RCN’s fleet. They were operated by British, Canadian, French and US navies. Despite a very high number being built they were built in many different yards, the design constantly evolved due to operational experience and technical innovation throughout the vessel’s service life, and it was uncommon for any to be alike in either configuration or appearance
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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