NAC News – Edition 578
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of August 16th, 2024
Edition: 578 HMCS Naden III / HMCS Givenchy III Quote “The Communist regime in China ramps up its aggression against Taiwan, while actively interfering in the political processes of Western democracies – including Canada. In Europe, Russia wages a brutal full-scale war against Ukraine, while sabre-rattling about nuclear strikes on our NATO allies. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Arctic ambitions threaten our sovereignty in the North. With danger all around, one would think Canada’s federal government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, would be sounding the klaxon – rallying the country and steeling its citizens for looming conflicts with authoritarian regimes while bolstering our military for 21st-century warfare.” J.L. Granatstein, 10 July 2024, MLI Foreign Affairs Column.
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 an NAC member, and note the first year’s NAC/Branch membership dues are waived)
NOTICES
14 Sept 2024 at 1400(2:00PM) The VENTURE (1954-1968) Legacy Committee are pleased to inform you of the dedication of the VENTURE (1954-1968) Legacy cairn at the Naval Museum in Stadacona, CFB Base Halifax. A reception will follow at the ballroom in the Wardroom.
23-26 September Oceans Conference & Exposition 2024 Halifax Convention Centre, The OCEANS 2024 Halifax conference is for global maritime professionals to learn, innovate and lead in the protection and utilization of the world’s largest natural resource – our oceans.
Correction (My bad) 30 Oct 2024 Seaspan Industry Day, Vancouver, BC, Industry tour at Vancouver Shipyards (morning) and supplier engagement event at the Vancouver Convention Centre (afternoon). Sold out.
Correction/update 31 Oct & 01 Nov 2024, Association of British Columbia Marine Industries (ABCMI) Business Opportunities Conference & Trade Show, Vancouver Convention Centre. Aimed at all businesses and organizations involved in BC’s industrial marine sector. Includes the Thales Canada Supplier Engagement Event on Friday afternoon, 01 Nov, for businesses interested in learning about supply opportunities for their product and services relevant to the AJISS and MWAVE in-service support contracts. Register
14 November 2024 (7:30-18:30 Ottawa time) Super Early Bird Registration is open for the Vanguard Deep Blue Forum 2024 to be held at The National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin Street, Ottawa. If you’re not able to attend in person, all speaker sessions will be live streamed, to permit virtual attendance. FREE registration for all serving navy & government personnel. Not Able to Attend in Person? – all speaker sessions will be live streamed, to allow for virtual attendance. Sponsorship opportunities available. For more information on sponsorship or registration, please contact: David Blondeau david@promotivemedia.ca at 905-841-7389
25 February 2025 ShipTech Forum 2025 Super Early Bird registration is open!, The National Arts Centre, Ottawa ON
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Canada’s military neglect has made it an Anglosphere outsider: Tony Abbott in the National Post
U.S. Navy Prepares For Protracted Middle East Conflict
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CANADA
Navy ships join effort to find illicit drugs in eastern Pacific
Honouring Canadian Peacekeepers on National Peacekeepers’ Day
RIMPAC and Canada-US Defence Cooperation (Editor – CGAI 1:24:20 min podcast)
The IREM – what it means to you (Editor – Interim Reconstitution Employment Measure (IREM) desperate times require desperate measures)
Canadian Coast Guard dedicates CCGS Barrington Bay into service
Coast guard rapped for failing to consult before destaffing west coast light stations
Editor – NAC is a member of the CDA and as such has been asked to participate in a survey about CDAI’s content production. This link is to a multiple-choice survey. It is anonymous and only takes 2 minutes to complete. The purpose of the survey is to measure and better understand how we use and value their content as well as how we think they could improve.
Time to Rethink Military Recruitment and Helicopter politicking
LGBT Purge Fund (Editor – I had not understood the scope and severity of the injustice that many LGBT members of the CAF suffered until I had a conversation with an officer I had served with in the Cadet Programme, and here is his story: My Purge Story: A First Hand Account from a Gay Purge Survivor Paperback – July 29 2024)
Ocean Aid – Detecting underwater objects in real0time with sonar and AI
American sailor shores up family roots during Rendez-vous naval de Québec
Une femme marin américaine renoue avec ses racines au Rendez-vous naval de Québec
Lookout: Volume 69, Issue No. 31, August 12, 2024
Le Lookout: Volume 69, Numéro 31 12 Août 2024
NAC Naval Affairs Programme Bibliographies The RCN’s Early Years (Editor – Please share with anyone you think may benefit from the knowledge, after all, that’s what our naval affairs programme is all about – enlightening Canadians)
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USA & AMERICA
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Aug. 12, 2024
General Dynamics Electric Boat Launches Attack Boat Idaho
Navy Notifies Congress of Pending $11.5B, 4-Ship Amphibious Warship Deal
Marine Osprey crewman died trying to reach pilots on doomed plane
SWO Boss: 75-Warship Readiness Goal Remains a Work in Progress (Editor – here is an associated earlier 28:27 min video if you missed it – Vice Admiral Brendan McLane, Commander of Naval Surface Forces)
Navy warship production in worst state in 25 years. What’s behind it?
US Navy’s newest air-to-air missile could tilt balance in South China Sea (Editor – follow on to last week’s editions America’s ‘Air Wing Of The Future’ Takes Shape In The Pacific)
U.S. Coast Guard Arctic Presence Goes Up in Smoke As Icebreaker Healy Suffers Fire then Coast Guard Cancels Icebreaker Healy’s Arctic Mission with U.S. Coast Guard Closes In on Purchase of Icebreaker Aiviq
Coast Guard offloads more than $18 million in illegal narcotics interdicted in Caribbean Sea
U.S. Air Force Conducts Latest QUICKSINK Exercise more details Ship-killing guided bomb put to test as Air Force sinks cargo vessel
The US tried to fix its foreign military sales system. Did it work?
Brazil Launches The First Tamandaré-Class Frigate
U.S. Coast Guard Tracks Russian Naval Vessel Near Alaska
Colombian naval industry takes step with frigate construction deal
US Navy christens future USNS Point Loma EPF 15 in Alabama
Possible U.S. Port Strike Could Back Up Goods for Months
Unexploded Ordnance From the Past Poses a Threat to Ocean’s Future
Gas and grain ships shun Panama Canal after drought disruption
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INDO-PACIFIC
Watch: Huge Explosion on Containership YM Mobility at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and analysis Explosion and Fire on board YM Mobility in Ningbo, China (Editor – 13:52 min video) with more details Explosion in Ningbo, Fire in Sri Lanka, and Container Crane Fall in Long Beach (editor 14:54 min video)
Chinese Aircraft Carrier Shandong Deploys to Philippine Sea
USS Abraham Lincoln Sails with Italian Carrier Cavour in Western Pacific
Russia’s Pacific Fleet warships enter Strait of Malacca
China operating ‘fully functional’ military base on Subi Reef while U.S. Funding $32M Upgrade to Air Base in the Philippines and Philippines to Intensify Aerial Surveillance Following Chinese Interception Over Scarborough Shoal
China ‘establishes’ military base abroad where it showed war robots months ago
Chinese RV enters Malaysia’s EEZ operates dark without clear authorization.
Northrop Taps Genohco for S.Korea’s Airborne Laser Anti-Mine Program
Royal Australian Navy fires long-range Standard Missile 6 in military exercise near Hawaii
China Launches Improved Type 054AG Frigate, More Hulls Coming
China’s amphibious Apex type 075 assault ships (Editor – USNI 4:14 min video)
Indian Navy approves Mazagon dock to build 6 submarines worth ₹60,000 crore with German collaboration (I haven’t figured out the crore value in Canadian dollars)
Indian Navy approached Government for two Nuclear Attack Submarines
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine Says It Hit An Offshore Gas Platform Used By Russian Forces
Ukrainian Forces destroy Russian Tunets patrol boat in Crimea using Magura drone.
General:
Standing NATO Maritime Group in East Mediterranean (Cmdre (RCN) Matthew Coates is the Commander SNMG 2 with HMCS Charlottetown as his flagship.)
NATO plans to reroute internet via space in emergencies
USS Oscar Austin One of Two U.S. Navy DDGs Homeport Shifting to Rota, Spain
Russian company picks up pace in nuclear submarine production, CEO says
Report: Germany Issues Arrest Warrant in Nord Stream Probe and Suspect wanted by Germany over Nord Stream blasts flees from Poland to Ukraine — official
China Calls for ‘Professional’ Probe Into Balticconnector Pipeline Incident with China admits responsibility for last year’s European pipeline destruction then Sister ships of NewNew Polar Bear headed for Europe
Royal Navy Tracks Chinese Warships Twice in UK Waters
Italians Seized Weapons and Drones Smuggled in Containers Going to Libya
Union Announces Historic Strike Action for UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary Officers
Partners team up on next-gen nuclear container ship regulatory study
Inside the Race to Mine $92 Billion Worth of Deep Sea Minerals | WSJ (Editor – 6:44 min video)
Blink and You’ll Miss It: Russia Deploys Second ‘Stealth’ LNG Tanker to Sanctioned Gas Project
How This Tiny Archipelago Became a NATO-Russia Flashpoint (Editor – history can be strange, an 8:32 min video)
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
Never-before-seen images of HMS Diamond’s intense deployment in Red Sea
Oil Tanker Attacked Four Times off Yemen, Crew and Vessel Safe and Two Ships Report Blasts in the Red Sea off Yemen
U.S. Indicts Three for Smuggling Weapons to Houthi Terrorists
General:
Iran rejects Western calls to refrain from attack on Israel
USS Wasp Docks In Cyprus, Could Assist Civilians If Mideast Tensions Flare
US sends submarine to Middle East as tensions grow (Editor – USS Georgia (SSGN-729) with 154 × BGM-109 Tomahawks)
Iranian Guards’ Navy Gets ‘Highly Capable’ New Missiles
Iran’s Oil Finds New Destinations in Tehran Export Push
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Ice panda: not all is quiet on Australia’s southern front
USS Hershel “Woody” Williams arrives in Luanda, Angola, for Port Visit
Royal Navy’s icebreaker heads south after completing first northern mission in two years
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SCUTTLEBUTT
CIMSEC: Sea Control 543 – the U.S.-Soviet incidents at sea agreement with Dr. David Winkler (Editor 34:33 min podcast)
The Wreck of Endurance – A Shipwreck Frozen in Time (Editor – 14:10 min video)
Finmen: The Inuit Who Paddled 1200 Miles (Editor – The Mariner’s Mirror 32 min podcast)
In defence of cat ladies, and gentlemen: The tale of Unsinkable Sam and other seafaring felines
The Incredible Story of the World’s Longest Ship (Editor : 12:54 min video)
Black Tot Day UK – 31st July 1970 (Editor – 12:36 min video. The last RCN “Up Spirits” ended 30 March 1972.)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
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. Willson, DSC, 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.
19 August 1914 Canada officially went to war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. In 1914, Canada was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, but it did not control its own foreign affairs. As during the South African War (1899-1902), the Canadian government would decide the nature and extent of Canada’s war effort, but legally Canada the was at war the instant Britain declared one. In 1914, most, but by no means all, Canadians would have agreed with the 1910 statement of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier that “when Britain is at war, Canada is at war. There is no distinction.” They nevertheless debated vigorously the size and nature of Canada’s war effort and, increasingly, its relationship with Britain.
20 August 1942 HMC Ships Prince Robert, Prince Henry, Prince David, Dawson, and Vancouver leave Esquimalt, British Columbia, to commence operations in the Bering Sea.
20 August 1944 HMC Ships Ottawa commanded by CDR James D. Prentice, DSO, RCN, HMCS Kootenay commanded by A/LCDR William H. Willson, RCN, and HMCS Chaudière commanded by A/LCdr C. Patrick Nixon, RCN sank the German submarine U-984 while on patrol in the English Channel – their second combined victory in three days.
21 August 1872 Chebucto Head Lighthouse starts operations, Halifax, Nova Scotia
21 August 1940 The Permanent Joint Board of Defence is established to co-ordinate Canadian and American activities relating to the defence of North America.
21 August 1944 HMCS Alberni is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-480 in the English Channel. 59 of her ship’s company are lost.
22 August 1711 The RN expedition against Quebec is wrecked on reefs north of Anticosti Island.
22 August 1944 HMS Nabob, a British aircraft carrier but with a largely RCN crew, is torpedoed off Norway and severely damaged. HMCS Algonquin takes off 203 of Nabob’s ships company however 21 ship’s company are lost, including 11 Canadians. She returned to Scapa Flow but is so badly damaged she was considered a constructive loss.
23 August 1953 HMCS Caribou is commissioned as a Naval Reserve Division in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland.
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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