NAC News – Edition 580 (Osborne Head Gunnery Range)
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of August 30th, 2024
Edition: 580 Osborne Head Gunnery Range Quote: “For years, official statements from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have asserted that China is a ‘Near-Arctic state’ with the right to a greater role in Arctic governance. Such assertions have generated a great deal of Western concerns, understandable when viewed within the context of Beijing’s aggressive behaviour towards is immediate neighbours, its growing military, and powerful economy. Unlike its near-abroad, however, China cannot assert itself as directly or forceful in the Arctic, lacking as it does any significant regional presence or power projection capability. Rather, China’s Arctic presence manifests primary in its relationships with, and influence over, the Arctic states. As such, its behaviour and influence strategy differs along national and regional lines.” Executive Summary, Adam Lajeunesse and P. Whitney Lackenbauer. Wilson Center, August 2024
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.
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.
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
Selling the ‘Near-Arctic’ State: China’s Information and Influence Operations in the Arctic
U.S. wants Canada to hit military spending target ‘as rapidly as humanly possible’: Biden’s adviser
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CANADA
Will new submarines honour Canada’s NATO commitment to increase its defence spending?
Canada to buy advanced early warning aircraft to detect long-range threats
Canadian Coast Guard Arctic Strategy English PDF French PDF
Navy facility in Canadian Arctic ‘could be finished this season,’ a decade overdue
CANADIAN ARMED FORCES: Winchester and Begging (Editor – Esprit de Corps 5:43 min video)
Halifax-class frigate | The workhorse of the Royal Canadian Navy (Editor – useful 16:17 min video)
Acquiring Up to 12 Submarines, Canada launches the Largest Expansion of the Royal Navy (Editor – not a great rehash but included for the pics in a 8:18 min video)
Keeping Canada relevant through specialization
IN-DEPTH: Canadian Armed Forces members who die from MAiD equated to ‘died in combat’
CAF Story | Fine arts and Naval communication go hand in hand (Editor – RCN 3:06 min video)
CDR Radio Episode 47 – SEA Canada (Editor – 17:32 min podcast)
Military College Alumni Needed for Survey
Rare! Go inside a Coast Guard rescue hovercraft! (Editor – 34:44 min video)
The Sinking of HMCS ALBERNI – 80th Anniversary
Volunteers Sought for National Military Cemetery Clean-up 2024
Uncertainty Reigns as Union Vows to Fight Canada’s Move to End Rail Shutdown
Draft Ocean Noise Strategy released for feedback
RACE to Alaska! Meet team “Victory Oar Duff” (Editor – 3:03 min RCN video)
After years of effort, derelict boats still plague coastline
Cargo ship runs aground near Montreal following mechanical failure, blocking marine traffic then Tugboats free grounded cargo ship blocking traffic in St. Lawrence Seaway
Owner of Thunder Bay shipyard gets $10 million to train workers
Port of Vancouver releases latest economic impact study
Port of Churchill exports first critical mineral shipment
NRAC: Mess Deck Connections August 2024 (Editor – nice recognition included for long time NAC member Peter Change)
Lookout: Volume 69, Issue 32, August 26, 2024
The latest issue of Salute!, the VAC monthly e-newsletter, has been released.
Le dernier numéro de <<Salut!>>, le bulletin électronique mensuel d’ACC, a été publié.
NAC Naval Affairs Programme Bibliographies First World War (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. 26, 2024
USS Tarawa: new era weapons and sensors sent warship to the bottom
HMS Trent Takes Cocaine Bust Total to $725 Million
Watch: High-speed chase between Mexican navy and drug boats
US Navy commissions littoral combat ship USS Kingsville
USS Cowpens falls short, decommissions after 33 years of service
Navy Set To Meet Active-Duty Recruiting Goals After Missing Two Straight Years
Austal USA Cuts Steel on Yard’s First Offshore Patrol Cutter, First OPC Argus to Sail in Winter
Abe Air Wing Training Flight Missions on Simulators Aboard Aircraft Carrier
U.S. and UK Are Side-lining Fleet Auxiliary Ships Because of Crew Shortage
Congressional Report Details New Delays and Cost Overruns for Coast Guard Icebreaker
The US Navy’s SMALLEST Aircraft Carrier | USS America LHA-6 (Editor – 11:15 min video)
Second MARAD Training Ship Patriot State Completes Sea Trials
Ares Industries Flight-Tests New Cruise Missile, 10x Smaller, Cheaper
Commander, Naval Air Forces, talks carriers, FA-18, F-35, unmanned, and readiness. (Editor – USNI 18:59 min video)
Uruguay’s new fast attack craft Huracan begins voyage home from South Korea
U.S. Navy is rolling out High Speed LEO Internet across the Fleet
US Launching $400 Million Advanced Spy Plane from Aircraft Carrier in Ocean (Editor – 16:21 min of eye candy in this diverse video)
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INDO-PACIFIC
Malaysia navy vessel KD Pendekar sinks off Johor coast
Sabina Shoal: The new flashpoint between China and the Philippines
US fans flames as Philippines keeps provoking China in South China Sea (Editor – the dichotomy in the war of words continues) with this article beside it on the Global Times site Zhang Youxia stresses China-US military stability in meeting with Sullivan
Chinese Cutters Ram Philippine Vessel in the South China Sea with 40 Chinese Ships Blockade Resupply Mission to Philippine Coast Guard Flagship in South China Sea
Experts warn of possible Philippine provocations on China’s Zhongye Dao
In first, North Korea registers 13 military submarines with UN maritime agency
Marine Corps MQ-9 Reapers to Operate in Okinawa for Intelligence, Surveillance Ops
Singapore navy’s first Type 218SG submarine arrives home, local trials to begin
Japan Wants to Build the World’s Largest Coast Guard Cutter
India, US widen naval cooperation; Submarine testing facility on cards
India to purchase Anti-Submarine Warfare sonobuoys from US.
India’s First P17A Nilgiri-Class Frigate Starts Sea Trials
China transfers warships and pier to Cambodian Navy raising strategic concerns
Russian Cruiser, Frigate Return from 7-Month Deployment to Middle East
Taiwan Cabinet approves plan to fund 7 new submarines and Taiwan’s submarine programme is a vital deterrence against China
China Fast-Tracks Construction of New Icebreaker
Hanwha Ocean Becomes First South Korean Shipyard To Secure U.S. Navy MRO Contract
Kongsberg Opens NSM And JSM Production Line In Australia
Palau Flag Suspends Russian LNG ‘Shadow’ Fleet Ships
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Russian Kerch Strait Ferry Destroyed by Fire after Ukrainian Attack and a 30 sec part of a video Ukraine sinks Russian fuel ferry in attack near Crimean bridge
Ukraine touts threat of new long-range ‘Palianytsia’ weapon in war with Russia
The Terrifying Reality of Drone Warfare in Ukraine | Frontline Marathon | Daily Mail (Editor – fascinating 51:22 min video) and New ways of downing drones showcased in Canada – from lasers to ultrasonic waves (Editor – 4:37 min video) plus The Cheap Iranian Kamikaze Drones Wreaking Havoc in Ukraine and Israel | WSJ Equipped (Editor – 7:22 min video)
What’s Really Wrong With Russia’s Weapons (Editor – not maritime but useful analysis in a 12:28 min video)
U.S. Sanctions 400 Targets for Aiding Russia’s War Effort and U.S. Targets Russia’s LNG ‘Shadow Fleet’ in Sweeping New Sanctions Package while Russia Expands Shadow Fleet with First Ship-to-Ship LNG Transfer also Crude Oil Tankers Divert Via Arctic Bypassing Red Sea Chaos
Allies reaffirm pledge to strengthen Ukraine’s defences at NATO-Ukraine Council meeting
General:
Presidential aide highlights need to improve combat readiness of Russia’s Navy
Turkish Navy commissions first Reis-class AIP submarine TCG Piri Reis
Italian Navy declares Initial Operational Capability for 5th generation Carrier Strike Group
How the Russians Tracked U.S. Submarines (Editor – intriguing 8 Min video)
Exail inks contract with NATO for underwater mine disposal vehicles
Type 45 Destroyer has spent most of its life in maintenance
British frigate and destroyer availability increases
Chinese icebreaker makes port call in Murmansk
ASFAT delivers 3000-tonne submarine dock to Turkish Navy
Setbacks in the Royal Navy’s effort to get newly acquired auxiliary ships into service
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
French Navy Ship Hits Surface Drone Menacing A Tanker In The Red Sea
Tanker MV Sounion Boarded by Houthi & Demolition Charges Set on Board in the Red Sea | No Casualties (Editor – 4:18 min video) Houthis Set Sounion Tanker Ablaze Causing Potential Environmental Disaster then Tanker Sounion On Fire in the Red Sea | Can the Ship be Salvaged? | 150,000 Tons of Oil Onboard (Editor – 10:39 min video) then a surprise Update: Houthis to Permit Salvage Attempt for Tanker Burning in Red Sea
Red Sea Insurance Nearly Doubles After Latest Ship Attack (Editor – the real driver of actions)
RAN to assume command of Red Sea force
General:
SECDEF Austin Orders 2 Carriers to Operate in the Middle East by Pentagon Extends Deployment of Second Carrier to Deter Iran
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
4 ships that dock at McMurdo Station | Antarctica (Editor – 6:38 min video)
Surging seas are coming for us all, warns UN chief
Why are the waves so BIG?! | The Southern Ocean (Editor – handy precis in a 2:47 min video)
Sudan confirms ongoing agreement with Russia for Naval facility on Red Sea Coast.
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SCUTTLEBUTT
Oakville’s Gamble: A Canadian Corvette vs. U-94
How Does a Submarine Fire a Torpedo? (Editor – 2:20 min video)
160 Years After the First Ship Was Sunk by a Sub, Researchers Are Still Looking for Answers
Inside the Factory: How Steel Bars Become 155mm Artillery Shells (Editor – one for the Gunners in a 11:17 min video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
31 August 1694 Royal Navy vessel William and Mary attacks seven French warships at Ferryland, Newfoundland.
31 August 1939 HMC Ships Fraser and St. Laurent leave Vancouver for Halifax to take up war stations in the North Atlantic Ocean.
31 August 1942 German U boats sink 108 merchant ships this month, with a loss of 544,000 tons. Atlantic Ocean.
31 August 1942 HMCS Morden sinks with depth charges U-756 440 miles WSW of Cape Farewell; the kill was originally credited to a USN Catalina.
31 August 1945 HMCS Prince Robert entered Hong Kong where her commanding officer represents Canada at the surrender ceremonies of Japanese forces, and to then liberate POWs. Of the 1,975 Canadians sent to Hong Kong, 290 were killed and 493 wounded during the battle and its immediate aftermath – proof, said veterans decades later, that they had resisted fiercely and courageously before surrendering to the enemy. Another 264 Canadians died as prisoners of war, while 1,418 survivors returned to Canada – many of them deeply bitter at the cruelty of their Japanese captors.
31 August 1946 The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service is disbanded. A women’s division was re-constituted in 1951 during the Korean War as part of a re-organized Royal Canadian Navy (Reserve). In 1955, a women’s component of the regular navy was authorized, but no longer as a separate service. The name Wrens remained popular with female sailors, however, and continued in use after disbandment of the RCN with unification of the armed forces in 1968. The name was particularly popular in the naval reserve, which maintained a higher proportion of serving women than the regular force.
31 August 1993 Fishery Mulroney Government slaps a complete ban on cod fishing after stocks dwindle. A year earlier, Fisheries Minister John Crosbie ordered the $700 million northern cod fishery shut down for two years to conserve stocks; in total, 40,000 Atlantic Canadians lose their jobs, in the single largest mass layoff in Canadian history. At its peak in the late 1960s, the northern cod fishery hauled in up to 800,000 tonnes a year.
1 September 1939 The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), Royal Canadian Navy Reserve (RCNR) & Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) are placed on active service.
1 September 1942 HMCS Morden commanded by Lt John J. Hodgkinson, RCNR sank the German submarine U-756 in the Atlantic.
1 September 1944 HMCS Saint John commanded by A/LCdr William R. Stacey, DSC, RCNR with HMCS Swansea commanded by CDR A. Frank C. Layard, DSO, RN sank U-Boat 247 off Land’s End, England. This was HMCS Swansea’s fourth submarine under two separate CO’s.
2 September 1998 The Swissair passenger liner Flight 111 crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia killing all 229 on board. The immediate response was the establishment of Operation Persistence with more than 2,400 Canadian Armed Forces members, 450 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers (whose contributions came as part of Operation Homage) and hundreds of Canadian Coast Guard personnel took part. The CAF contribution consisted of 1,300 RCN, 700 army, and 400 air force personnel served in the operation. HMCS Preserver became the command ship for the recovery efforts at sea. Military helicopters and patrol planes searched for human remains and wreckage floating in the water. Divers, remote underwater vehicles, and the submarine HMCS Okanagan searched the ocean floor. The Swissair Flight 111 tragedy was the second-deadliest air accident to ever occur in Canada. Many of the CAF members who took part in the operation were young reservists. The recovery efforts were physically and emotionally exhausting for most involved and difficult memories and some service members suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders. The risks of Canadian military service are not only found during deployments in war-torn countries around the world, but domestic operations can also take a high toll.
3 September 1814 Lieutenant Miller Worsley and Andrew Bulger lead 77 men by canoe north from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, captures American warship USS Tigress at anchor in False Detour Channel, about 88 km northeast of Mackinac Island; then go after USS Scorpion, which they capture September 5.
3 September 1939 Battle of the Atlantic begins as a female merchant sailor Hannah Baird of Verdun, Québec sees her ship, the 13,581-ton passenger liner SS Athenia torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat west of Ireland on route to Montréal, one week before Canada declared war and one week after the merchant service and military were placed on a war alert. The sinking kills 188 of those aboard, including Baird and three other Canadians, the first Canadian casualties of the Second World War. The “Battle of the Atlantic” was the longest and one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War — lasting from the first day of the war in 1939 until the last day of the war in Europe in 1945. Canada played a major role with the RCN assuming responsibility for escorting convoys in the northwest Atlantic — the only major theatre of the war to be commanded by Canadians.
3 September 1939 Britain declares war on Germany two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland; France follows 6 hours later, and then Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada on week later. By the last months of the war the RCN had grown to a strength of over 95,000 personnel, 6,000 of them members of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service, and the fleet committed to the Battle of the Atlantic included some 270 ocean escort warships. Canada possessed the third-largest navy in the world after the fleets of the United States and Britain. The most important measure of its success was the safe passage during the war of over 25,000 merchant ships under Canadian escort. These cargo vessels delivered nearly 165 million tons of supplies to Britain and to the Allied forces that liberated Europe. Most of the 2000 members of the Royal Canadian Navy who lost their lives died in combat in the Atlantic. Proportionally, Canadian merchant seamen suffered much more heavily, losing one in ten killed among the 12,000 who served in Canadian and Allied merchant vessels.
3 September 1940 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces Lend Lease Programme, where 50 American destroyers will be traded to Britain, of which 7 go to Canada, in exchange for leases on naval and air bases in the British colonies, including St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Bermuda; Canada also agrees to shelter the destroyers in Canadian ports before they are handed over to British crews.
3 September 1942 HMCS Shawinigan and HMCS Trail together pick up 17 survivors from the Canadian merchant ship Donald Stewart that was torpedoed and sunk northeast of Cape Whittle in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by German U-boat U-517.
3 September 1943 Canadian flotillas of landing craft engaged in the crossing of the Straits of Messina – the invasion of Italy.
3 September 2016 – Franklin Expedition – Parks Canada and the Arctic Research Foundation find the underwater wreck of Sir John Franklin’s flagship HMS Terror; it is “in pristine condition”, north of where the wreck of HMS Erebus — the expedition’s flagship — was found in 2014.
4 September 1990 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces formation of Operation Scimitar, to provide air cover for the two destroyers and the supply ship sent to the Persian Gulf in late August of 1991 as part of Operation Friction, tasked with enforcing the United Nations trade blockade against Iraq.
5 September 1814 Lt (RN) Miller Worsley, flying captured American colours in the USS Tigress, takes the USS Scorpion at anchor after fierce hand-to-hand fighting; sails both ships west to Fort Michilimackinac.
5 September 1918 The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service is authorized and begins operations in Nova Scotia.
6 September 1910 In July 1910 the Director of the Naval Service went to England to attend the trails of the two cruisers and to take them over from the Admiralty. Before they were transferred several alterations were carried out, to make them more suitable as training ships. The Niobe was commissioned in the Canadian Service at Devonport on September 6, 1910, with Cdr. W.B. Macdonald, R.N., a native of British Columbia, as her Captain, and on the occasion a silk ensign was presented to the ship on behalf of the Queen.
6 September 1940 HMS Duchess arrives in Halifax harbour, bringing the members of the Tizard Mission and a black metal box containing, amongst other things, six examples of the cavity magnetron. This would later be described as “the most important cargo to reach our (North American) shores”.
6 September 1940 The USN destroyers USS Aaron Ward (DD-132), USS Buchanan (DD-131), USS Crowninshield (DD-134), USS Hale (DD-133), USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193), USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195), USS Herndon (DD-198) and USS Welles (DD-257) arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia. These are the first of the “flushdeck” destroyers to be transferred under the “Destroyers-For-Bases” deal. Contrary to popular opinion, none of the eight ships to be transferred were taken directly from reserve status and handed over to the RN. All eight ships had been recommissioned at least during 1939 and all had been engaged in operations on the neutrality patrols. Two ships were recommissioned considerably earlier and had served for extended periods with both the US Atlantic and Pacific Fleets: Crowninshield (1930) and Buchanan (1934). All eight destroyers were decommissioned from the USN on 09 Sep and commissioned into the RN on the same day. USS Crowninshield was commissioned as HMS Chelsea (I35). She reached Devonport, England, on 28 Sep 1940 and was assigned to the Sixth Escort Group, Western Approaches Command, for local escort duty. In Nov 42, Chelsea became one of eight ‘flushdeckers’ lent to the RCN. She served with Canadian forces until the Dec 43, operated with both the Mid-Ocean Escort Force and Western Escort Forces. Chelsea returned to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on 26 Dec 43 and, in early 44, was reduced to reserve status in the Tyne estuary. On 16 Jul 44, she was transferred to Russia and renamed Derskni.
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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