NAC News – Edition 598 (Cornwallis)
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of January 3rd, 2025
Edition: 598 HMCS Cornwallis Quotes: “Although only 8 percent of the world lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the region accounts for a third of all homicides worldwide. LAC cities consistently top international rankings as some of the most violent locales outside of active conflict zones. Behind this insecurity are powerful and deeply entrenched transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) trafficking drugs and other illegal commodities, who in turn rely on a seemingly endless flow of illicit firearms to carry out their campaigns of violence and intimidation on the Western Hemisphere’s inhabitants. Arms trafficking goes well beyond a law enforcement challenge; the proliferation of semi- and fully automatic rifles, grenade launchers, and various high-caliber weapons are increasingly used by TCOs to hold at risk the very sovereignty of LAC governments.” CSIS: Under the Gun – Firearms Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean by Christopher Hernandez-Roy, Henry Ziemer, and Azucena Duarte, 19 November 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@navalassoc.ca if you wish someone to be added to the NAC News email distribution. (Influencer, or good candidates to become an NAC member – note the first year’s NAC/Branch membership dues are waived)
NOTICES
25 February 2025 ShipTech Forum 2025 Super Early Bird registration is open! The National Arts Centre, Ottawa ON. Not able to attend in person – all speaker sessions will be live streamed.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Seabed Cable Damaged In Latest Baltic CUI Incident with Estlink 2 damage not considered an accident, Estonia’s minister says as navy protects sister link and Finnish Police Investigate Tanker as Report Says Spy Equipment Was Found then Finland Finds Anchor Drag Marks Left By Tanker That Broke Cables eventually Shipowner Seeks Release of Tanker Seized in Finland Cable Probe while Finland Power Grid Operator Asks Court to Seize Tanker Over Cable Damage (Editor – if these cable breakages aren’t “accidents”, what’s the objective? Baltic subsea sabotage: We’re letting Russia (and China) undertake target practice)
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CANADA
Inside the Canadian Navy’s Harry DeWolf class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels! | Go Bold S3 Ep5 (Editor – first-rate 1:06:13 hr video tour)
CANADIAN ARMED FORCES: Hitting the Wall (Editor – Esprit de Corps 5:55 min video)
Returning to in-person work five days a week has ‘introduced challenges’ for military personnel
Why a combat badge was mysteriously cancelled by the Canadian military
Intercepted by the Canadian Federal Arctic Unit (Editor – for the yachters a 33:38 min video)
Clearance Diver Rebreather Training (Editor – 1:06 min video)
Tugboats, crews try to refloat ship stuck in St. Lawrence River near Montreal (Editor – includes 1:03 min video) then Unloading the grounded vessel south of Montreal will take several days
Great Lakes Museum celebrates 50 Years – 1975-2025
La Politique étrangère du Canada pour l’Arctique
Un dernier exercice avant l’hiver pour les réservistes trifluviens
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce : un majestueux concert de la Marine royale
Un nouveau navire militaire lancé en mer au large de la C.-B.
Venture Association – HMCS Venture Signal December 2024
NAC Naval Affairs Naval Procurement (Editor – NAC Naval Affairs Papers, Briefing Notes, Niobe Papers, and much more. 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: Dec. 30, 2024
Obituary: Lieutenant James Earl Carter Jr., USN – 39th American President
Report to Congress on Navy Constellation-class Frigate Program
Report to Congress on U.S. Navy Destroyer Programs
Transforming naval combat: Boeing’s Orca XLUUV in unmanned operations – The Debrief (Editor – corny start, but becomes useful in a 5:57 min video)
Explore the world’s largest Floating Hospital Ship: USNS Mercy! (Editor – 11:04 min video)
Maersk Sees No Progress in U.S. Port Talks
US LNG Export Capacity Expands as Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project Starts Production and in total U.S. LNG Exports Soar in December, Lifting Full-Year Growth by 4.5%
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INDO-PACIFIC
Could the United States and China really go to war? Who would win? (Editor – from Brookings Institute’s most-read pieces of the year)
China’s Shandong carrier closes 2024 with ‘all-weather’ combat ability, sortie time cuts
China ramps up combat readiness at Scarborough Shoal
Armed Forces of the Philippines Investigate Chinese Submarine Drone
China Delivers Arctic-Capable Research Vessel, Expanding Polar Presence and U.S. Department of Defense Sounds Alarm Bells About China’s Growing Presence in Arctic
Indian Navy: The Strategic Case for a Third Aircraft Carrier
Indian Navy deployed 30 ships, responded to over 25 incidents: MoD
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders secures Rs 1,990 crore order from Defence Ministry
Japan Proposes New Frigate Deal to Indonesia to Counter South China Sea Tensions
North Korea joins Russian naval exercises as observer for the first time and Kim Jong Un reveals North Korea’s 3,000-Ton Frigate Project raising speculation of Russian aid
How the Philippines and Vietnam stand up to China | Mapped Out (Editor – useful 15:23 min video)
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine Claims First: Navy Drone Downs Russian Helicopter
Ukraine Received First US LNG Shipment set against End of the Line: Ukraine Set to Cut Russia’s Last Gas Link to Europe with Moldova faces energy crisis as flow of Russian gas ends and Slovakia threatens to cut benefit for Ukrainians
Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war
General:
HMS Somerset’s crew recalled on Christmas Day to track Russian ships over 500 miles
American warship completes almost six month patrol
Finland eyes defense-spending boost well past NATO mark
Northern Fleet’s newest Yasen-M class submarine will be based 60 km from NATO Norway
Northern Fleet raises flag on new special purpose vessel
Russia Marks Completion of Fourth Project 22220 Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker
Turkish Navy starts construction of 3 major projects: MUGEM Aircraft Carrier, TF-2000 Destroyer, MILDEN Submarine (Editor – three impressive wows)
British vessel conducts sovereignty patrol around Gibraltar
Saisie record de cocaïne : la Marine nationale frappe fort
Inside the UK factory building periscopes for Royal Navy submarines (Editor – 5:17 min video)
The Moment That Made Me | Captain Ryan Ramsay (Editor – one for the submariners, a 23:22 min video)
Global Strategic Sealift Contract secures military operations
L’OTAN renforce sa présence militaire en mer Baltique
NATO to enhance military presence in the Baltic Sea
Poland Invests in Baltic Security with New Naval Rescue Vessel
Russia Sets New Arctic Shipping Record, Transports 38Mt in 2024 via Northern Sea Route
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
At UN, Israel Warns Houthis Risk Same Fate as Hamas and Hezbollah
U.S. Forces Strike Houthi Weapons Facilities and Radar Sites in Yemen Amid Red Sea Tensions then Houthis Claim Retaliatory Attack on Carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea
The ‘9-1-1’ Unit Responding to Houthi Attacks on Red Sea Shipping | WSJ (Editor – 6:13 min video)
Why the Navy isn’t shooting down Houthi drones with lasers yet
Israel Hits the Houthis in Yemen After Their Slow Escalation
Red Sea Diversions Helped Container Shipping Dodge Overcapacity Crisis
Protecting trade in contested waters
General:
Egypt Completes Trial Run Of New Suez Canal Channel Extension
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Gulf of Guinea navies turn to drones for surveillance
First Supertanker to Be Scrapped in Two Years Is a Dark Ship
USCGC Polar Star Departs Sydney on Antarctic Resupply Mission
In Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, China is proving it is master of the sea
Shipping 101 – Introduction | Entrepôts | Fleet Size | Cargo Tonnage | Ship Size | Shipping Systems (Editor – first in a series I’ll include over the weeks – 16:02 min video)
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SCUTTLEBUTT
History of BC Ferries (Editor – cautionary lessons in a 16:21 min video)
Why the US offered to buy Greenland, after WWII, and why the Danish Rejected the offer (Editor – extraordinary events in Greenland in a 8:41 min video)
The Moment That Made Me | Commander Tom Sharpe (Editor – 2008 HMS Endurance near disaster explained in a 33:08 min video interview with the CO)
Nelson: Legend forged in battle | Great British Battle Commanders (Editor – 32:03 min video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
4 January 1943 HMCS Prince Henry is re-commissioned as Landing Ship Infantry (Medium).
4 January 1945 German U-boat torpedoed 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 that 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.
7 January 1941 A Special Committee of the Cabinet War Committee recommends that Japanese Canadians not be allowed to volunteer for the armed services on the grounds that there is strong public opinion against them.
8 January 1944 HMCS Camrose commanded by A/LCDR L. Raymond Pavillard, RCNR, and HMS Bayntun sank the German submarine U-757 in the North Atlantic.
9 January 1945 HMCS Ehkoli, a former RCN patrol boat, is re-commissioned in the RCN as a survey vessel but goes on changing roles and missions for eight decades! A complete restoration is underway in Richmond BC for this historic vessel.
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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