NAC News – Edition 603 (Gander)
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of February 7th, 2025
Edition: 603 HMCS Gander Quotes: “Sailors aboard the USS Stockdale were tapping threat data analysis from a local naval base hours before their destroyer came under attack by Houthis in the Red Sea—and it was a “game changer,” the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command said Thursday. “I can think of no less than three times in the six to nine hours before the ship went in harm’s way where they were able to leverage tactical feeds back to headquarters there locally to make adjustments on the radar” and in tactics, techniques, and procedures, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander for U.S. Central Command said at the WEST 2025 conference. “That would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.” Defence One Article 30 January 2025, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander for U.S. Central Command
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
20 February and 6 March Great Lakes Museum hosting two Nautical Nights These events are streamed too.
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.
5-6 March 2025 CDAI: Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence Celebrating its 93rd edition in 2025, the Conference at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel stands as Canada’s premier defence and security assembly. The conference centers its discussions around a wide spectrum of security and defence matters, orchestrating a sequence of impactful keynotes, presentations, and dialogues led by distinguished experts in the fields of security and defence from Canada and across the globe. Impressive speakers!
15–18 May 2025 CNMT has graciously extended the invitation to all NAC members who may not be CNMT trustees to join them for the 80th Anniversary of VE Day & Battle of the Atlantic Commemoration at Londonderry. There are events and activities planned for each day. If you plan to attend, please reach out to Gary Reddy at co@cnmt.ca. He will point you in the right direction for further details. The City Hotel Derry is offering special rates for attendees: Double/Twin B&B: £159 per night or Single B&B: £149 per night. To book your room, please call the hotel.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Restoring pride in Canada’s military essential to democracy: Marcus Kolga in the Toronto Sun
Canada ‘examining how to accelerate’ defence spending, Anand says (Editor – 2:41 min CBC video)
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CANADA
“Time is crucial now” warns Canada’s defence chief of Arctic threats
Canada unveils first new jetty in $1.1B upgrade at CFB Esquimalt
Occupational Analysis prepares RCN for the future
Navy sailors perform “ballet with ships” near Victoria, B.C. (Editor – useful Canadian built training vessels showcased in a 3:29 min video)
The Arctic’s Rising Influence: Transforming Global Trade and Defense Strategies with ‘The world order could start to evolve from the Arctic’: Trump, thin ice and the fight for the Northwest Passage
Exchanging an Aurora for a Poseidon
Bravo Zulu to our new Sentinels
Trump’s Tariff Threat Pushes Canada to Rethink Oil Pipelines
ICE PACT Unpacked Unpacking the Discussions
Exclusive Go Inside the Combat Support Ship Asterix that supports the Canadian Navy | Go Bold S3 Ep6 (Editor – 1:33:49 hr video)
CANADIAN ARMED FORCES: Losing the Battle of the Bulge (Esprit de Corps 4:23 min video)
Canada invests in port infrastructure for Atlantic Canada and New funding to drive development of Halifax-Hamburg green shipping corridor
La Course Wounded Warrior prend son élan I’île de Vancouver
NAC Naval The RCN in the Arctic (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: Feb. 3, 2025
Rubio demands Panama ‘reduce China influence’ over canal then Panama Bends to U.S. Pressure, Grants Free Navy Passage Through Canal but Panama denies US claims over free canal passages & Panama Drops China’s Belt and Road in Nod to U.S. Pressure
GAO: US Navy faces maintenance struggles for combat ships despite additional $1 billion in funding
US Navy moves to secure nuclear weapons future
Navy P-8A Aircraft Conducting ISR Missions on Southern Border while U.S. Navy Sends 20 Saildrones to Surveil Drug Smuggling Corridors
Shipbuilders, Navy Want Deal on 2 Virginia Attack Boats ‘As Soon as Possible’
Lockheed Martin Offers Mk70 Launcher to Increase Lethality of LCS
US Navy awards contracts to enhance LCS MCM capabilities
Pentagon’s Director, Operational Test & Evaluation 2024 Annual Report
CIMSEC: Strengthen America’s maritime borders
CIMSEC: Reassess the navy’s global force posture
NGC Advances Airborne Navigation Capabilities for the US Navy
US Navy Transforms Naval Protection with Helios Laser’s Power on USS Preble at Sea
Navy Testing New Weather Tech for Safer Ship Navigation
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INDO-PACIFIC
With acoustic blast, China ups aggression in disputed waters: Philippine Navy
India Plans to Spend $3 Billion to Support its Maritime Sector
Navy: Drone found off Cagayan contains data on body of water
New Unreported Submarine in China Leaves West Guessing
India Reinforces Ties with Russia with Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles for Sindhughosh Submarines
Vinson Strike Group Back Underway after Thailand Port Visit, French Carrier in Indonesia while USS Carl Vinson strike group departs Thailand following hull-scrape incident
USS America, 31st MEU Underway on WESTPAC Amphib Patrol; Russian Pacific Action Group Deploys
China trains ‘special mission’ pilots for combat readiness on Fujian carrier
PLA Navy to join multinational drill in Pakistan, eye maritime security boostChina’s Type 055 destroyer can stop US fleet with unmanned ‘kill web’, war game suggests
Japan vows to prioritise Australia over its own navy with new Mogami warships
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Sweden donates 16 CB90 boats as a part of largest support package to Ukraine
How Russia’s New Naval Base Could Drag Georgia Into the Ukraine War | WSJ (Editor – I’d love to talk to a Turkish naval officer about what they think of all this on their doorstep)
Russian Drone Aircraft Destroys Ukrainian Drone Boat
Trump wants Ukraine to supply rare earth minerals to U.S. in exchange for future aid
Organisation du traité de l’atlantique Nord – Rôle et missions du commandement maritime interallié
General:
NATO chief is confident U.S.-Canada trade war wouldn’t hurt allied solidarity. Others aren’t so sure
Northern Fleet faces wide gap between ambitions and resources, intel report exhibit A Russia’s Modernized Nuclear Battlecruiser Finally Powers Up Its Reactors: Report
Denmark Intensifies Inspections of Russian Oil Tankers in Critical Shipping Lane
Retour de la FLF Courbet après son déploiement en Méditerranée orientale
Severed undersea cables raise legal challenges for NATO while Second Ship Seized in Baltic Sea Cable Damage Investigation then Norway Releases Ship Suspected Of Baltic Sea Cable Damage
Carrier USS Harry S. Truman Back in Mediterranean After 50 Days in Red Sea and straightaway Truman strike group units arrive in Greece for port visit
Our Best Look Yet At Britain’s New Dreadnought Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Design and New Submarine Facility in Bristol Opened by Defence Minister
What will be the real consequences of axing the Royal Navy’s LPDs?
Royal Navy’s next-gen electronic warfare system – it’s MEWSIC to maritime defence
Russia’s minesweeper duo uses Skanda USV to neutralize mines in Avacha Bay
US Sanctions Bite With Russia’s Crude Exports Facing Delays Offloading
Denmark Targets Shadow Tankers in New Port State Inspection Program
Two mysterious tankers are sailing north to aid sanctioned gas fleet
Baudroie : tir réel sur cible réelle
Hapag-Lloyd unveils $4B green financing for 24 LNG dual-fuel boxships
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
US Navy’s lessons from the Red Sea
Suez Canal Authority Says Stability Returning To Red Sea
Oil Tanker Attacked Last Year Crosses Red Sea as Houthi Ceasefire Holds
Explosion forces crew to abandon Hong Kong-flagged container ship in the Red Sea
Ocean Freight Rates Expected to Drop as Middle East Ceasefire Takes Effect
General:
Trump Pressures Iran; Iran Threatens Strait of Hormuz Closure
Russian Withdrawal From Prized Syrian Naval Base Now Underway then All Eyes Are on Russia’s Mediterranean Flotilla as it Leaves Syria Behind
The Shahid Bagheri becomes Iran’s first multirole drone carrier to counter foreign presence in regional waters bit more info Iran Unveils Its Largest Naval Military Project: What We Know On ‘Martyr Bahman Bagheri’
Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ LNG Carrier Calls In Oman Signaling Possible Easing of Sanctions Concerns
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Shared governance could save the oceans (Editor – note Canadian input and influence)
INS Tushil visits South Africa
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SCUTTLEBUTT
The Battleship with Too Many Guns – HMS Agincourt (Editor – 9:25 min video)
The Mariner’s Mirror – Great Sea Fights: The Battle of the Nile, 1798 (Editor – 32 min podcast)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
8 February 1943 HMCS Regina (Flower Class Corvette K234) commanded by LCdr Harry Freeland, DSO OBE, RCNR during Operation Torch the landings in North Africa sank 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.
10 February 1942 HMCS Spikenard is torpedoed by U136 and sunk due south of Iceland. Only eight men survived (57 perished) to be found by a westbound British ship the next day. SPIKENARD had been torpedoed at about the same time as the tanker, & sank so quickly, that the other escorts didn’t realize she was gone until morning.
11 February 1942 The unescorted motor tanker MV Victolite, (Imperial Oil Shipping Co. Ltd of Toronto), was sailing from Halifax to Las Piedras, Venezuela with a cargo of ballast seawater in her tanks (She would be returning to Halifax with tanks of Venezuelan petroleum). At 0328 on 11 Feb 42, she was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-564 about 260 nm north-northwest of Bermuda. The surfaced U-boat watched the crew abandon their ship in lifeboats, identified the vessel from her distress signals, and then shelled her for a short time to confirm that all crew had left. A boarding party in a rubber dinghy then went to the abandoned tanker to search for secret documents and diesel oil that could be used to refuel the U-boat, but all safes were open and empty, and the fuel found was unsuitable as it was too viscous. The boarding party left after placing four scuttling charges in the engine room. However, the ship remained afloat after the explosions and U-564 shelled her again. The U-boat left the burning wreck behind after firing 98 rounds from the deck gun into the tanks and the superstructure. The lifeboats with the 45 crew members and the 2 Royal Navy DEMS gunners were never seen again.
11 February 1944 Flying out of Limavady, F/O P.J. Heron and crew in Wellington XII MP578, part of RCAF Squadron 407, and equipped with a Leigh Light attacked and sunk U-283 in the North Atlantic. F/O Heron was subsequently decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
14 February 1945 Five Motor Torpedo Boats (459, 461, 462, 465, 466) of the Canadian 29th Flotilla accidently burned in Ostende harbour, three boats were saved. 26 RCN and 35 RN crew were killed. Most of their bodies, however, were burned beyond recognition, with the result that of the Canadians, only 5 have graves with a headstone in the nearby cemeteries, 3 in Oostende and 2 in Adegen, Belgium. The remainder are named on the Halifax Memorial. This disaster was a stunning blow to the men of the small craft everywhere; and only the 65th Canadian Flotilla now remained to carry on to the end of the war with what was perhaps the most colourful, the most closely knit and the most thoroughly “allied” of all forces in which men of British, Canadian, French and many other nationalities worked together.
14 February 1950 HMCS Cayuga was ordered to proceed with all dispatch to a search area off the Queen Charlotte Sound and Hecate Strait to search for USAF B36 2075 which had gone down in the early morning hours. This was a BROKEN ARROW (a missing nuclear weapon). HMCS Cayuga remained on station as OTC coordinating the search on Princess Royal Island until 22 Feb 1950 when the search was called off. All but 5 of the crew were found. The crash site was not found until six years later, on the side of Mount Kologet, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Alaskan border, roughly due east of the towns of Stewart, British Columbia, and Hyder, Alaska, on the east side of the isolated Nass Basin northwest of Hazelton, British Columbia.
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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