NAC News – Edition 614 (Royal Roads)
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of April 25th, 2025
Edition: 614 HMCS Royal Roads/Royal Canadian Naval College/RCN-RCAF Royal Roads/Royal Roads Military College Quotes: “The US Naval Academy canceled a lecture that author Ryan Holiday was scheduled to give to students there last week after he refused to remove slides from his planned presentation that criticized the academy’s decision to remove nearly 400 books from its main library. Holiday, a writer and philosopher who has lectured at the US Naval Academy more than half a dozen times since 2019, told CNN on Saturday that he was invited by the academy in November to give a lecture about wisdom to midshipmen on April 14. He had previously spoken to students there, including during the first Trump administration, as part of a series on stoicism and the pursuit of virtue and excellence. But an hour before he was scheduled to give his talk last week, as he was getting ready in his hotel room in Annapolis, Holiday says he received a call from the school asking him if he could refrain from mentioning the academy’s decision earlier this month to remove 381 books from the shelves of its Nimitz Library.” CNN, Natasha Bertrand, 19 April 2025
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 a NAC member – note, the first year’s NAC/Branch membership dues are waived)
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NOTICES
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.
19-22 June 2025 Halifax Fleet Week. Naval vessels from Canada and Allied nations will gather for public tours and demonstrations. The event features educational programmes, community activities, and a showcase of modern naval technologies, celebrating maritime heritage and international cooperation in Halifax Harbour.
26-27 September 2025 The Canadian Maritime Security Network (CMSN) will host a conference on the future Canadian Seapower 2025. Venue – University of Calgary. Today, Canada faces a more complex and dangerous security landscape than at any time since the Second World War. The country is at an inflection point, facing two great power competitors, a complicated ecosystem of malign non-state actors, persistent pressures eroding the rules based international order, and an uncertain partnership with the U.S. Registration opens 1 May 2025.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Thanks to Trump and Putin, Europe needs to rearm quickly. But can it catch up fast enough?
China’s Military Buildup Threatens Indo-Pacific Region Security
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CANADA
HMCS Ville de Québec arrives in Plymouth ahead of joining Carrier Strike Group deployment (Editor – see the HMS Prince of Wales TG deployment articles in the European section)
What will it take to defend Canada? Experts say party platforms miss the target and CDAI: 2025 Election: Comparing Conservative and Liberal Defence Platforms (Editor – 26:19 min podcast)
Shoot the Drone! Main Gun Weapon Firing from Canadian Navy Warship HMCS Winnipeg (Editor – 4:56 min video)
Canadian submarine sidelined for at least a decade will be operational this summer, DND says
What Is Canada’s Military Commitment To Latvia? (Editor – not a naval 8:00 min video but a handy simplified explanation)
China pivots to Canada for more Crude as trade war worsens
The numbers are in on this season’s massive N.W.T. winter fuel resupply (Editor – a great example of the logistical challenges in the north)
La Marine Canadienne : peut-elle redresser la barre?
Lookout: 22 April 2025 Volume 70 Number 8 (English) (Française)
Trident: 21 April 2025 Volume 59, Issue 08 (Bilingual)
NAC Naval Affairs Crewing Naval Ships (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: April 21, 2025
US Plans to Expand Columbia Submarine Fleet in Response to China and Russia Nuclear Threats
US Coast Guard Inducts First Sentinel Cutter at Kodiak Base
USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul Makes Multiple Drug Busts
Inside the U.S. Strategy to Counter China’s Booming Network of Ports | WSJ U.S. vs. China (Editor – informative 7:50 min video)
US Coast Guard Negotiating With Finland’s Rauma Marine For Construction of Up to Five Icebreakers, Helsinki Press Reports and U.S. Coast Guard Sees Interest from Finnish, Canadian Yards for Arctic Security Cutter
US Navy receives first Lionfish SUUVs from HII
US Naval Academy canceled author’s lecture that would have criticized book bans (Editor – quote at the top of this edition, so much for freedom of speech) then Navy Cancels 56-Year-Old International Seapower Symposium Due to ‘Unavailable Funding’
Life Inside a Nuclear Submarine 1000 Feet Below The Surface! (Editor – 12:11 min video)
Massive Surge in Transpacific Blank Sailings Amid U.S.-China Trade Tensions with Hapag-Lloyd Customers Cancel 30% of China’s US Bound Shipments
USTR Proposes 100% Tariffs on Chinese Ship-to-Shore Cranes and Cargo Handling Equipment
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INDO-PACIFIC
Chinese Navy Flexes, Opens Warships to Public on 76th Anniversary (Editor – impressive warships, but pristine and looking unused included in a 2:38 min video)
Chinese Carrier Shandong Deploys Nears the Philippines
Chinese Defense Ministry responds to claim ‘China building military force dedicated to defeating US’
Chinese military slams US warship’s transit through Taiwan Strait
USS Nimitz in Guam for Port Visit; U.S., South Korea Wrap Mine Warfare Exercise with Chinese expert slams US anti-ship missile deployment in the Philippines amid drills
Japan Tests Railgun at Sea; Repositions V-22 Osprey Fleet
China tests non-nuclear hydrogen bomb
Russian Pacific Fleet warships begin business call at Thailand and Russian, Bangladeshi naval crews hold joint maneuvers in Indian Ocean
Blue Ridge departs Cairns, Australia following port visit
China’s J-36 design team unveils aircraft carrier landing system for sixth-gen stealth jet
Indonesian Navy Commissions New Indigenous Corvette
UK’s JFD Completes Historic Submarine Rescue System Integration for South Korean Navy
China Stops Imports of US LNG Amid Trade War, Custom Data Shows
Korean Shipbuilder Hanwha Seizes Chance to Build US LNG Tankers
Trump Administration Opens Pacific Remote Islands Marine Monument to Commercial Fishing
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Ukraine’s navy responds to reports US was ‘angry’ at sinking of Russia’s Moskva Black Sea flagship
General:
The UK Carrier Strike Group sails – what it takes to prepare for global deployment with Canadian-U.K. naval partnership shows strength without U.S. a big deal for the UK but relatively unnoticed in Canada, sigh, HMS Prince of Wales leads biggest UK deployment of naval air power this century (Editor – 2:43 min video) HMS Richmond leaves Plymouth to take up her duties defending strike group and NZ frigate to join UK CSG in Indian Ocean with Spain leaving shortly after while Second Sea Lord thanks crew as Norwegian warship with Navy Wildcat joins CSG 25
Russia has no intention to get into naval arms race — presidential aide
Early Type 26 frigates mirror timelines ahead of late-2020s entry
Admiral Golovko frigate sails the Channel
Ce lycée des Côtes-d’Armor abrite la première classe cyberdéfense maritime, de Bretagne
Marine nationale : les six matelots de la première promotion 2025 reçoivent leur coiffe
Voile. Avec IDB Marine, la croisière de demain se veut plus verte et plus rapide
« Ça me donne encore plus envie de m’engager »: ces jeunes marchent dans les pas du commando Kieffer
Russia’s New ‘Combat Icebreaker’ Undergoes Ice Trials Ahead of Joining Northern Fleet
CIMSEC: The Case for a Baltic SNMG-3: Developing Regional NATO Forces at Sea
CIMSEC: Parting Ways: A NATO Naval Strategy Without America
CIMSEC: Keeping America Engaged: Three Possibilities for European Navies
Defense rents patrol ship and crew for North Sea
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
A Post-Mortem of the Red Sea Crisis: NATO versus the European Union
Report to Congress on Yemen, Red Sea Attacks and U.S. Policy
General:
Iran Seizes Two Ships and Issues Jail Sentences in Fuel Smuggling Crackdown
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Trump deep sea mining order violates law, China says
The World Built A Record Number of Mega-Freighters… Now Nobody Needs Them. (Editor – informative 13:26 min video) and the other end of a liner’s life The Anti-Human Business of Ship Breaking (Editor – 11:333 min video)
How to Stop a Submarine (Editor – eclectic but interesting 20:53 min video)
Most of world’s colourful corals go white in record-breaking bleaching
Tanker Boarded and Robbed in First Incident in Four Years Off Nigeria
Indian Navy contingent departs Tanzania after successful maiden edition of AIKEYME Exercise
The Crazy-Complex Process of Organizing a Container Ship (Editor – quirky but interesting 8:36 min video)
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SCUTTLEBUTT
Why Was a 1940s Car Discovered in the Wreck of an American Naval Ship That Sank During World War II?
German U-Boat Helicopter? (Editor – 9:36 min video)
When 700 Ships were Abandoned | Atlantic Cemetery Fleet (Editor – 19:54 min video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
26 April 1944 HMCS Huron commanded by LCdr Herbert S. Rayner, DSC, RCN, with HMCS Haida commanded by Cdr Harry G. DeWolf, DSO, RCN, and HMCS Athabaskan commanded by A/LCdr John H. Stubbs, DSO, RCN fought two German destroyers off Ile de Bas, France, and drove a flaming German warship T-29 aground. The modern HMCS Harry DeWolf is named in VAdm DeWolf’s honour.
28 April 1818 U.S. Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Convention, signed April 28 and 29, 1817, making it a lawful treaty of the United States; limits naval forces on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Washington, DC
29 April 1941 Lt A.G.S. Griffin appointed A/C.O. of HMCS Pictou, K146 a Flower Class Corvette, while she was undergoing repairs of collision damage. He became the first RCNVR CO of an operational escort warship. After HMCS Pictou completing repairs and recommissioning Lt Griffin was confirmed as C.O. 5 Sept 1941.
29 April 1944 German torpedo boat T-24 sinks HMCS Athabaskan commanded by A/LCdr John H. Stubbs, DSO, RCN who was killed in action; 128 lost their lives and 86 were captured. Of the 128 men killed, 88 bodies were recovered by rescue teams or when they washed ashore; 60 of them are buried in the communal cemetery of the closest nearby village of Plouescat, France.
29 April 2020 Crash of RCAF CH148 Cyclone flying from HMCS Fredericton as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 under Operation REASSURANCE crashed into the Ionian Sea, killing four members of the RCAF and two members of the RCN: Master Corporal Matthew Cousins, Sub-Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough, Captain Kevin Hagen, Captain Brenden MacDonald, Captain Maxime Miron-Morin, and Sub-Lieutenant Matthew Pyke.
30 April 1884 Victoria coal baron Robert Dunsmuir starts building the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway, later known as the Vancouver Island Railway, to support the coal and lumber industry, and the Royal Navy Base at Esquimalt Harbour; on August 13, 1886 John A. Macdonald will drive home the last railway spike at Cliffside near Shawnigan Lake.
30 April 1941 The passenger/cargo ship SS Nerissa was pressed into service as a troopship. Her home port became Halifax. Her accommodation was increased from 229 to 250 passengers, and she was fitted with guns. In her 6 eastbound crossings to the UK, many of the passengers were Canadian and Newfoundland armed forces plus civilians, refugees, and Merchant Navy seamen. Convoy escort protection had been provided for 7 of her 12 transits through the most dangerous Western Approaches. On her 13th wartime crossing originated in Halifax, she was eastbound for Liverpool via St John’s Newfoundland. Embarked were: 105 (British, Newfoundland and Canadian) crew members, 152 armed forces, 14 American volunteer Air Transport Auxiliary pilots and 20 civilians. Her cargo was: 1,872 Tons of general items, 574 Tons of Aluminum, 352 Tons of ammunition shells, and 251 Tons of trucks (Canadian Army ambulances). Nerissa was sailing independently and was sunk by U-552, about 80 nautical miles northwest of Ireland and about a half-day from Liverpool. Of the ship’s eight lifeboats, only one was successfully launched, one was upright but flooded, four were capsized and two were pulled down with the ship. The next morning on the 1st of May, only 84 survivors remained alive to be rescued by HMS Veteran. The sinking resulted in the third largest loss of life for a ship sunk by U-boats in the approaches to the British Isles. The 207 casualties were: 81 Merchant Navy; 10 RCN; 73 Canadian Army; 4 Royal Navy; 8 RAF; 3 Royal Norwegian Air Force; 11 American ATA pilots; 3 National Defence staff; and 14 civilians (including 3 children). Worthy of mention the sinking of the Nerissa is considered the Canadian Logisticians Darkest Day. Forty-four military logisticians: one Pay Commander, Francis R.W. Nixon, RCN (age 37); 33 Corps of Military Staff Clerks; three Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps; three Royal Canadian Army Service Corps; and one Royal Canadian Ordnance Corp…and three National Defence HQ civilian auditors were killed.
30 April 1943 The Flag Officer Atlantic Coast, Rear-Admiral Leonard Murray, RCN became the only Canadian to command a Theatre of War during WWII under the title of Commander-in-Chief Canadian North West Atlantic. In doing so he became Commander-in-Chief of the area from the Gulf of Maine to Baffin Island, ranging out to mid-Atlantic, and thereby took control of all shipping movements in the western North Atlantic.
1 May 1942 – The four-masted schooner SV James E. Newsom (Zwicker Geldert Shipping Co Ltd, Halifax, NS) was sailing independently from Turks Island, via Barbados with a declared cargo of sugar cane molasses, bound for St. John’s Newfoundland. The sails of a schooner on a northwesterly course were first sighted by U-69 (the first of the 568 Type VIIC class U-boats commissioned during the war) and the boat maneuvered ahead of the ship and at 17:28, started shelling the schooner with high explosive and incendiary rounds from the 3.5 inch deck gun followed by rounds from the 20 mm AA gun until the ship sank at 18:03 about 370 nm NE of Bermuda. The Master and 8 crewmembers abandoned ship in a lifeboat and made it to Bermuda.
1 May 1945 HMCS Uganda, on service in the Pacific, bombards air bases on the Sakishima Islands and comes under kamikaze attack by two Japanese planes.
1 May 1961 415 Maritime Patrol Squadron is reformed at Summerside, Prince Edward Island, flying Argus maritime patrol aircraft.
1 May 2002 HMCS St. John’s joins the Canadian Naval Task Group, part of the multinational anti-terrorism campaign in the Persian Gulf.
2 May 1945 During an air strike in the Kattegat four Mosquito aircraft of RCAF Squadron 404 provided aircover while RAF Squadrons 143, 235, 248, and Norwegian Squadron 333 attacked with rockets and sank U-2359.
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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