NAC News – Edition 624 (H.M.C. Signal Station Turple Head)
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of July 4, 2025
Edition: 624 H.M.C. Signal Station Turple Head Quote: “Australia will host the largest ever Exercise Talisman Sabre from 13 July to 4 August 2025. Over 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to participate in activities across Australia, and for the first time, in Papua New Guinea. Now in its eleventh iteration, Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force and the United States military, reflecting the closeness of our Alliance. Participating partner nations in Talisman Sabre 2025 also include Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom. Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam will also attend as observers. Talisman Sabre 2025 will focus on multi-domain warfighting. Key activities will include amphibious and airborne lodgements, firepower demonstrations, and combat across land, air, sea, space and cyber domains.” Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, Australian Defence Media Release 23 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 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
NEW Editor – The NAC AGM has come and gone (21 June). Bruce Belliveau has completed his term as President, and we thank him for his efforts to promote the goals and comradery of NAC. Bruce will remain a member of the national board and as the President of NAC-NS. Steve White was elected as our new NAC President, and he will remain as the President of NAC-VI. The minutes for the AGM will be out shortly and will clarify the new organizational structure that was agreed and describe how it will ensure all-branch representation with NAC leadership and management.
The Royal Canadian Legion asked NAC (and others) to share their “OurCare Survey” with the NAC membership. You can find the link to their 2025 OurCare National Survey here. The survey is designed to inform policy makers and provincial healthcare systems to address the primary care needs of CAF Veterans and RCMP officers, as they are an under-represented population within Canada’s primary care system. The survey takes 10-15 minutes and is available on-line until 9 July 2025.
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.
21–22 October 2025 ABCMI’s Business Opportunities Conference & Trade Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre, this flagship event brings together leading companies from across Canada in the marine and defence sectors. Tickets are selling quickly; exhibit spaces are sold out, and the discounted hotel room block is almost full.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Will Canada Hit NATO’s 5% Defence Spending Target? (Editor – CDAI 31:19 min podcast with Former Defence Minister Peter MacKay joined us to discuss the outcomes of the 76th NATO Summit)
Is $150B a year on defence more than Canada can afford? | Power & Politics (Editor – 8:17 min CBC video)
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CANADA
Happy Canada Day from the Canadian Armed Forces (Editor – 1:00 min video)
Statement by the Minister of National Defence on Canada Day 2025 & Déclaration du ministre de la Défense nationale à l’occasion de la fête du Canada 2025
Full-Rate Production on the First River-Class Destroyer is Now Underway with Irving Halifax celebrates recent achievements (Editor – CTV News 1:38 min video)
HMCS William Hall returns to Halifax following successful Operation CARIBBE deployment & Le NCSM William Hall retourne à Halifax après un déploiement réussi dans le cadre de l’opération CARIBBE with Coast Guard offloads more than $20 million in illicit drugs interdicted in Caribbean Sea (Editor – follow on from last week’s article ref HMCS William Hall’s success)
Le sergent Phillip Safire, arrière-arrière-arrière-neveu de William Hall, VC, navigue à bord du NCSM William Hall & Sergeant Phillip Safire, Great, Great, Great Nephew of William Hall, VC, sails on HMCS William Hall
Exercise TRIDENT FURY 2025 concludes off coast of Vancouver Island
Canadian Armed Forces Recognizes Over 100 Personnel with Order of Military Merit (Editor – BZ NAC member Darren Sleen)
MDA Space awarded $60 million for next phase of River-class Destroyer
CANADIAN ARMED FORCES: Ballooning the Defence Budget with Hot Air? (Editor – Esprit de Corps 5:10 min video)
CMSN: The Military Applications and Implications of Quantum Sensing Technologies for Maritime Security
Tanker bound for Asia after loading Canada’s first cargoes of liquefied natural gas in B.C. with Canada is getting a second shot at becoming a major LNG player
Ontario announces $215 million to support provincial shipbuilding
After US expansion, Canada’s Davie shipyard eyes Sweden icebreaker gap
Under Pressure Under Water: Submarine Cook Sergeant Matthew Wade & Sous pression sous l’eau : le sergent Matthew Wade, chef cuisinier à bord d’un sous-marin
Mise à jour de l’ombud : Cadets : Une enquête sur le soutien offert aux cadets souffrant d’une maladie ou d’une blessure suivant leur participation à une activité des cadets &
Support, resilience and success: Pathfinder Indigenous Mentorship Initiative launches at Seaspan
Complexity debt in defence procurement: Why simplifying the maze starts with rethinking risk (Editor – Vanguard article by NAC member Ian Mack)
Transport Canada issues Interim Order restricting certain oils in Arctic waters
Port of Nanaimo welcomes historic first cruise ship disembarkation
Letter from WWII sailor killed by Nazi U-boat found in ‘the bowels’ of Calgary high school (Editor – Cecil Richard Moss was just 18 at the time was aboard HMCS Shawinigan a Flower-class that was torpedoed by a single T-5 GNAT torpedo and sunk the night of 24 Nov 1944 in the Cabot Strait. All 90 crew members were lost including seven officers and 83 sailors.
Naval Reserve Association of Canada The June, 2025 Edition is now available. & Association de la Réserve navale du Canada L’édition de juin 2025 est maintenant disponible.
Lookout: 30 June 2025 Volume 70 Number 13 (English) (Française) (Editor – note HMCS Venture 6 June 2025 CoC)
Trident: Monday 30 June 2025 Volume 59 Issue 13 (Bilingue) (Editor – note article about HMCS Charlottetown’s 2011 Libyan deployment Battle Honour)
NAC Naval Affairs Cyber Security and the RCN (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: June 30, 2025
The winners and losers in a trillion-dollar US defence budget with One Big Beautiful Bill Contains $5 Billion for U.S. Shipbuilding
Sea Power – The Missing Ingredient in a Strategy of Denial
Navy’s biennial global exercise to include Canadian, Japanese, NATO officials
USNI: Inside Shipbuilding: A Discussion with Senior Leaders (Editor – 1:07:58 hr video)
U.S. Coast Guard Ends Use of WWII-Era Numbered Districts
General Dynamics Awarded $1.8B Deal for US Navy Virginia Submarines
HII christens destroyer USS Jeremiah Denton
HII Launches Virginia-class Submarine Arkansas (SSN 800)
U.S. Navy Budget Request Leaves Out Next Constellation-Class Frigate
Report to Congress on Coast Guard Icebreaker Programs
Raytheon wins $250m contract for missile production (Editor – ESSM Block 2)
Missile Defense Agency Issues Lockheed Martin Aegis Contract Worth Up to $2.97B
Great Lakes Icebreaker Funding Cut from Senate Bill
US Navy launches Songbow laser weapon project to counter drones without running out of missiles
INSIDE The Biggest Nuclear Submarine In The US Navy (Editor – 13:42 min video)
U.S. Maritime Academies Graduate Over 1,100 Amid National Push to Rebuild Sea Power
Father jumps off Disney cruise ship to save daughter who fell overboard
Washington State Awards $714.5 Million Ferry Contract to Eastern Shipbuilding
Venezuela’s oil exports on the rise as more cargoes head to China
This Cancún Resort Fights 20,000 Tons of Invasive Seaweed Each Year | WSJ Booked (Editor – for beach lovers a 6:44 min video)
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INDO-PACIFIC
The Royal Navy’s Pacific Test (Editor – what a fantastic opportunity and experience for the crew of VDQ) and Carrier Strike Group 25 sails towards Australia for the largest-ever Exercise Talisman Sabre with HMS Prince of Wales Continues Extended Pacific Voyage
How this Indian submarine base checkmates China (Editor – 17:32 min video)
Fiji says China military base not welcome as Pacific islands steer between superpowers
Here’s what would happen if China invaded Taiwan | Battle Board | Daily Mail (Editor – hypothetical but thoughtful 30:07 min video)
Russia’s Warships Conduct Drills In Sea Of Japan
What is China building in the PMZ? (Editor – CSIS 4:41 min video)
KIMM Cracks the Code for Underwater Radiated Noise Prediction
Royal Australian Navy commissions first Arafura-class OPV
Indigenous Stealth Frigate Udaygiri Delivered to Indian Navy
Indian Navy to test K-6 hypersonic ballistic missile for future underwater nuclear strike force
FFM Class Tatsuta Launched by MHI Nagasaki
Fincantieri delivers the PPA “KRI BRAWIJAYA-320” to the Indonesian Navy
South Korea’s KAI Achieves First Flight of MCH Prototype
UK begins SSN AUKUS nuclear submarine production to support US and Australia across Indo-Pacific while Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Regulations – public consultation (Editor – part of the AUKUS partnership process)
Containership WAN HAI 503 Towed Beyond India’s EEZ After Deadly Fire
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Senior Russian Navy commander Gudkov killed in Kursk Region — official
Dockworkers Killed and Crew Injured as Russian Missile Strikes Odesa Port
Ukraine disappointed with U.S. decision to halt some weapons deliveries
Ukraine Calls For EU Sanctions On Import Of ‘Stolen Grain’
Baltic:
German push against Russian shadow fleet begins with tanker insurance checks (Editor – Germans Russians what go wrong?)
Saab launches first Polish SIGINT ship
General:
Total command: UK’s top military job just got more powerful than ever (Editor – integration – novel concept. Hopefully not the same uniforms!)
Former head of Royal Navy sacked over affair with subordinate officer
Multi-National Mine Countermeasure Exercise Sea Breeze Begins In England and Black Sea mine war: How Nato is helping Ukraine train for the next battle (Editor – 5:14 min video)
Russian submarine shadowed in and around British waters
Denmark to draft women into army amid growing Russian aggression, military expansion (Editor – why are other NATO countries doing things like this when Canada seems content to debate just about everything defence related?)
Italy’s Fincantieri Swaps Cruise Ships for Warships in Defense Bid
German Navy to Patrol the Arctic
French Navy Frigates to get VSR700 Helicopter Drones
TKMS wins €800 million contract to modernize German Navy submarines
BAE Systems Boosts Shipbuilding Capacity for Frigates with Massive New Hall
German Navy NH90 Sea Tiger at Paris Air Show 2025 (Editor – 3:51 min video)
Germany buys joint strike missile from Kongsberg
Major Cocaine Bust: UK Border Force Seizes Record Shipment at London Gateway
Gas Carrier Dashes Across Arctic Ocean in Just 10 Days Delivering Russian LNG to Asia however Russia Tries Again to Expand LNG Exports Upended by Sanctions
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
Editor – Gone strangely quiet, perhaps the various air attacks have blunted the flow of Iranian missiles, and some of the Houthi’s enthusiasm to use them.
General:
Iran suspends co-operation with UN nuclear watchdog
Navy destroyers intercepted Iranian missiles, service confirms
U.S. Says Iran Loaded Naval Mines Amid Threat to Block Strait of Hormuz theatrically
Summary of Iranian naval capacity and Iranian Naval Forces Suffered Casualties From Israeli Air Strikes
USNI: A Quicklook Analysis of Israeli and U.S. Airstrikes in Iran (Editor – 40-41 min podcast)
Iran & Israel: From Escalation to Ceasefire – Nuclear Unknowns, Lessons & Iran’s Strategic Handicap (Editor – rather long but a good “summary” in a 59:47 min video)
USNI: The Tanker War (Editor – relevant historically a 23:11 min podcast)
China’s Iran Oil Imports Surge in June on Rising Shipments
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Oil Tanker Suffers Unexplained Blast Weeks After Russia Call with Limpet Mine Eyed in Tanker Blast Off Libya’s Coast
The Mariner’s Mirror – Seapower Past & Present (Editor – 1:13:00 hr podcast)
Alarming 25% Rise in Seafarer Deaths Following Pandemic, Gard Report Reveals
Container Losses Rise in 2024 as Red Sea Crisis Forces Riskier Routes
Kite-Powered Sailboat Aiming to Be the World’s Fastest | What The Future (Editor – an OMG 4:06 min video)
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SCUTTLEBUTT
HMCS Ontario – Guide 148 (Editor – my father was serving as a Lieutenant in Ontario when she was doing a port visit in Alberni BC when my met my mother. The rest is history)
A Union Jack that survived the Battle of Trafalgar | Christie’s (Editor – 4:42 min video)
Inside the Ship That Changed WWII | The Liberty Ship
Spitfire Vs Zero – Duel over Darwin (Editor – not naval but an interesting looking into fighter limitation and advantages in a 32:36 min video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
5 July 1940 First Canadian registered merchant ship sunk in Battle of the Atlantic, CSL’s S.S. Magog, by U-99 SW of Ireland. No casualties.
5 July 1950 HMC Ships Athabaskan, Cayuga, and Sioux sail from Esquimalt, BC, to join the United Nations naval forces operating in Korean waters.
6 July 1944 HMC Ships Ottawa commanded by Cdr James D. Prentice, DSO, RCN with HMCS Kootenay commanded by A/LCDR William H. Willson, RCN, along with HMS Statice, sank the German submarine U-678 while on patrol in the English Channel.
8 July 1760 The final Battle of the French-British war for Canada between the RN and Acadian militia and Mi’kmaq (Mi’gmaq) militias was fought in the mouth of the Restigouche River. It was not on land but at sea that the French lost the battle for Canada. It was because of French naval weakness that the outnumbered French and Canadians in North America were unable, indefinitely, to deny Acadia, the Ohio, Lake Champlain, Quebec, and Montreal, to the invading British and Americans of Amherst, Wolfe, and Johnson.
8 July 1944 Canadian MTB 463 was lost to a mine in the English Channel. No crew were lost, although 5 men were wounded.
8 July 1954 Canada’s first icebreaking arctic patrol vessel, HMCS Labrador, is commissioned.
9 July 1914 HMCS Rainbow begins preparations for the international seal patrol in the North Pacific Ocean.
10 July 1943 Canadian landing craft drop soldiers of the 1st Canadian Division off on the coast of Sicily during the Allied invasion known as Operation HUSKY.
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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