NAC News – Edition J396 HMCS Fort Frances
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of February 12th, 2021
Edition – J396 HMCS Fort Frances (WW2 Algerine-class minesweeper, and other duties)
Rod Hughes -Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca (comments welcome to help improve this service)
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NOTICES
- ★ The National Shipbuilding Strategy and the Canadian Surface Combatant) NAC Paper
- ★ Editor – Impact of COVID on Sea and Navy League Cadet programmes – maybe you can help (See Scuttlebutt below for the full explanation)
- RUSI(NS) will meet by Zoom Wednesday, 17 February 2021, for a presentation by Cmdre James Clarke; Deputy Director of the Strategy, Policy and Plans Directorate; NORAD and USNORTHCOM. Cmdre Clarke’s talk is titled “NORAD Modernization: Enabling Forward Operations.” To register, email RUSINovaScotia@gmail.com by close of business Sunday, 14 February. As the subject line for your registration email, put: RUSI(NS)/N-NC Distinguished Speaker 17 February 2021 Registration. For non- RUSI(NS) members please provide your name and organization.
- Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University: The Americas Series Session 3 in the series titled Canada & USA This presentation covers two North American countries with rich naval tradition and sizeable navies. Canada and the United States are NATO navies and, as such, are of utmost interest and relevance to transatlantic security. Scheduled via Zoom for 18 Feb 2021 10:00 AM EST. Registration (free) is required.
- Canadian Nautical Research Society: Canada’s Pacific Gateway, Past Present and Future. The Society will hold its annual conference 10–11 June 2021 and the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 12 June 2021. The conference theme will be Canada’s Pacific Gateway, past present and future. Proposals are invited for papers or presentations related to the general theme of Canada’s wider Pacific Ocean dimensions or other maritime contemporary and historical topics. This will be a virtual conference to commemorate the 150th anniversary of BC joining Canada, 25 July 1871. Earlier plans to hold a traditional conference in Victoria on these dates have been cancelled.
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CANADA
- HMCS Winnipeg patrols Asia-Pacific’s electric avenues
- Navy exercise to include missile launches, return of Canadian submarine off B.C. coast and The role of the Task Group Commander
- Halifax Shipyard is humming and the overtime is plentiful, but for how long?
- Technological advancements make the Canadian Surface Combatant the right choice for the RCN
- The CSC: Canada’s ‘Frankenship’? and CSC: The Canadian Public and Politicians Don’t Know – Period! (Editor – this is exactly the type of articles that the NAC created its latest paper to counter The National Shipbuilding Strategy and the Canadian Surface Combatant)
- NAC Naval Affairs Program Briefing Note # 28 – Undersea Cables
- Trudeau, Jason Kenney, Zita Astravas on witness wish list for Gen. Vance hearings
- Military tweet on diversity faces backlash after it features eight white male officers
- State actors have done ‘significant harm’ to Canadian companies, says head of spy agency
- Defence committee launches parliamentary probe into Vance misconduct allegations
- “We Will Not March at the Back”: The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service
- Bernice McIntyre: From wartime Wren to the regular navy
- Cdr Roberge takes command at NFS(A)
- Lt(N) Denise Dickson: An unexpected career
- HMCS Nipigon lives on thanks to former hull tech’s handiwork (Editor – fun article)
- VAC Treatment Benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic (Editor – if a Veteran is on disability benefits VAC will compensate for PPE for treatment)
- New home: New life
- Irving Shipbuilding Appoints Kevin Mooney as President
- Whale threats from fishing gear ‘underestimated’
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USA & AMERICAS
- USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 8, 2021
- ★ Sea Power: The U.S. Navy and Foreign Policy (Editor – useful summary article)
- Breaking Down the US Navy’s Blueprint for a Blue Arctic
- SPY-6 Radar Installation Begins On USS Jack H. Lucas
- U.S. Navy successfully completed trial (Editor – lots of eye candy in a 5:15 min video)
- Ice-Strengthened Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard?
- Report to Congress on Coast Guard Cutter Procurement
- CSIS Online Event: Maritime Security Dialogue – USN: Setting the Theater in the Arctic (Editor – 58:00 min video discussion with Adm Robert P. Burke, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa and Commander, Allied Joint Forces Command Naples)
- Navy to Field Early ‘Project Overmatch’ Battle Network on Theodore Roosevelt CSG in 2023
- The U.S. Navy Is Building Cruisers—It’s Just Not Calling Them That
- Boeing Is Refurbishing Harpoon Missiles for U.S. Navy Submarines
- Navy Brings ‘Precision Landing Mode’ Carrier Landing Assist Tool to New Fighter Pilots
- NAVSEA awards industry studies for T-ARC(X) cable ship
- Chile to request US Standard Missile-2 SM-2 Block IIIA anti-ship missiles for its Adelaide-class frigates
- Skagway, Alaska, feeling pain of Canada’s ban on cruise ships and FMC Commissioner Sola Calls for Exemption for 2021 Alaska Cruises
- Great Lakes Ice Coverage Is The Smallest In Decades
- Two USCG Cutters Seized $220 Million in Illegal Drug
- What Happens when this Boat Capsizes? (Editor – wow 39 sec video)
- MARAD Seeks Input on Future of NS Savannah, World’s First Nuclear Ship
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INDO-PACIFIC
- US Navy Conducts Dual Carrier Ops in South China Sea and Admiral: No Abnormal Responses from China After Dual-Carrier Drills
- Macdonald-Laurier Institute episode 58 – Canada and the Indo-pacific with Jonathan Berkshire miller and Brett Byers (Editor – 24:53 min podcast)
- A Guide to China’s Unprecedented Naval Shipbuilding Drive
- Pangong Lake: India and China to pull back from disputed border (Editor – not a naval article but one with curious implications) and Why India Needs a Sea Denial Strategy to Counter China’s Reach
- A French Navy SSN Patrolled The South China Sea
- High Resolution – China’s Type 075 Amphibious Assault Ship (Editor – interesting 3:29 min video)
- South Korea’s LPX-II Light Aircraft Carrier Project – ROK Navy (Editor – yet another country with a future “aviation” ship and other new assets in this 5:14 min video)
- The increasing rapprochement between China and Pakistan Navies in the Indian Ocean
- Pak Navy confirmed the future acquisition of Chinese warships and eight submarines or perhaps not Germany’s reluctance to supply engines casts shadow on China’s desire to make submarines for Pakistan
- Three Injured After Japanese Submarine and Bulker Collide (Editor – an informal explanation of the collision in this 12:45 min video Soryu SSK Collision and more pics in this article Japan: Submarine crew phone for help after crash)
- Russia, China, and Iran to Hold Joint Naval Drills and Chinese naval fleet heads for joint exercise in Pakistan
- Philippines to deploy more navy to protect fishermen
- China’s Latest Weapon Against Taiwan: The Sand Dredger (Editor – a leading cause of war: resources. A controversial piece of geography I was unaware of: Matsu Islands)
- Progress as China Permits Indian Crew Change and Some Coal to Land and Anastasia Crew Debarks in Japan After Six Months Stuck off China
- India Aims to Double its Shipbreaking Capacity by 2024
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EUROPE
- Germany to send naval frigate to Japan with eye on China
- NATO warships conduct patrols in Western Mediterranean (Editor – Op Sea Guardian)
- The French Ship Premier-Maître L’Her joins the other two ships in Operation Irini in the Central Mediterranean (Editor – Op Irini)
- SNMG1 Conducts PASSEX training with German Navy (Editor – HMCS Halifax)
- British carrier prepares for operational deployment
- The Royal Navy Keeps Shrinking — Frigates to Drop by Three Over Five Years
- U.S., Turkish navies conduct Black Sea exercise
- USS Porter and Donald Cook guided missile destroyers depart from Black Sea
- Royal Navy Submarine Appears In Gibraltar Equipped With Enhanced Wake Detection System
- British Royal Navy’s HMS Talent tests upgraded Spearfish torpedo
- A Ship Made of Plastic?
- Submariners Memorial To Be Sculpted By Artist Paul Day
- NAVIRIS And NAVANTIA Sign MoU For The European Patrol Corvette Program
- Thales NS50 Radar Bringing Game Changing Features For Vessels Of All Sizes
- BAE Systems Naval Guns Selected for Belgian and Dutch Navies
- Three Greek Navy ships named after Imia martyrs
- Denmark to construct artificial island as a wind energy hub
- Nornickel must pay €1.62 billion for its huge oil spill in Arctic tundra
- Pipe Laying for Nord Stream 2 Restarts in Danish Waters
- Largest Metal 3D-Printed Propeller Certified by Bureau Veritas
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MIDDLE EAST
- Iran nuclear deal: US sanctions will not be lifted for talks, says Biden and Iran produces uranium metal in new violation of nuclear deal
- Royal Navy’s forces muster for impressive send-off for Gulf Commander
- Bahrain commissions new naval vessels
- U.S. Sells Seized Iranian Fuel, Another Cargo on the Way
- USS Makin Island, Marine F-35s Now in Persian Gulf
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Take Delivery of Entire Armada of Missile Speedboats
- Turkey and Israel draft a new maritime deal (Editor – issues with staggering implications discussed in this 13:17 min video)
- U.S., Saudi, British navies wrap trilateral exercise in Arabian Gulf
- Sa’ar 6 corvette of Israeli Navy to be armed with advanced Naval Iron Dome air defense system
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
- Beijing Wants Arctic to Remain Peaceful, Chinese Diplomat Says
- Nigeria’s Navy to Toughen Punishment for Collusion with Kidnappers
- Nautic Africa launches next- generation 35 metre flagship Vessel
- Pirates Board Product Tanker off Cameroon
- Pirate Group Conducts Multiple Attacks in Gulf of Guinea Over 4 Days
- Chinese manned fishing vessel Lianpengyu 819 hijacked
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SCUTTLEBUTT
★ Editor – Impact of COVID on Sea and Navy League Cadet programmes. I am ringing the general alarm for rescue stations. The pandemic is having a significant detrimental impacted on the delivery of both the Sea and Navy League Cadet programmes. I believe you are all aware of the logical CAF directed cessation of Corps drill nights, the closing of access to CAF facilities, stoppage of seasonal events such as biathlon competitions and band camps, and the shuttering of the summer camps. Hence both programmes are now delivered via Zoom, but the staff are understandably having challenges delivering remotely what should be hands-on programmes in a way that engages and inspires cadets…this situation is expected to continue for some months. These struggles have translated into a substantial decline in the number of cadets in both age groups joining and remaining with their Corps. I understand that these types of motivational problems are in the school system too, but participation isn’t elective there. I hasten to acknowledge that I do not have a solution to all their problems, but I do believe that if your NAC Branch investigates the status of your local Corps, they will discern various problems that they and maybe you will be able to help with. This is not a blame game, we are all in this together, and I also ask that whatever is decided, please work with our stalwart shipmates in the Navy League of Canada to mitigate any duplication of effort. For your attention.
- The Most Important Book in Maritime History? Lloyd’s Register (Editor – historical fact packed 33:02 min podcast)
- The Washington Naval Treaty – The parties, the motives, the negotiations, the loophole abuse… (Editor – Warship competition from 100 years ago in a 50:14 min video)
- Photos: New Sonar Imagery of the Deadliest Shipwrecks in History
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SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – FEBRUARY
(If you see any omissions or errors please inform me, and more modern significant dates are also welcome. 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”, Roger Litwiller’s excellent website, the encyclopedic guidance of NAC member and author Fraser McKee, and anywhere else I can find credible information.)
- 1 February 1911 The first recruiting posters for the RCN are issued to post offices throughout Canada.
- 1 February 1968 The personnel and organization of the RCN, Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force were unified into a single organization, the Canadian Forces.
- 5 February 1944 HMS Puncher, an aircraft carrier, is commissioned into the Royal Navy at Vancouver with a Canadian crew, but a British air complement.
- 6 February 6, 1943 – Italian aircraft attack and sink RCN Flower Class corvette HMCS Louisbourg east of Oran while she is escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to Bone, Algeria; 2 Officers, 35 crew, and 5 RN seaman are lost.
- 8 February 1943 HMCS Regina commanded by LCdr Harry Freeland, RCNR sinks the Italian submarine Avorio in the Mediterranean Sea.
- 10 February 1942 HMCS Spikenard is torpedoed by U136 and sunk in the North Atlantic. There were only 8 survivors and 57 perish.
- 14 February 1945 Five Motor Torpedo Boats (459, 461, 462, 465, 466) of the Canadian 29th Flotilla burn in Ostende harbour. 26 RCN crew are lost.
- 15 February 1965 The Maple Leaf becomes Canada’s official flag.
- 16 February 1945 HMCS St. John commanded by A/LCdr William R. Stacey, RCNR sinks the German submarine U-309 off the northeast coast of Scotland near Moray Firth.
- 18 February 1944 Sixteen Canadian minesweepers, in four divisions of four ships, begin to leave St. John’s for British waters to take part in the invasion of Normandy.
- 19 February 1944 Motor Torpedo boats of the 29th and 65th (Canadian) Flotillas began to be commissioned (continues until 31 March).
- 22 February 1943 – Operation Torch – RCN Flower Class corvette HMCS Weyburn strikes a mine laid by U-118 off the Strait of Gibraltar; the explosion kills one seaman of her crew of 77; before the ship sinks, all but two depth charges are rendered safe by throwing the detonators over the side; British destroyer HMS Wivern starts to remove the wounded and survivors when twenty minutes later an after bulkhead gives way and the corvette begins to sink; the two depth charges explode, killing 8 more sailors and wounding others in the water; Wivern’s engines and boilers are hit, leaving the ship dead in the water; 84 RCN and RN sailors are wounded in total. Gibraltar.
- 22 February 1945 HMCS Trentonian is torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine U1004 near Falmouth England, six of her ship’s company were lost.
- 24 February 1944 HMCS Waskesiu commanded by LCdr James P. Fraser, RCNR sank the German submarine U-257 in the North Atlantic.
- 27 February 1930 HMCS Thiepval is lost in Barkley Sound, British Columbia.
- 28 February 1946 HMCS Cornwallis is paid off (taken out of service) and new recruit training begins to be conducted at local naval depots.
- 28 February 1991 Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase of the Persian Gulf War ends.