NAC News – Edition K366 HMCS Ste Thérèse
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of July 17th 2020
Edition – K366 Ste. Therese (WW2 River Class Frigate)
Rod Hughes – Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca (comments welcome to help improve this service)
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★ Editor’s stars of the week
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NOTICES
- The upcoming Tom Hanks movie “Greyhound” is based on a major novel (“The Good Shepherd” 1955) and deals with the Battle of the Atlantic. What may come as a surprise to some is that our HMCS Sackville was scanned in the naval dockyards in 2016 so that the movie could include Corvettes on escort duty. HMCS Montreal and HMCS Haida also were utilized in the making of the film. The film was to be released this past spring but COVID-19 issues understandably shutdown movie releases. The “Greyhound” movie is to be released JULY 10 on Apple TV. Here is the site and the trailer for the film. Keep your eyes open for those Corvettes! Take care and continue to be safe. Doug Struthers https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/greyhound/umc.cmc.o5z5ztufuu3uv8lx7m0jcega
- Navy Bike Ride 2020 – Battle of the Atlantic Challenge: This is a virtual event and you can register thru the summer. The event runs 13 June to 30 August 2020. Check it out! While the original one-day ride event was cancelled, this virtual bike ride event is a great opportunity to support your Navy, support their charities of choice and keep fit. Check it out! Your NAC will be a sponsor – an Orca class sponsor! And it’s free! (but do feel free to step up and buy the tee and while you are at it – donate to their charities of choice!)
- Vanguard Launches First-Ever Canadian Submarine Event (Editor – The next big RCN procurement challenge! The Deep Blue 2020 Forum, a one-day event, will take place on 29 October 2020, details to follow)
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CANADA
- RCN’s First AOPS Vessel Future HMCS Harry DeWolf Departs for Final Sea Trials
- RUSI(NS) Distinguished Speaker event 15 July 20. RAdm Couturier provided an excellent and engaging review of the conversion and employment of MV Asterix (Editor – slides and the video is available by email request)
- THIS is what WE DO! – NTOG – Episode 3 (Editor – a long way from the old FN/SMG and the whaler )
- ★ Battle of the Atlantic Heroes: Ordinary Seaman Fraser McKee (Editor – proudly one of our NAC members)
- Canadian military says new hateful conduct policy will help weed out extremists in the ranks
- ‘It’s extremely dire’: Legions at risk of closing forever
- RCN is going to the polls to consult on changes to Rank designations
- Officials investigating after ‘rare’ collision between ships in Welland Canal (Editor – 30 sec video included)
- RCN Recruiting Site (Editor – slick site)
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USA & AMERICAS
- USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: July 13, 2020
- US Navy ship fire: Sailors and fire crew injured (Editor – as the story unfolds)
- UPDATED: Fire Fight on USS Bonhomme Richard Enters 2nd Day, 59 Treated for Injuries and On Day 4, Fire Crews on USS Bonhomme Richard Battle Hot Spots and Flare Ups and Firefighters Evacuated from Listing USS Bonhomme Richard finally Fire Chief Details Battling USS Bonhomme Richard Blaze as Investigations Begin
- Second America-Class Amphib USS Tripoli Commissions (Editor – with BHR they unfortunately may have to keep the building line open for one more on the end?)
- Air Detachment Brings Extended Combat Capability to Rotationally Deployed LCS
- HMS Forth Joins Army And RAF For Falklands Exercise
- Trump Previews Plan to Acquire 10 Icebreakers
- US Turns Screws on Maritime Industry to Cut off Venezuela’s Oil
- USS Pinckney freedom-of-navigation operation challenges Venezuela’s excessive maritime claim
- The Firepower on the USS Howard Is Absolutely Frightening (Editor – 4:02 min video)
- Most of Colombia’s Northbound Cocaine Isn’t Headed for America
- CDC Extends Cruise Ship No Sail Order Through September 2020
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INDO-PACIFIC
- South China Sea dispute: China’s pursuit of resources ‘unlawful’, says US
- Nimitz, Reagan Carrier Strike groups pick up dual-carrier exercises in South China Sea again
- US approves $23.11bn F-35 FMS order for Japan
- Rule Britannia: Royal Navy commits to Indo-Pacific carrier deployment
- Japanese Submarines To Counter Chinese Navy Incursions
- US warship sails contested waters in South China Sea after White House rejects China’s maritime claims there
- PLA’s upgraded Type 052D destroyer sails for the first time amid rising tensions
- Double the Destroyers: China Will Soon Have Almost 40 of These Modern Warships
- In clear message to China, India to invite Australian Navy for Malabar drill
- India Must Secure the Indian Ocean to Deter China’s Assertion Along the Border
- Philippine Navy commissions first Jose Rizal-class frigate
- Philippine Navy plans to acquire eight Israeli-made Shaldag-class fast patrol boats
- Japan Self-Defense Force Accepts Delivery of First V-22 Osprey
- Pakistan Navy inducts first Yarmook-class corvette
- Pakistan Navy Keeps Silent On Mystery Submarine But New Details Emerge
- Russian Shtorm aircraft carrier to potentially be fitted with S-500 anti-aircraft systems
- China’s two first-generation ocean-going landing ships decommissioned
- Indian Mig-29Ks to be retired in 2034, TEDBF to join Navy in 2032
- Allianz: 14 big ships lost in Asian waters in 2019
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EUROPE
- Foggo: Russia Seeking More Control of Black Sea, Mediterranean, Arct
- Powerful Russian Submarine Seen Entering Baltic Sea
- Russian shipyard floats out first serial Borei-A-class nuclear-powered submarine
- Russian Northern Fleet warships strike enemy missiles in Arctic drills
- Hellenic Navy Commissioned New General Support Ship HS Iraklis
- When will the Royal Navy’s Merlin helicopters be retired?
- Russian shipbuilders to lay down four warships, two submarines on July 16
- Libya ‘one hell of a mess’ as civil war spirals into international free-for-all (Editor – not part of Europe but on their doorstep, with a number of issues sadly playing out)
- Rollout of Spearfish Torpedo Fails As Royal Navy Has No Submarines to Test Them
- Saab Kockums’ Lars Tossman on A26 Submarine, Export & European shipbuilding industry (Editor – informative 8 min video)
- Germany, Belgium Cleared for Possible Procurement of Mk54 Torpedoes
- Shipbuilders deliver two latest fast-speed patrol boats to Russian Navy
- As permafrost melts under intense heat, Russia’s Siberia burns — again (Editor – so will the social and economic impact be destabilizing?)
- Indigenous groups paying the price for Russia’s massive Arctic fuel spill
- ★ ‘Holy grail of shipwrecks’ found by robot submarine with treasure worth billions
- What’s the Northernmost Town in the world? (Editor – Svalbard Treaty explained in this interesting 5:11 min video)
- In unique shipping operation, two big lift ships choose Russian Arctic route for delivery to south Siberia
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MIDDLE EAST
- CMF Maritime Security Conference Opening Remarks July 14, 2020
- Russian Navy Has Deployed Marine Mammals in Syrian Civil War
- Saudi Forces Destroy Two Bomb Boats off Yemen
- Royal Navy, US Navy and Saudi Navy in mine hunt training
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels agree to give UN access to abandoned tanker
- Missing tanker reappears in Iran after suspected ‘hijacking’
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
- ★ Importance of Training, Experience, and Maintenance (Editor – useful perspective while interpreting news article in this 10:31 min video [sorry about the lengthy commercial])
- China’s Polar Icebreaker Embarks on First Arctic Mission
- ★ Fertility rate: ‘Jaw-dropping’ global crash in children being born
- Crew Kidnappings Surge in Gulf of Guinea, IMB Says
- The World’s Cruise Ships Can’t Sail. Now, What to Do With Them?
- Carnival removing 13 ships from its fleet, delaying delivery of 16 newbuilds
- Key Countries Agree to Help Bring Home Seafarers Stuck on Ships
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SCUTTLEBUTT
- Greyhounds of the Sea – History of the U.S. Navy Destroyer 80260 (Editor – with the Tom Hanks “Greyhound” now on Apple TV, this 26:53 min video seemed appropriate)
- Bombing of the gunboat USS Panay by Japanese aircraft during rape of Nanking 70722 (Editor – in 1937 the USN and Japan at it in China, explained in this 9:37 min video)
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SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – JULY
(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”, Roger Litwiller’s excellent web site, the encyclopedic guidance from Fraser McKee, and anywhere else I can find credible information.)
- 1 July 1923 The RCN barracks in Halifax, known as HMCS Stadacona, is commissioned.
- 1 July 1934 Commodore Percy W. Nelles becomes the first Canadian-born and Canadian-trained Chief of the Naval Staff.
- 2 July 1944 Canadian MTB 460 (Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat) struck a mine in the English Channel. The commanding officer and 9 men were lost.
- 2 July 1940 861 German and Italian prisoners of war are rescued by HMCS St. Laurent after their transport ship was torpedoed on its way to Canada.
- 3 July 1944 Four Canadian motor torpedo boats sink two German merchant ships and damage other vessels in the English Channel.
- 4 July 1943 Canadian vessels of the 29th and 65th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotillas conduct raids on the French coast near Cherbourg.
- 5 July 1940 First Canadian registered merchant ship sunk in Battle of the Atlantic, CSL’s S.S. Magog, by U-99 (KL Otto Kretschmer) 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. Wilson, RCN, along with HMS Statice, sank the German submarine U-678 while on patrol in the English Channel.
- 8 July 1944 Canadian MTB 463 was lost to a mine in the English Channel. No crew was 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.
- 15 July 1920 RNCVR is disbanded. All troops released.
- 15 July 1958 The first review of the Royal Fleet ever held in Canadian waters takes place under the eyes of Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret off the coast of Vancouver Island at Royal Roads.
- 16 July 1914 First RNCVR seaman taken to sea in HMCS Rainbow to augment the RCN crew for a Bering Sea Fur Patrol; but diverted to assist her participation in the ‘Kamagata Maru Incident’ at Vancouver.
- 17 July 1940 HMCS Skeena rescues the crew of a torpedoed merchant ship, the SS Manipor, in the waters north of Scotland.
- 19 July 1943 HMCS HURON (Destroyer) is commissioned at Newcastle on the Tyne, England.
- 20 July 1944 HMCS MATANE (frigate) is hit by a German glider bomb off Brest and badly damaged.
- 23 July 1951 The RCN (Reserve) begins recruiting women for service with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (the Wrens) for the first time since the Second World War.
- 24 July 1917 The Military Service Act is passed allowing for conscription of single men.
- 24 July 1942 HMCS St. Croix commanded by LCdr A. Hedley Dobson, DSC, RCNR sank the German submarine U-90 while on patrol in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- 29 July 1948 HMCS Royal Roads is transformed into a Canadian Service College and begins training flight cadets, as well as naval cadets.
- 29 July 1972 HMCS Iroquois, the first of the DDH 280 class destroyers, is commissioned.
- 31 July 1940 HMCS Prince Robert, after conversion from a merchant vessel, is commissioned as an armed merchant cruiser.
- 31 July 1942 HMCS Skeena commanded by A/LCdr Kenneth L. Dyer, RCN with HMCS Wetaskiwin commanded by LCdrf Guy S. Windeyer, RCN sank U-588 in the North Atlantic.
31 July 1942 The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRENS) is authorized