NAC News - Edition K455 HMCS Strathroy - Naval Association of Canada

NAC News – Edition K455 HMCS Strathroy

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of April 1st, 2022

Edition K455 HMCS Strathroy (WWII Flower Class corvette)

Quote of the week, “As the summer weeks of 1939 moved towards autumn, the signs pointed towards war became more and more visible. The German demands upon Poland; the British guarantee; the clashes in Danzig on the German-Polish frontier; the torrent of abuse in the press; the reinforcing of frontier garrisons; all these events and actions combined to increase the tension which had marked the international situation ever since the advent of Adolf Hitler.” Canada’s Soldiers 1604-1954 – The Military History of An Unmilitary People, pg. 340, George F.G. Stanley, 1954

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 David Soule executivedirector-nac@outlook.com if you wish someone to be added to the NAC News email distribution. (Influencer or good candidates to become a NAC member, and note the first year’s NAC & Branch membership dues are waived)

NOTICES

17-19 May 2022 Niagara Falls, ON. Mari-Tech 2022 Conference and Exhibition titled Industrial Revolution Making Wave. Mari-Tech was created by the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering (CIMarE) in 1976 and is the premier event for the marine engineering community in Canada. Held annually, Mari-Tech is hosted in turn by each of the CIMarE’s seven branches; the 2022 event is Co-Hosed by CIMarE Great Lake Branch and SNAME Great Lakes/Great Rivers Section. The conference has earned a respected position as a neutral, non-political event devoted to engaging the private sector, government, and academia. Connect with hundreds of leading professionals from across the world, including Industry leaders, Government policymakers, Innovators, consulting firms, Academics, Communications and government relations professions, and young professionals and the next generation of marine engineers.

NEW 15 June 2022 at 1200 (Ottawa time) – NAC National AGM via GoToMeeting. Details to follow mid-April

14-16 November 2022 The MSC organisers have decided given the ongoing COVID-19 environment to postpone MSC22 which was originally scheduled for March 2022. The team announced that the in-person MSC22 will now take place in Victoria, BC. The draft program for this November’s MSC22 is now posted on the MSC website and is available on the MSC social media channels.

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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES

Canada lauds NATO, but won’t commit to alliance’s spending target but Canada edges farther away from NATO spending target in latest estimate (Editor and the NATO report The Secretary General’s Annual Report 2021 and Analysis: Will billions of dollars in new funding for the Canadian military be wasted?

Liberals launch negotiations to buy F-35 fighter jets

Two coast guard Arctic ships to cost $1.5 billion, double the price of same vessels for navy and Canada could face trouble buying specialized steel for new $7-billion icebreakers

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CANADA

Sweeping changes coming to CAF

With recruitment lagging, Canadian military preparing new ethos, dress code (Editor – 1:58 min video included) Two senior female officers quitting the navy over military’s handling of sexual misconduct case then Former top military commander pleads guilty to obstruction of justice charge

Canada’s role defending the true north in the Arctic: Rory McDonell for Inside Policy

CGAI Paper: Preparing Defence in Canada Against a More Dangerous Future (Editor -with the conclusion that “the status quo is inadequate”.)

Long-delayed naval facility in the High Arctic now postponed to 2023 (Editor – originally a G&M article that requires a subscription to open)

Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Vincent Massey leaves Davie drydock

New rebreather tested in open water

Canada’s Next Fixed Wing SAR Air-Frame [FWSAR] (Editor – quirky 7:43 min video)

Large module represents next phase for LNG Canada project in Kitimat

PSHCP negotiations continue (Editor – and an adjunct Imagining what Federal Retirees could be)

St. Lawrence Seaway’s positive 2021 results came despite a drop in grain exports

Cindy Cui “My time as a cadet has changed my life”

History: March 30, 1972; the last tot of rum for the Navy (RCN) (Editor – my thanks yet again to long-time NAC member Bill Dziadyk for pointing this out!) and the excellent Up Spirits – Ode to a tot of Rum

Giant sinkholes found forming on the seafloor in northern Canada (Editor – 51 sec video included)

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USA & AMERICAS

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 28, 2022

$773B Pentagon Budget Request Places Emphasis on China; Russia Now Poses ‘Acute Threats’ and details Department of the Navy Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Materials then FY 23 Budget: Navy Wants to Shed 24 Ships for $3.6B in Savings Over Next Five Years and US Navy wants to cut nine LCSs, eliminate their anti-submarine mission and more US Navy seeks to end San Antonio-class ship production, reducing fleet by 8 amphibious hulls

The Nation Needs a Real Plan to Grow the Navy (Editor – I wish I was placing this article in the Canadian section)

Pentagon budget 2023: USCG focuses on Offshore Patrol Cutter and Polar Security Cutter procurement

Navy Planning Salvage Efforts for E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Crash That Killed Sailor

Navy Stops COVID-19 Vaccine Separations for 4,095 Sailors Who Requested Religious Exemptions

HNLMS Friesland performs second and third drug bust.

Coast Guard Crew Offloads $223 Million Worth of Drugs in San Diego

HII to christen US Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

Keel laying ceremony for the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer Patrick Gallagher

Congress Orders Pause on Second Frigate Shipyard Until Navy Proves Design

CDC Scraps Cruise Ship COVID Warning After 2 Years

First Attempt at Refloating Ever Forward Unsuccessful and then Video: Second Attempt Fails to Pull Ever Forward Out of the Mud (Editor – 2:17 min video) then a ominous sign Evergreen Declares General Average Following Containership Ever Forward Grounding

Savannah Completes Decades-Long Harbor Deepening Project

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INDO-PACIFIC

ROK Navy Test-Fires Haesung II Cruise Missile Following North Korea’s ICBM Launch

Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Miguel Keith Operating in South China Sea

US deploys 3 surveillance ships in South China Sea

US Navy finanalises RIMPAC planning (Note – RCN Commodore Christopher Robinson, is deputy commander of RIMPAC 2022 Combined Task Force)

Thai-China Submarine Deal Runs Aground on EU Arms Embargo

New pictures released of Chinese Type 039 submarine

Solomon Islands confirms China security draft, alarming Australia

Pakistan Showcases New Harbah Anti-Ship Missile

Indian Navy’s second P-8I aircraft squadron commissioned

A detachment of minesweepers of the Pacific Fleet conducted a comprehensive exercise in Peter the Great Bay

China Claims Their Zubr Class Are Largest Hovercraft

Philippine Coast Guard Accuses China Of ‘Close Distance Maneuvering’ In Disputed Sea

First of new patrol boats launched

HHI Unveils HDL-13000 Design For Royal Malaysian Navy MRSS

China has militarised new isles

CGAI Paper: 2022 Indo-Pacific Supply Chains Series

Bulk Carrier’s Crew Members Accused of Offloading Cocaine at Sea in Australia

Evergreen places another 24,000 TEU boxship order in China

World’s Largest Electric Cruise Ship Sets Sail in China

India Plans To Double Imports Of Russian Coal

Marshall Islands Considering ‘Expelling’ Russian Vessels from Ship Registry

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EUROPE

Ukraine sub-section:

War in Ukraine: The Economist interviews President Zelensky | The Economist (Editor – not a maritime interview but current, and pertinent in a 23:43 min video)

Satellite Images Confirm Russian Navy Landing Ship Was Sunk at Berdyansk and most interestingly a realistic explanation Assessing Russia’s first major naval loss of the war in Ukraine

CIMSEC: New heights of Russian hypocrisy and “unlawfare” in the black sea (Editor – interesting read)

Russian deterrence missions by the dozen

US, allies working to provide anti-ship missiles to Ukraine

Turkey, the Montreux Convention, and Russian Navy Transits of the Turkish Straits

Russian general Yakov Rezantsev killed in Ukraine

Turkey defuses mine after Russia warns of strays from Ukraine ports and Turkiye reopens Bosphorus traffic after old mine neutralized then Two More Drifting Mines Found and Neutralized in the Black Sea and recently Italy Plans to Send Two MCM Vessels to Romania to Tackle Mine Threat

Russia to open humanitarian corridor for 67 foreign ships trapped in Ukraine ports

CIMSEC: Sea Control 331 – Russia’s naval blockade with Dr. Alexander Lott (Editor – useful explanations in 29:30 min podcast)

Ship Engine Makers Cut Ties with Russia as Maritime Pressure Mounts

Ships Stranded in Ukraine as Conflict Slows UN Efforts for ‘Maritime Corridor’

Russia Resumes LPG exports from Sea of Azov and Russian Cargo Ships Spotted ‘Going Dark’ to Evade Sanctions

Europe General:

SECDEF Austin Extends Truman Deployment as Conflict in Ukraine Continues

UK navy delivers military supplies to Nato to reinforce security in Baltic Sea

U.S. Sends 200 Marines, 10 F-18 Hornets Sent to Eastern Europe for Russian Deterrence

Russian Navy welcomes newest Project 636.3 submarine

UK to buy Tomahawk Weapon System follow-on support for USD 368Mn

Portugal Deploys Submarine on Operation NATO Sea Guardian

The Royal Navy’s Maritime Merlin (Editor – great 9:40 min video about the helicopter we could have had decades ago…but we do finally have the Cyclone)

Diamond joins NATO for Mediterranean operations

Flexing a nuclear-powered submarine in Lyngen, UK sharpens Arctic military presence

UK’s Type 23 frigate back in action following massive upgrade

NATO and Hellenic Navy vessels on the hunt for mines in Aegean Sea

Battlecruiser launched surface-to-air missiles in Norwegian Sea

Leonardo 127mm Vulcano Gun For German Navy’s New F126 Frigates

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MIDDLE EAST

Romania Joins Major International Maritime Security Coalition in Middle East

US, Israeli Navy kick off exercise Intrinsic Defender

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, U.S. 5th Fleet Commander, at DIMDEX 2022 (Editor – 4:38 min video)

MBDA at DIMDEX 2022: Qatar’s Coastal Defense System, Exocet and Marte ER (Editor – 5:42 min video) and Algerian Navy showcases frigate El Moudamir

Fincantieri floats out Qatar’s fourth Al Zubarah-class corvette

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GLOBAL INTERESTS

East Antarctica’s Conger Ice Shelf ‘Virtually’ Collapses

Attenborough ship proves its polar credentials

Alleged PLA Navy ship’s port call in Djibouti ‘contributes to regional stability’

Nigerian Navy’s new LST heading home

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SCUTTLEBUTT

HMS Dreadnought (Editor – first RN SSN explained in a 9:35 min video…some of the pictures are a bit confusing)

How Do You Circumcise a Battleship? (Editor – 9:03 min video for the Weapons Officers amongst us)

Iconic Ships 14: The San Juan, 1563 (Editor – The Mariner’s Mirror 32 min podcast)

Ultimate Ship Models 1: HMS Royal George (Editor – The Mariner’s Mirror 38 min podcast)

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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY

2 April 1887 US seizes Canadian sealing ships in North Pacific; other seizures on the 9, 12, and 17th. Juneau, Alaska
3 April 3, 1935 Lt(N) J. P. Connolly appointed Commanding Officer, charged to raise a RCNVR unit in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
3 April 1996 Members of the Canadian Forces ordered to spend the entire day searching for documents that may aid the Somalia inquiry. Ottawa, Ontario
3 April 2007 Royal Assent given to the Veterans’ Bill of Rights; PM Harper says Ottawa will establish an ombudsman for veterans, so the government can respond quickly and fairly to any concerns of veterans. Ottawa, Ontario
4 April 1949 Canada signs the Washington Treaty with Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the U.S.; and becomes a founding member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization; NATO members pledge to defend each other in event of Soviet attack. NATO is Canada’s first peacetime military alliance. Washington, DC
5 April 1958 Ripple Rock blown up with 1.2 tons of Nitramex, one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosion to date, removed a shipping hazard just below the surface of Seymour Narrows near Campbell River that had sunk or damaged 119 vessels and caused the death of over 100 people. Captain George Vancouver called the narrows “one of the vilest stretches of water in the world.” Campbell River, BC
7 April 1941 The Canadian registered SS Portadoc (Paterson Steamships Ltd., Fort William, Ontario), was a coal-fired Great Lakes freighter. The ship was pressed into wartime service in May 1940. However, she would become a collier and she required modifications by a Sydney NS shipyard for safely storing and transporting coal. It was planned that the ship would then sail to and provide services to the coal “Bunker Depot” in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. The SS Portadoc’s first (and only) wartime crossing was steaming independently on 25 February 1941 from St John NB (with a cargo of lumber) destined for Freetown Sierra Leone, via Halifax, and St. Lucia. The attack was about 225 nautical miles west of the destination Freetown. The submerged U-boat, at a range of only 270 meters, fired a single torpedo which slammed into the engine room. Even though the torpedo failed to detonate, the resulting flooding caused the ship’s bow to quickly rise up vertically. The ship would not sink because of the buoyant cargo. U-124 surfaced and shelled her with 5 rounds incendiary and 16 rounds explosive from the deck gun, followed by several shots close range with the anti-aircraft 2 cm MG C/30 gun. The master and 19 crew members had abandoned ship in two lifeboats and the U-boat provided them with water, after being questioned. The survivors made landfall six days later at Benty, French Guinea and were interned by the Vichy French authorities. One of the crew later died in captivity.
7 April 1948 RCN’s aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent commissioned to replace HMCS Warrior. Halifax, Nova Scotia
7 April 1991 HMCS Athabaskan, Terra Nova and Protecteur arrive home from Gulf War; ships left in early August; Huron leaves for the Gulf to help enforce the embargo against Iraq. Halifax, Nova Scotia
7 April 1995 HMCS Nipigon, HMCS Gatineau, and HMCS Onondaga supported Fisheries and Oceans and Coast Guard ships during a dispute with Spain over illegal overfishing of Greenland turbot on the Grand Banks.
8 April 1945 cruiser HMCS Uganda joins British Pacific Fleet. Hong Kong, China
9 April 1929 – Canadian Ambassador Vincent Massey protests against sinking of Canadian schooner I’m Alone; crew released; case of rum-runner to go to arbitration. Washington, DC

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, I thank NAC member Bill Dziadyk for his able assistance and detailed work. 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)