NAC News Edition J480 and KC480

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of September 23rd, 2022

Edition: J480 HMCS Alder Lake (WWII wooden-hulled minesweeper), and the beloved KC480 HMCS Oriole

Quote: “We needed fighters to provide protection and bombers to attack the enemy airfields in Greece. The root of the problem in a free democracy in peacetime was apathy to the needs of the country’s armed forces.” A Midshipman’s War – A young man in the Mediterranean Naval war 1941-1943, page 60, Frank Wade, 1994

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

1-2 November 2022. NAC is pleased to become a supporting partner of this year’s Deep Blue Forum sponsored by Vanguard Canada. The 2022 Deep Blue Forum – The Canadian Patrol Submarine Project: 2030 Options for Canada. National Arts Centre, Ottawa, ON. Reception 1 November 17.30 – 20.00 (Ottawa time) at the National Arts Centre 1 Elgin Street. On-line agenda. Keynote speakers: Cdr RCN,VAdm Topshee; President BMT Canada Ltd, Darcy Brytus; and the Reception speaker is DG Naval Force Development, Cmdre Jason Armstrong. Details for attending. (there are a limited number of discounts available for NAC members, contact Nora Kennedy by email for details)

14-16 November 2022 Registration for Maritime Security Challenges 2022 in Victoria BC is open! Early Bird Deadline: 4 October. The past two years have seen an explosion of major events and trends that are shaking the world: a once-in-a-century-pandemic; a land war in Europe; international energy and food crises; the rise of authoritarian political movements and governments; more dramatic weather; and decades-high inflation. Many of these issues are playing out at sea, as shipping costs soar, navies modernize to protect their national maritime claims, and state rivalries flourish in the maritime domain.

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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES

Biden says U.S. would defend Taiwan against Chinese invasion

‘Our world is in peril,’ UN secretary-general warns general assembly

Zelenskyy urges UN to strip Russia of veto power, lays out ‘pre-conditions for peace’ (Editor – 2:42 min video)

Statement by the North Atlantic Council on the so-called “referenda” in parts of Ukraine

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CANADA

Changes to naming protocol for RCN ships, units following Her Majesty’s passing

Photo Essay: Memorials mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen honoured in procession, commemorative service in Victoria plus Royal Canadian Navy mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth II / La MRC pleure la perte de la reine Elizabeth II

The Arctic threat

Incredible Footage from INSIDE Hurricane Fiona (Editor – includes 53 sec video)

Seaspan Shipyards Announces New CEO

CAF Story | Sticking together in the CAF! (Editor – 4:49 min video)

Royal Canadian Navy hopes Defence on the Dock event draws recruits

Sexual assault trial starts for Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who led COVID-19 vaccine campaign (Editor – old video included)

The last salute: Canadian military begins changing oaths and honours in wake of Queen’s death

Pressure is on to start mining the deep sea. Is it worth it?

Photos: Salvage of Sunken Fishing Vessel in Haro Strait Hits a Snag but then Fishing boat that sank near Vancouver Island recovered

Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund bursaries for the 2022-2023 school year are now open and available for applications. You can find more information at the RCNBF website. The applications close October 28th 2022.

Sunken barge near Campbell River to be removed, scrapped

Thousands of CAF members eligible for compensation for drinking contaminated water

Legion: Did the Allies win the Battle of the St. Lawrence?

Lookout: Volume 67, Issue 37, September 20, 2022

Trident: Monday September 19, 2022 Volume 56, Issue 19

The Last Post Fund’s mission is to ensure that no Veteran is denied a dignified funeral, burial, or military gravestone due to insufficient funds at the time of death. The VAC programme provides financial assistance for the funeral, burial, and headstone of eligible Canadian and Allied Veterans. If you know someone who could benefit from this aid, please contact www.lastpostfund.ca

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USA & AMERICAS

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Sept. 19, 2022

Keeping Strategic Weapons Programs Funded Biggest Threat to U.S. Nuclear Triad, Says Panel

‘It’s good to be back’: HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in US

18 Navies in Brazil for Exercise UNITAS LXIII

Fighting Fitz recently wrapped up its first post-collision deployment

New View: New Anti-Ship Bomb Obliterates Full-Scale Ship Target in Gulf of Mexico (Editor – a wow 55 sec video)

NAVSEA: Navy ‘Struggling’ to Get Attack Subs Out of Repairs on Time as Demand Increases and Ship repair delays increased in 2022 due to labor, material challenges

US Navy retires another Tico cruiser after three decades of service

‘The worst command’: Inside the submarine Scranton’s dysfunction

Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Wants to Fit Unmanned Underwater Vehicles with Its Hydrogen Fuel Cells

The Ubiquitous C-130 Could Become the U.S. Military’s Only Seaplane

Trial Begins for Alleged Bonhomme Richard Arsonist

Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Last “Fat Leonard” Defendant and then Fat Leonard: Malaysian criminal in US Navy scandal recaptured after jail break

USCG seizes half a billion dollars of illegal narcotics in Miami and Zr.Ms. Groningen sets the counter to 13 drug seizures.

U.S. Coast Guard Arrests Boater for Shooting at a Rescue Helicopter

Falling Imports at Largest U.S. Port Hint at Weaker Demand and Global Cargo Market Softening Points to Gloomy Christmas

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INDO-PACIFIC

Canada sends warship through Taiwan Strait and of course PLA naval, air forces monitor US, Canadian warships’ Taiwan Straits transit

RCN deploys HMCS Vancouver for Op Neon in Indo-Pacific region

AUKUS at 1 year: Aussie defense brief says Navy faces ‘high risks’ in modernization race and Off-the-shelf Astute Class off the table, says UK but RAN personnel to train aboard newly commissioned UK SSN well, and then…France offers four submarines to Australia despite the stab in the back of AUKUS

Reimagining the Collins Class fleet’s operational posture

U.S. Carrier Reagan to Visit Busan, Drill with South Korean Navy as Tensions with North Korea Increase

Guam, America’s forgotten speck of an island in the Pacific, is the new front line against China (Editor – 6:15 min video included)

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) Deploys To 7th Fleet

South Korea Considers Larger Aircraft Carrier Procurement

China’s supersized drone subs shrouded in mystery

Indian Navy launches two diving support vessels Nistar and Nipun

Lockheed Martin secures new RAN Romeo order

British presence in Indo-Pacific outlined

Australia’s first Hunter-class frigate to be operational in 2031

US Coast Guard cutter conducts at-sea ops with Singapore Navy in South China Sea

Indian and U.S. Coast Guards hold joint exercise off Chennai’s coast

France Offering Submarines to Philippines

China’s New Extra-Large Submarine Drones Revealed

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EUROPE

Ukraine:

Ukraine war: Biden warns Putin not to use tactical nuclear weapons

Putin warning: What does Russian military call-up mean for Ukraine?

Mysterious Uncrewed Vessel Washes Up in Russian-Occupied Crimea (Editor – something new)

Safe Awarded Contract Installation of Gun Weapon Systems for Ukrainian Mark VI Patrol Boats

Russian Navy Moving Kilo Attack Boats to Safety from Ukraine Strike Risk, Says U.K. MoD

General:

British Littoral Response Group deploys to Mediterranean

Poland inaugurates sea canal that will allow bypassing of Russian waters

Russia conducts military drills in Arctic sea opposite Alaska and Russian nuclear powered subs launch missiles during Arctic expedition

‘TCG Anadolu To Be Delivered By Year-End’ – SSB

French FREMM Bretagne successfully launches Aster 15 missile

French Navy And Italian Navy Ink Partnership For FREMM Frigates

New pictures released of the Ukrainian Ada class corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa

NATO, partners testing new maritime unmanned systems in Portugal

French Navy to receive its first Airbus Helicopters H160

French Navy to Acquire Electromagnetic, Directed-Energy Weapons

Electric, Autonomous Ro-Ro Freight Ferries Begin Service in Norway

World’s 1st circular ship dismantling yard on the cards

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MIDDLE EAST

Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 6-class corvette successfully launches Gabriel 5 anti-ship missile

US and Israel Complete Unmanned Surface Vessel Exercise in Gulf of Aqaba

CMF Naval forces partner in Seychelles to build cooperation

Brink of Catastrophe: The Netherlands Pledges Additional Funds for FSO Safer Rescue Effort and UN urges countries to transfer millions in pledges to avert catastrophic oil spill from Red Sea tanker

Suez Canal Authority Hikes Transit Tolls Again for 2023

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INTERESTS

Top 3 issues on maritime leaders’ agenda

China sends new naval fleet on Gulf of Aden escort mission

Ivorian Navy receives ex-French Navy P400 class warship

FLNG protection: South Korea sending patrol vessel to Rovuma basin, Mozambique

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SCUTTLEBUTT

Russia’s titanium submarines

The Mariner’s Mirror in a 33 min podcast: The Magellan Myth Uncovered (Editor – this one is extraordinary…and the accent is entertaining)

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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY

24 September 1940 The third group of 6 overage USN destroyers exchanged for bases in the Western Hemisphere are turned over to the RCN at Halifax, Nova Scotia. USS Bancroft (DD-256), commissioned as HMCS St Francis (I-93) USS McCook (DD-252), commissioned as HMCS St Croix (I-81), and USS Haraden (DD-183), commissioned as HMCS Columbia (I-49), part of the destroyers-for-bases deal.

24 September 1941 Canada joins eight other allied governments in pledging support to the Atlantic Charter, an eight-point declaration issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

24 September 1955 HMCS Sioux returns to Esquimalt, the last ship of the RCN to return from the Korean conflict.

24 September 1965 – Military RCN commissions HMCS Ojibwa, first of three 2000-ton RCN Oberon class submarines. Chatham, England

25 September 1940 Canadian armed merchantman Prince Robert captures German ship Weser off Mexican coast. The German freighter is taken into the Canadian merchant service, renamed SS Vancouver Island.

26 September 1940 USS Thatcher (DD-162), commissioned as HMCS Niagara (I-57), part of the destroyers-for-bases deal.

27 September 1854 Steamship Arctic sinks off Cape Race, Newfoundland with 300 people on board after colliding with the 250-ton French iron propeller ship S.S. Vesta; the 3,000-ton side-wheeler was the largest and most splendid ship of the Collins Line (United States Mail Steamship Company) in competition with Samuel Cunard’s Royal Mail Steam Packet Company; casualties include 92 of her 153 officers and men, and all the women and children on board, including the wife, the only daughter, and the youngest son of shipowner E. K. Collins; first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean liner.

27 September HMCS Labrador arrives in Esquimalt via the Artic. She was the first naval ship and the first deep draught vessel of any kind to traverse the North West Passage.

27 September 1994 US Navy closes Argentia submarine detection base; last US military base in Canada.

29 September 1940 USS Mackenzie (DD-175), commissioned as HMCS Annapolis (I-04), and USS Williams (DD-108), commissioned as HMCS St Clair (I-65), part of the destroyers-for-bases deal.

30 September 1939 Presentation of the King’s Colour to the RCN in Victoria BC. The first occasion that the Colour was personally presented by the ruling sovereign to a naval force outside the British Isles. The Commanding Officer on the West Coast was Captain (later RAdm) Victor G. Brodeur, the Royal Guard was commanded by LCdr (later RAdm) E.P. Tisdall, and the Colour Officer was Lt. (later RAdm) J.C. Hibbard.

30 September 1943 – On 30 September 1943, The Canadian built (Burrard Dry Dock Company, Vancouver) but British crewed SS Fort Howe was torpedoed and badly damaged (37°19’N 6°40’E) by U-410 (Horst-Arno Fenski). The next day, 1 October, she sank about 18 nm off the coast of Algeria. The master, 49 crew members and 18 DEMS gunners were picked up by HM Ships Spiraea and Alisma and landed at Bougie and Algiers. Two gunners were lost.

30 September 1994 Halifax-class frigate HMCS Regina is commissioned in Saint John, New Brunswick.

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)