NAC News – Edition K497
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of January 20th, 2023
Edition: K497 HMCS Humberstone (WWII Castle class corvette)
Quote – “There are times to fight and times to lower the temperature, to talk… We may be in one of those phases where the Chinese are sort of circling their wagons and reorienting themselves to prepare for the long-term competition that they inevitably expect to have with the United States and others.” 12 January 2023, Ryan Hass, Morning Edition, NPR
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 Kevin Goheen 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
NEW from RCN: Canada’s Naval Reserve celebrates centennial in 2023 You can find information on activities planned in all the NRDs on the UNTDA website along with the programme and on-line registration for a major conference and celebration organized by NEW the UNTD in Victoria 9-12 May 2023. Cross Canada listing of Events taking place during the Centennial of the Canadian Naval Reserve in 2023
28 February 2023 ShipTech Forum 2023 8:00 – 18:00 (Ottawa time) The ShipTech Forum is a hybrid conference with virtual access too. It is intended to showcase emerging technologies, address a range of marine and shipbuilding issues as well as ship repair and the advantages they provide for growth and export. To register visit vanguardcanada.com/shiptech-forum-registration/ All serving Naval & Public sector Personnel can register for Free!
NEW Canadian Naval Review holds an annual essay competition. A prize of $1,000 is awarded for the best essay, provided by the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust. The winning essay will be published in CNR. Deadline for the 2023 Competition: 30 May 2023 (Third item down at link)
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
Canada’s F-35 jet procurement was a debacle – and it’s not even our most embarrassing one (Editor – takes a swing at a few projects including CSC) and then! Purchase of new planes to replace 50-year Twin Otter military aircraft now on hold
Ukraine allies need to ‘dig deeper’ on military aid, U.S. urges and why Ukraine Support Tracker (Editor – useful graphics (a bit dated), but note Canada’s low % of GDP ranking)
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CANADA
WATCH: Construction of longest warship ever built in Canada hits important milestone
Arctic naval refuelling station set to open in 2024, 9 years behind schedule
Emergency towing vessels: providing a lifeline to safety for ships in distress around the world
Photos & Video: Canadian Navy Vessels Visit
The military cadet program is wrestling with its own systemic sexual misconduct problem
Lookout Newspaper, Issue 2, January 16, 2023 with Medals for Children will soon be available on both coasts
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USA & AMERICAS
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Jan. 17, 2023
The Fourth Battle of the Atlantic Is Underway
CNO Gilday: Next-Generation Air Dominance Will Come Ahead of DDG(X) Destroyer
Navy testing alternative crewing model amid shortages, says SWO boss and Training Gen Z in the Marine Industry and putting your money where you mouth is Navy Offers Up to $100K in Retention Bonuses for Select Special Warfare Sailors
US Navy Relieves Two Commanding Officers
SNA 2023: Raytheon Tomahawk Block V, Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile, BAE Systems C-UAS (Editor – 11:00 min video)
Austal USA at SNA 2023: Steel ships, Coast Guard OPC and Expeditionary Medical Ship EMS (Editor – 5:44 Min video) and These Speedy New Navy Medical Ships Are Designed with the Pacific in Mind
SNA 2023: RADM Fred Pyle on DDG(X), LUSV & MUSV, DDG 51 Flight III, Frigate, LCS (Editor – 6:05 min video)
Report to Congress on LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Small Torpedo Being Prototyped by Raytheon to Arm the Navy’s Submarines
Greenland’s temperatures warmest in last 1000 years, says study
Report to Congress on Joint Light Tactical Vehicle
After a year in limbo, appropriators appear to finally sink large unmanned sub program
Bahamas interception of sea-borne Cuban migrants jumps in 2022
Chevron Expands Venezuelan Crude Sales To Other Oil Refiners then Venezuela Halts Oil Exports
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INDO-PACIFIC
China Undergoing ‘Build-Up in Every Warfare Area,’ Says ONI Commander
Who’s going to build Australia’s nuclear submarines?
US Coast Coast monitors Russia Navy spy ship Kareliya near Hawaii
How China’s Maritime Militia Takes Advantage of the Gray Zone
France And India Kick Off VARUNA 2023 Naval Exercise
French first POM class patrol vessel Auguste Benebig in sails for Pacific
Industry critical to allied naval interchangeability
China completes construction of first autonomous vessel drone carrier
Plasan from Israel to armour Australia Navy’s Hunter class frigates
Malaysian, Japanese coast guards hold South China Sea security drill
Britain’s new undersea cable protection ship arrives
Budget blowout concerns for key Indian Ocean Defence base (Editor – Cocos Keeling Islands)
Sea ‘a graveyard’ as number of Rohingya fleeing Bangladesh by boat soars
Indonesia Sends Warship To Monitor Chinese Coast Guard Vessel
Japan building new island base to guard against China
Russia Using Chinese Supertankers to Ship Oil to Asia
Sri Lanka to Open 900 Offshore Blocks for Oil and Gas Exploration
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
The Long War in Ukraine – The West Needs to Plan for a Protracted Conflict With Russia and officially NATO warns Russia it will be ready for a long war to support Ukraine
U.K. MoD: Russian Anti-Ship Missile Used in Fatal Attack on Civilians in Ukraine, Killing 40
Ukrainian ambassador says ‘ice’ is breaking on allied arms shipments
Great Panic in the Kremlin: Russian navy repulsed with US-made Harpoons! Putin’s fears came true! (Editor – difficult to separate propaganda from truth, but noteworthy pics)
Russia is Increasingly Using its Own Tankers to Beat EU Sanctions and Russia’s Seaborne Oil Exports Surge Despite Sanctions
General:
First batch of nuclear-armed drones Poseidon manufactured for special-purpose sub Belgorod
Nord Stream Gas Pipelines Rupture: Survey Underway, No Conclusions Reached Yet, Says Novak
Norway Naval Officer Goes On Trial Over Oil Tanker Collision
Putin’s New Nuclear Submarine Sails To The Arctic
UK Royal Navy joins Norway’s biggest maritime workout
UK Royal Navy Admiral Assumes Command of NATO MARCOM
UK purchases commercial vessel for conversion to ocean surveillance ship
Developing the Type 31 frigate
Report: UK Gov’t Likely to Cancel Funding for Type 32 Frigate Program
United Shipbuilding Corporation Developing Design of New Advanced Aircraft Carrier
Russian Navy Receives New Submarine Rescue Systems
Gasgrid Finland’s LNG floating terminal is fully up and running (Editor – amazing strategic shift)
‘Historic moment for shipbuilding’ will create 900 jobs in Belfast
French MoD Awards Studies Contracts For Next-Gen Maritime Patrol Aircraft
Russia’s Northern Sea Route Sees More Traffic Despite War and Sanctions (Editor – once open, scroll down)
After Bomb Hoax, Officials Find 2.4 Tonnes of Cocaine on Board Boxship
Italian Police Find One Tonne of Cocaine Aboard Chinese Freighter
HMS Oardacious become fastest-ever military team to row ‘world’s toughest’ Atlantic challenge
Cyber-attack on DNV’s ShipManager software affects 1,000 ships
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MIDDLE EAST
Royal Saudi Navy Transfers Command of Middle East Task Force to UK Royal Navy
Iran Navy IRGC holds military exercise in Persian Gulf
U.S., Bahrain Launch Annual Maritime Security Exercise
Belgium Takes Lead of Operation Agenor for the Second Time
Essential Support for Ships Deployed to Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean
Iranian Navy Sending Ships to Panama Canal, Says Commander
Defying Sanctions, Iran Set New Oil Export Record in December
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
Coast Guard: Illegal Fishing Has Surpassed Piracy as a Global Threat (Editor – article introduces 2:17:37 hr CSIS: Ocean Security Forum 2023)
The Smoke that Blunders — Russia, China and SA navy exercise is immoral, stupid and impractical
USCGC Spencer Completes Multinational Maritime Security Patrol off West Africa
Seafarers desperately need training to handle explosive lithium-ion
Global Piracy Incidents Fall to Lowest Level in Decades
Renewable Energy vs Ocean Life – The Deep Sea Mining Dilemma
Exxon Pours Billions Into Joint Venture With China National Offshore Oil Corporation
Propeller Optimization Gains Importance as Focus Turns to Efficiency
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SCUTTLEBUTT
The Real Truth About the Russian Carrier Kuznetsov (Editor – 15:44 min video)
HMS Argus – Guide 318 (Editor – first flat deck carrier in a 6:12 min video)
How a Giant Ship Propeller is ACTUALLY Made (Editor – 9:13 min video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
21 January 1975 HMCS Assiniboine rescues eight crew members from a merchant ship foundering off Nova Scotia in a daring Sea King helicopter rescue.
22 January 1942 The Canadian Naval Board is established.
24 January 1932 HMC Ships Skeena and Vancouver land armed parties at Acajutla, El Salvador, to protect British subjects threatened in a revolution.
24 January 1946 HMCS Warrior, the RCN’s first aircraft carrier, is commissioned and Nos.803, 825, 826, and 883 Squadrons (already manned by Canadians) are transferred from the Royal Navy.
25 January 1944 The Canadian built (Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon, PQ) but British crewed SS Fort La Maune, with a cargo of US military stores, departed Hampton Roads, Virginia on 15 December 1943 in convoy USG-27 (115 merchant ships and 22 USN escorts) bound for Gibraltar. She then steamed independently across the Mediterranean. Her final destination being Calcutta (now Kolkata, India) via the Suez Canal, Aden and Cochin (now Kochi, India). On 25 January at 20:16 (GMT +2), she was about 670 nm East of Aden (13° 04’N, 56° 30’E). Her destination Cochin was 1200 nm further to the East, when U-188 (Siegfried Lüdden), at close range, fired a single torpedo into the Fort La Maune. While the ship slowly broke-apart and sank, the Master and crew abandoned ship into lifeboats and survived the sinking.
26 January 1944 On 12 January 1944, the Canadian built (Burrard Dry Dock Co, Vancouver BC) but British crewed SS Fort Bellingham departed Loch Ewe, Scotland in convoy JW-56A (20 merchant ships) bound for Murmansk, Russia via Akureyri, Iceland. The convoy departed Iceland on 21 January for the final leg to Murmansk. North of Sweden, a line of 10 U-boats were waiting. Three of the Merchant ships, including the Fort Bellingham, were sunk. Early on 26 January the Fort Bellingham was damaged by a torpedo fired by U-360. Her speed was much reduced, and she became straggler. Later that day, about 500 nm (73°25’N, 25°10’E) from the Kola Inlet (near Murmansk), she was sunk by U-957 (Gerd Schaar). There were 37 casualties and 38 survivors (2 of which became POWs of the U-957).
26 January 1955 Cabinet approves the entry of members of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service as members of the RCN Regular Force.
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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