Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.



On Display - IJN Light Cruiser, Nagara

MSW Crew member Kym Knight shares his build of the IJN Light Cruiser, Nagara.




Construction Begins on First Mobile Landing Platform
Source: US Naval Sea Systems Command

SAN DIEGO --- The Navy announced the start of construction of the first Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego, Calif., June 30.

Following the successful production readiness review — an evaluation of the ship's design maturity, availability of materials, and the shipbuilder's ability to successfully start construction — the Secretary of the Navy certified the design and informed Congress that the design of MLP was more than 85 percent complete and ready to proceed with fabrication.

MLP 1 will be the first-of-class ship, delivering a flexible platform to support the Maritime Prepositioning Ship squadrons. The Navy's Strategic and Theater Sealift program in the Program Executive Office (PEO), Ships is procuring the vessels for the Navy.

"The start of production for a first-in-class ship is a monumental milestone," said Capt. Henry W. Stevens, Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager. "The MLP program will benefit from the high degree of design and production-planning maturity that has already been accomplished by the Navy/NASSCO team."

General Dynamics-NASSCO was previously awarded a $115 million contract for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts for the first MLP in August 2010. The Navy worked very closely with NASSCO to identify cost savings early in MLP design work while pursuing a concurrent design and production engineering approach. These efforts minimized cost and schedule risk and resulted in a in a very stable ship design that is ready to start production.

MLP will provide the core capabilities to transfer vehicles and equipment at-sea and interface with surface connectors to deliver the vehicles and equipment ashore. The MLP will leverage float-on/ float-off technology and a reconfigurable mission deck to maximize capability.

The platform in its basic form possess add-on modules that support a vehicle staging area, sideport ramp, large mooring fenders and up to three landing craft air cushioned vessel lanes to support its core requirements. Ship utility services support to the mission deck will enable the flexibility to incorporate potential future platform upgrades which could include additional capabilities such as berthing, medical, command and control, mission planning, vehicle transfer system, a connected replenishment, a container handling crane and an aviation operating spot.

The first ship is expected to be delivered in fiscal year 2013 and be operational in fiscal year 2015. In addition, the Navy recently awarded General Dynamics-NASSCO a fixed-price incentive fee type contract on May 27 for the detail design and construction of the second and third ships of the class.


Carrier Construction Powers Ahead at Portsmouth
Source: BAE Systems

PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom --- Construction of the first Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier took a significant step forward today, as the final rings of the forward hull section came together for the first time at BAE Systems' facility in Portsmouth Naval Base.

Two huge ring sections of Lower Block 02 were joined together in a 30 minute move involving 26 remote controlled hydraulic transporters. Workers carefully manoeuvred a 3,700 tonne slice of the block over 25 metres across the company's production hall, where it was carefully lined up to join the rest of the hull. The hull block is made up of five rings in total, with the first rings joined in April, today's move marks the end of the three month process.

Steven Carroll, Queen Elizabeth Class Project Director at BAE Systems' Surface Ships division, said:

"Bringing together Lower Block 02 marks the beginning of an exciting stage in the block's life. The team will now begin the task of connecting the pipes, cabling, ventilation and machinery which runs throughout the block, before she is transported to Rosyth in April next year.

"As the block takes shape, the sheer size and scale of this engineering project becomes even more apparent."

Housing machinery spaces, stores, and switchboards, Lower Block 02 will weigh over 6,000 tonnes on completion, with over 8,500 metres of pipes and 260,000 metres of cable installed - the equivalent distance from Portsmouth to Bristol and back. Standing over 70 metres long and 18 metres tall, the block will house 85 cabins, sleeping over 500 junior crew members on board the HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Today's move comes only four weeks after production commenced on the second aircraft carrier, the Prince of Wales, at the company's Govan shipyard on the Clyde. Additionally, workers in Portsmouth are gearing up to begin work on the forward island, which will house the ship's bridge and control vessel navigation, in the coming weeks.

BAE Systems is a member of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, working in partnership with Babcock, Thales and the Ministry of Defence to deliver the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed in the UK. The company provides overall leadership and programme management to the QE Class programme and plays a central role in the design and build of the ships. Additionally, BAE Systems is responsible for the design, manufacture and integration of the complex mission systems for the aircraft carriers, with work underway at the company's Maritime Integration and Support Centre on Portsdown Hill.

Each 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier will provide the armed forces with a four acre military operating base which can be deployed worldwide. The vessels will be versatile enough to be used for operations ranging from supporting war efforts to providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The QE Class will be the centre piece of Britain's military capability and will operate at least 12 of the carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter jets, allowing for unparalleled interoperability with allied forces.




Flower Class Corvettes

Today’s website is Flower Class Corvettes. Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1814 - Sloop-of-war Peacock captures British Stranger, Venus, Adiona and Fortitude.
1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron arrives at Tripoli to collect reparations for seizure of American merchant ships in violation of Treaty of 1805.


Diorama Idea of the Day



Canadian corvette HMCS Penetang in heavy seas. To see the original high resolution photo, click here.

Gator