Ahoy mates and welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Let’s see what going on today.
ALERT ~ MSW Community Build Contest
A friendly reminder, Build Session 2 of our Community Build Contest will close at the end of this month (July 31, 2008) and all build progress photos must be uploaded, submitted, and posted in your individual build BLOG to be eligible for this sessions award points...mark your calendars, mates!
Also, all MSW staffers, please do the same, as the official judging session will begin on August 1st to August 7th, 2008!
Build Feature ~ Tamiya's 1/700 Yamato
New MSW crew-mate Anthony Kochevar (ajkochev) shares a fantastic build story of his IJN Yamato, in his first MSW submission.
HIJMS Yamato
New USS Midway book
Clayton Naval Aviation Publishing are publishing USS Midway CVB-41, a well illustrated history of the ship and her air groups. Price and publication date TBA.
New Title from Classic Warships
A new title is on the way from Classic Warships Publishing: 30 Takao Class Cruisers. Price is $27.91 and it should be available some time in August.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1823 - After pirate attack, Lt. David G. Farragut leads landing party to destroy pirate stronghold in Cuba.
1944 - Invasion and recapture of Guam begins.
1946 - In first U.S. test of adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations, XFD-1 Phantom makes landings and takeoffs without catapults from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV 42).
1987 - Navy begins Operation Earnest Will, escorting first Kuwaiti tanker convoy in the Persian Gulf.
JTFEX 08-4 "Operation Brimstone" Flexes Allied Force Training
More than 15,000 service members from four countries will participate in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 08-4 "Operation Brimstone", July 21-31 in North Carolina and off the eastern U.S. coast from Virginia to Florida.
JTFEX 08-4 serves as a ready-for-deployment certification event for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TR CSG) and the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (IWO ESG). The exercise will also serve as a Joint Task Force Capable Headquarters sustainment event. In addition, JTFEX 08-4 will offer preliminary accreditation for 2nd Fleet's Maritime Headquarters with Maritime Operations Center (MHQ with MOC)). MHQ with MOC is a new approach to command and control for fleet commanders.
"This exercise is a tremendous opportunity to train; not only as the Navy and Marine Corps team, but with our joint and coalition partners as well," said Commander, 2nd Fleet Vice Adm. Marty Chanik.
"JTFEX 08-4 will flex our warfighting capabilities from the operational level through expeditionary strike force and strike group operations with several of our coalition partners – France, Brazil and the United Kingdom."
The exercise also marks the first time that forces from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command are participating in an East-Coast JTFEX. NECC forces operating in the littorals and riverine environment are supporting integrated operations.
"Navy Expeditionary Combat Command provides a self-contained adaptive force package with a command element tailored to support the full spectrum of operations from major combat operations to unconventional and irregular warfare," said NECC commander Rear Adm. Mike Tillotson.
U.S. and coalition naval assets underway for the exercise include the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) with associated units including the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (RO 7), the Brazilian Navy frigate Greenhalgh (F-46) and the French submarine FS Amethyste (S 605). BNS Greenhalgh is the first Brazilian Navy ship to operate integrated in a U.S. strike group.
French Rafale fighter aircraft assigned to the 12th Squadron, and Hawkeye early warning aircraft assigned to the 4th Squadron will conduct carrier qualifications and cyclic flight operations with U.S. Carrier Air Wing 8 during Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group's Joint Task Force Exercise. This marks the first integrated U.S. and French carrier qualifications and cyclic flight operations aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier.
The TR CSG is made up of: USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71); Commander, Carrier Strike Group 2 (CCSG-2); Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8); Commander, Destroyer Squadron 22 (CDS-22); the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61); the guided-missile destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87), and USS Nitze (DDG 94) homeported in Norfolk; the attack submarine USS Springfield (SSN 761) homeported in Groton, Conn.; and the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) homeported in Mayport, Fla.
The IWO ESG consists of USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), Commander, Amphibious Squadron Four (CPR-4) based at Little Creek, Va.; the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26 MEU) based at Camp Lejune, N.C.; the amphibious transport dock ship San Antonio (LPD 17); guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72); and the guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61), homeported in Norfolk; the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) homeported at Little Creek, Va.; the guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) homeported in Mayport, Fla., and the attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) homeported in Groton, Conn.
The Navy Expeditionary Combat Task Group (NECTG) is made up of: Riverine Group 1 staff augmented with personnel from throughout the NECC force, Riverine Squadron 1, Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Ten, based in Jacksonville, Fla.; an air detachment from Naval Construction Forces Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11 based in Gulfport, Miss.; Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 3, based in Alameda, Calif.), and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 6 plus EOD Support Unit based at Little Creek, Va.
In addition, the following forces are participating in the exercise simulating opposition forces: the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64), homeported in Mayport, Fla.; the guided missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56), USS Anzio (CG 68) and USS Normandy (CG 60), the guided-missile destroyers USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79), USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81); and the guided-missile frigate USS Carr (FFG 52), all homeported in Norfolk.
The Royal Navy’s Largest Warship Achieves another Major Milestone in 10 Month Docking Period
The Plymouth based aircraft carrier HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy’s largest warship, has taken the next step in returning to sea. On Wednesday 16 July, the ship’s company moved back onboard along with the newly regenerated 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines.
Having lived in the relatively comfortable surroundings of HMS Drake since September 2007, this date marks the key point at which full ownership of HMS Ocean takes place as personnel naturally take a little more pride in their daily working and living spaces and the more traditional naval routines are reestablished. Work continues at pace onboard with many operational compartments still requiring attention to rectify emergent defects.
While in this docking period conducted by Babcock Marine in HMNB Devonport, Ocean has progressed well with many major improvements including habitability upgrades, a completely new galley, Marine and Weapon Engineering enhancements and a complete repainting of the ship’s hull. The next major milestone will be returning to sea in August as the arduous task of setting to work systems that have lain dormant for more than a year are brought back online. The next goal is to prepare the ship for handing back to FLEET for operational sea training in October in preparation for relieving HMS Ark Royal as the very high level readiness LPH.
Russia’s biggest sub ready for scrapping
The TK-13 Typhoon-class nuclear submarine has arrived in Severodvinsk in northern Russia where it will be decommissioned and scrapped. The sub is one of Russia’s biggest.
The vessel will be decommissioned by the Zvezdochka shipyard, one of two major yards in Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk Oblast).
According to Pravda.ru, the decommissioning is made with Russian, US and Canadian funding, contributed partly through the Global Partnership and the Russian-US programme on joint threat reduction.
The operation will be completed by March 2009, Rosbaltnord.ru reports.
The TK-13 is one of six Typhoon subs built by the Soviet Union, all of them in Severodvinsk. Now three vessels remain in operation – the Arkhangelsk, the Severstal and the recently modernized Dmitry Donskoy.
Photo of the Day
Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron (RIVRON ) 3 take Marines assigned to the civil affairs group of 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment on a tour of Lake Quadsiyah near Haditha, Iraq. RIVRON-3 patrols the area waterways to help ensure safety and security in Al Anbar province.
Gator
