Ahoy mates and welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Let’s see what going on today.
On Display ~ "Sharks!"...a diorama
MSW Crewmate Domi Ruiz Bauza (barbacanosa) shares a photo gallery of his first maritime themed diorama with us in this MSW "On Display" feature!
"Sharks!"
Community Build Contest
Eight days and counting, Community Builders, until the close of Build Session 2 of our "Community Build Contest", make sure your images are uploaded (or ready to upload) and in your "BLOG" thread by the end of the day on July 31, to be eligible for this months points to be added to your total....Keep modeling!
Upcoming Releases from Niko Models
Niko Models announces their upcoming 1/700 resin ship kits. Here’s the complete list and estimated release date:
August - USS Fargo CL-106, single-stack Cleveland class
August - Sept. - USS Savannah CL-42, Brooklyn class
Sept. - Oct - USS Worcester CL-144
New Large Scale Display Case
To compliment their 1/350 Imperial Japanese Navy battleships, Fujimi Models has announced the release of a 1/350 Clear Display Case with Hand Crafted Wood Base. The base/case measures 780mm x 180mm x 220mm (30.709 in x 7.087 in x 8.661 in)
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1779 - Amphibious expedition against British in Penobscot Bay, Me.
1863 - U.S. Squadron bombards Fort Wagner, N.C.
1866 - Rank of Admiral created. David G. Farragut is appointed the first Admiral in the U.S. Navy.
1898 - Landing party from armed yacht Gloucester occupies Guanica, Puerto Rico.
1912 - First specifications for naval aircraft published.
1934 - First President to visit Hawaii, Franklin D. Roosevelt, reaches Hilo on board USS Houston (CA 30).
1941 - Bureau of Ordnance issues first Navy "E"certificates (for excellence) for industry.
1943 - Launching of USS Harmon (DE 72), first ship named for an African-American.
1990 - USS Cimarron (AO 177) rescues 25 refugees adrift southeast of Subic Bay, Philippines.
Royal Navy Prepares To Go Back To the Future
'Meet Your Navy' provides a rare opportunity for the general public to not only experience life in the modern day force, but also to travel back in time as well as into the future.
The rich history of the 'Navy Days' has returned to Portsmouth with the help of Tudor and Victorian era sailors, who transition through to displays that revisit the wartime navies of the Second World War and the Falkland Islands conflict.
To illustrate the Navy in the present day, visitors can get up close and personal with a wide variety of modern warships, including visiting vessels from overseas fleets as far away as Japan and Chile. In addition plans for new carriers and models of ships which have yet to be built will show the public what the Royal Navy will be like in the future.
Over 400 personnel will man the event over the weekend and it's expected that in excess of 15,000 visitors will attend each day.
The event's Project Manager, Lieutenant Commander Nigel Ward, explained what it has been like pulling the various strands of the event together: "This event will help to bring the Navy base alive to the members of the public and provide them with the opportunity to meet the people behind the Force," he said. "This is a chance to meet the people who protect our shores and our waves. "It has been a huge undertaking with thousands of people expected to attend each day and hundreds of uniformed Naval personnel and civilian staff on hand to make it as enjoyable as possible."
'Meet your Navy' has been created by the Royal Navy, alongside Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, BVT Surface Fleet and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, and runs from 25-27 July 2008.
Push for Oil Exports Highlights Iraqi Navy’s Security Role
Iraq’s fledgling navy is gaining prominence within its country’s security forces due to its role in protecting the nation’s oil infrastructure, a coalition advisor said July 22.
British Royal Navy Capt. Paul Abraham, director of the Maritime Strategic Transition Team and senior advisor to the Iraqi navy, explained during a conference call with military bloggers that in addition to quickly expanding their naval force, Iraqi marines and sailors also are fast moving into a lead role in defending Iraq’s major ports and oil terminals from insurgent attack.
“The Iraqi navy's aim is to be able to guard their oil infrastructure, their means of making money,” Abraham said. “The 15 patrol boats, four patrol ships, and the two offshore support vessels, which are the major elements of the navy, are all about protecting the oil platforms and making sure they're secure from a non-state aggressor.”
Those 21 vessels, all more than 34 meters in length, will be delivered in 2009 and 2010, along with 26 smaller craft. The new vessels will add to the navy’s existing fleet of five Chinese “Predator” patrol boats and 10 riverine craft.
The Iraqi navy and its associated marine force moved into a major security role following Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s decision in the spring to confront militias operating in Basra, southern Iraq’s largest city. Since then, nearly two battalions of marines were created and trained and ordered to seize the southern Iraqi ports of Umm Qasr and Azerbia, Abraham said.
“Those are the two key ports in Iraq. And Umm Qasr has 90 percent of the imports and exports of the entire country, and was under militia control,” Abraham said. “They very successfully conducted that action, and now the navy holds those ports.”
Abraham said the navy now conducts 42 patrols per week -- a 300 percent increase in activity over the past year -- and contributes to point and perimeter defense of offshore oil platforms, including search-and-seizure operations.
Abraham gave a target of late 2010 or early 2011 for the Iraqis to conduct their counterinsurgency mission independently of coalition assistance. Building the strength and capabilities to face a state aggressor could take until 2018 or later, he said. Until that time, coalition naval forces will maintain an overwatch role, Abraham said.
Bringing the Iraqi navy to its present state was a challenge, Abraham admitted. Contracting setbacks and previously insufficient funding and attention from Iraqi authorities kept it from growing at pace, he said.
“Sometimes it's difficult to persuade the Iraqi Ministry of Defense how important it is to build up their navy with all the other challenges that they've got,” Abraham said. “They are very much land focused, because that's where most of the fight has been.”
The new navy was started in November 2004 with a decision to transition from a coast guard force, Abraham explained.
“Real work didn't start until 2005, so we're three years into this process of rebuilding from ground zero the Iraqi navy,” Abraham added. “But we are [building] successfully, and they are spending their money on developing a navy,” he said.
A separate coast guard force exists to patrol Iraq’s internal waters and the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran, Abraham noted.
Freighter freed by Somali pirates after 31 days
A cargo ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia in late May has been released, with its Russian and Filipino crew members all safe and well, the ship's operators said Wednesday.
"Reider Shipping and Scan-Trans are pleased to confirm that the master and crew on board the Amiya Scan, held off the coast of Somalia by hijackers since May 25, have assumed command of the vessel," the two firms said.
"All crew members are well and unharmed," they added in a statement. "Families of the four Russian and five Philippine crew members have all been informed."
The Amiya Scan -- which was carrying a disassembled oil platform when it was captured in the Gulf of Aden -- now is "under way in the direction of Suez," although it might be another week "before the crew reach a safe port".
The ship -- which had set off from the Kenyan port of Mombasa on May 19, bound for Constata in Romania -- had been in pirate hands for 31 days before its release Monday evening.
Somalia's waters are among the most pirate-infested in the world. Nations worldwide have issued warnings against sailing too close to its shore.
Reider Shipping and Scan-Trans refused to say whether any ransom had been paid, stating that details of "dialogue with the hijackers... could, we believe, encourage would-be pirates".
But Scan-Trans director Lars Juhl said: "International diplomatic support, and restraint, contributed to the solution."
More than 25 ships came under attack from pirates off Somalia last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
On June 2 the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution authorising foreign warships to enter Somalia's territorial waters with the Somali government's consent to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea.
In Berlin, the German foreign ministry said Wednesday that two Germans were on a yacht seized two days earlier off the Somali coast.
Officials in the Somali region of Puntland had said Tuesday that four foreign tourists -- two men, one woman and a child -- were seized on the vessel.
In April, Somali pirates seized the French luxury yacht Ponant and held its 30 crew members for a week. French special forces swooped on the pirates after their captives were freed, nabbing six and retrieving some of the ransom paid.
Navy to Cancel DDG-1000 Program
The Secretary of the Navy today informed members of the Senate and House of its plans to cancel the DDG-1000 program after completion of the first two ships, one of which is scheduled to be completed at Bath Iron Works.
Senator Collins, who is a Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, worked successfully to include in the Senate version of the Defense Authorization bill the $2.6 billion the Navy had requested to build a third DDG-1000, which also was scheduled to be built at Bath Iron Works. The House version of the authorization does not include any funding for the DDG-1000 program or for Bath Iron Works.
Senator Collins released this statement:
“The Navy’s decision to curtail the DDG-1000 program is a blow to Bath Iron Works. It was triggered by the decision of the House Armed Services Committee to eliminate funding for the DDG-1000 program, which prompted a review within the Department of Defense on the future of the new destroyer program. Unfortunately, Maine currently has no member on the House Armed Services Committee to advocate for programs critical to BIW’s workforce.
“The Navy is likely to propose continuing the DDG-51 program but at inadequate production levels. Compared to the DDG-51 program, the DDG-1000 program provides far more work and about three times the amount of money for BIW per ship. Bath’s share of the DDG-1000 it now has under contract is $1.4 billion, while the shipyard’s share of the most recent DDG-51 it now has under construction amounts to only about $500 million.
“I have spoken with Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England who committed to working with me to mitigate the impact on Bath Iron Works’ workforce of the termination of the DDG-1000 program. In addition, I will meet tomorrow with Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead and Navy Secretary Donald Winter to discuss ways to lessen the impact of the decision on BIW.”
Photo of the Day
The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) receives fuel from the Military Sealift Command auxiliary oiler USNS Guadalupe (T-AO 200) while steaming through the central Pacific Ocean.
Gator
