Ahoy mates and welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Let’s see what going on today.
EVENT - "Explosion Museum", Gosport
Our mates Robert Kernaghan and Peter Fulgoney, have requested an announcement that they both will be at Gosport, UK., - "Explosion Museum" this Saturday 9th August from 10am., and Rob again on Sunday. If any of the British modellers are interested we would be very pleased to see them.
A unique meeting opportunity for any modelers in the area!
"Explosion Museum"
PHOTOS - 1/350 Japanese Navy Submarine I-400 Special Edition
As mentioned in an earlier edition, Tamiya is launching it’s 1/350 Japanese Navy Submarine I-400 Special Edition. In addition to the previously released kit, the following will be included:
Clear parts are used to depict hangar area and Seiran aircraft
Photo-etched parts for railings
Metal torpedoes
48 1/350 scale figures
PC Wallpaper of the Month from Pit-Road
This month’s PC wallpaper from Pit-Road is the box art of the 1/350 “IJN Escort Ship UKURU” kit.
Wallpaper
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1862 - CSS Arkansas destroyed by her commanding officer to prevent capture by USS Essex.
1943 - Battle of Vella Gulf begins. U.S. destroyers sink three of four Japanese destroyers.
1945 - Atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima, Japan. Navy weaponeer, Capt. W.S. Parsons, armed the atomic bomb on the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay.
1990 - President George Bush orders Operation Desert Shield, largest overseas deployment since Vietnam, to protect Saudi Arabia after Iraqi's invasion of Kuwait.
1997 - Naval Forces on Guam help rescue and begin providing medical care to survivors of Korean Airlines Flight 801 that crashed on Guam.
Navy’s New Carriers to Get Latest UK-Designed Radar
Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers will be equipped with a new powerful UK-designed and manufactured radar, under a £100M contract with BAE Systems Insyte announced today.
With its ability to track a target the size of a snooker ball over 20 km away, the new more powerful Artisan radar will provide an improved 3D maritime Medium Range Radar (MRR) capability. The radar system will be developed and manufactured by BAE Systems Insyte at its plant in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
Rear Admiral Amjad Hussain, Director General Weapons at MOD Defence Equipment and Support said
“The Artisan radar is a sophisticated world-class system which will significantly improve the flow and quality of information to commanders compared with existing technology. It will allow our ships to detect, track and aid the identification of a range of threats from the air and surface in difficult conditions.
“The new radar will replace existing systems on our Type23 frigates, landing ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark and the assault helicopter carrier HMS Ocean - as well as on our two new aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. This is a prime example of the type of hi tech equipment that we are investing in to improve the ability of our commanders to operate in the 21st Century.”
Captain Brian Archibald Royal Navy Integrated Project Team Leader for Short Range Air Defence, at MOD Defence Equipment and Support added:
“The MRR project will provide the Royal Navy with a long awaited and unrivalled improvement to its Medium Range Radar capability whilst also delivering enhanced system availability and best value-for-money to the taxpayer.
“The project will be delivered through a firm price contract, covering both Demonstration, Manufacture and delivery of the radar systems and the first 10 years of in-service support. This has been a tight competition and my thanks go to all those in industry and in the MoD who have worked so hard to make this happen.”
The contract which has been awarded to BAE Systems Insyte is expected to sustain around 200 jobs in BAE Systems, their team partners and the supplier base, around 40 per cent at the contractor’s facilities’ in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
BACKGROUND NOTES:
-- Equivalent power, space and weight of RT996 (existing capability)
-- Mast Head weight of approx 1100 kg
-- Provides excellent small target performance, able to track a target the size of a snooker ball over 20 km away
-- E/F Band Radar
-- In the littoral i.e in and around the coastline the radar will track targets clearly across the land sea interface even in harsh jamming environments
-- Other radars being produced at BAE Systems Insyte inc Long Range Radar and SAMPSON (Multi-Function Radar) for the Royal Navy and Commander (RT102) for the RAF.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) Commissioned in Ship's Homeport of Alameda, Calif.
Yesterday the Northrop Grumman Corporation-built National Security Cutter USCGC Bertholf was commissioned on the U.S. Coast Guard's birthday, becoming the service's most capable and technologically-advanced maritime asset in its 218-year existence.
"I know firsthand that the ship we commission today will be the most capable ship that the Coast Guard has ever sailed," said Rep. Elijah Cummings from Maryland's seventh district. "Hopefully our children will look back on this day of Aug. 4, 2008 and say that under their watch, they created a great ship, and that ship is going out to defend our way of life, guard our borders, interdict drugs and make sure our nation is safe."
Meryl Chertoff, the ship's sponsor and wife of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, ordered the men and women of the Bertholf crew to "man our ship and bring her to life." The crew responded with an "aye aye ma'am" and double-timed it through the 2,500 spectators on Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Calif.
"Northrop Grumman's shipbuilders - some 40,000 of them - could not be more proud to build and deliver these brand-new assets to the Coast Guard," said Mike Petters, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. "Bertholf is the flagship of the fleet-the largest and most technically advanced class of cutter the Coast Guard has ever known."
In partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, the joint venture partners of Integrated Coast Guard Systems, have been working side-by-side to design a ship that is not only capable and flexible, but also an economical and enduring platform.
"We are in an era of a persistent conflict, with hazards and threats to be dealt with," said U.S. Coast Guard commandant Adm. Thad Allen. "This ship represents a remarkable step forward, not only in capability and capacity, but also in the competency of this crew. Today, the crew will bring this ship to life and Bertholf will be up to the challenges of the 21st century."
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Patrick H. Stadt, of Ft. Belvoir, Va., assumed command as commanding officer of Bertholf. The ship will be homeported in Alameda.
Bertholf, is named to honor Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, the first commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. The ship is 418 feet long, with a 54-foot beam. Powered by a twin-screw combined diesel and gas turbine power propulsion plant, the NSC is designed to travel at 28 knots maximum speed.
International Minesweepers Gather In South West
Devonport Naval Base has hosted a group of mine counter measures ships from NATO navies, including two Royal Navy vessels HMS Roebuck and HMS Ledbury.
The Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) re-grouped in Plymouth after its recent summer dispersal to homeports. The group, one of NATO’s two specialist mine counter measures (MCM) forces, normally operates within northern European and Baltic waters under the command of NATO’s Maritime Component Commander (North), from his headquarters in Northwood north of London.
Following the completion of planned maintenance for the group’s Flagship Devonport-based HMS Roebuck, in the naval base, she has now been joined by five other specialist mine hunting vessels the BNS Lobelia (Belgium), HNLMS Urk (Holland), ENS Admiral Cowan (Estonia), FGS Homburg (Germany) and Portsmouth-based HMS Ledbury, all of which are available to support NATO maritime operations.
The group is currently on high readiness as the ‘on call’ mine counter measures (MCM) force, following its recent accreditation for NATO Response Force operations during the major maritime exercise Loyal Mariner in June.
Today the group is due to leave UK for a four-month deployment to Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. The ships will be joined by Norwegian and Italian mine countermeasures vessels. Scheduled to join operations and exercises with Southern European and African Navies, the group will also undertake historic ordnance disposal operations and support NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue initiative with diplomatic visits and military exercises with North African countries.
This is the oldest of NATO’s standing maritime groups and provides NATO with an immediately deployable task group should the need arise. The group also works together regularly to refine and learn techniques and procedures and enhance the way’s different navies work together effectively despite different languages and traditions.
Photo of the Day
The Advanced Electric Ship Demonstrator (AESD), Sea Jet, undergoes sea trials on Lake Pend Oreille at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Acoustic Research Detachment in Bayview, Idaho.
Gator
