Ahoy mates and welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Let’s see what going on today.



Feature - “EXPLOSION” MUSEUM, Hampshire, UK
MSW crewmates Rob Kernaghan and Peter Fulgoney took a trip to this armament museum in Gosport, Hampshire, UK, and has shared their trip in this MSW Feature!"
Feature

Naval Word of the Day
Jim Adams is here with another installment of the Naval Word of the Day.
Word of the Day

Community Build Session 3
It's getting to be that time again, mates, we have 9 days left in Build Session 3 of our "Community Build Contest".
Don't forget to record your progress with your best images, and have them uploaded and posted into your individual blogs by 9/01/08, EST, to be eligible for this sessions points!
Community Build




WEM Website Content Correction
John Snyder has posted a correction for their 1/350 aircraft range announced yesterday on their web site. WEM PE 35115 1/350 Supermarine Walrus only contains parts for 4 aircraft, not 10 as stated.




This Day in U.S. Naval History

1912 - Birthday of the Navy Dental Corps.
1945 - First surrender of Japanese garrison at end of World War II; USS Levy (DE 162) receives surrender of Mille Atoll in Marshall Islands.
1980 - USS Passumpsic (AO 107) rescues 28 Vietnamese refugees.


Tall Ship Gorch Fock Turns 50

On August 23, 2008, the sailing ship Gorch Fock will turn 50 years old. The Gorch Fock is the second ship by that name and the fifth in its class.



The Gorch Fock is a tall ship of the German Navy (Deutsche Marine). She is the second ship of that name and a sister ship of the Gorch Fock built in 1933. Both ships are named in honor of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and died in the battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916. The modern-day Gorch Fock was built in 1958 and has since then undertaken 146 cruises (as of October 2006), including one tour around the world in 1988. She is sometimes referred to (unofficially) as the Gorch Fock II to distinguish her from her older sister ship.

Because Germany had lost all its school ships as war reparations after World War II, the German Bundesmarine decided in 1957 to have a new training vessel built following the plans for the original Gorch Fock of 1933 which by now was owned by the Soviets, and renamed to Tovarishch. The new ship was a modernized rebuild of the Albert Leo Schlageter, a slightly modified sister ship of the previous Gorch Fock.

The 1933 Gorch Fock had already been designed to be a very safe ship: she had a righting moment large enough to bring her back into the upright position even when heeling over to nearly 90°. Nevertheless some late-minute changes to the design were made in response to the Pamir disaster in 1957, especially concerning the strength of the body and the bulkheads as well as the lifesaving equipment, including the lifeboats.

The new ship was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, launched on 23 August 1958, and commissioned on 17 December of that year. Her home port is Kiel. The Gorch Fock is a three-masted barque with a steel hull 81.2 m (266 ft) long (without the bowsprit) and 12 m (40 ft) wide. She has a draught of some 5.2 m (17 ft) and a displacement at full load of 1760 tons. Originally, she carried 1952 m of canvas sails; later, she received slightly larger sails made of synthetic materials. The tops of her fore and main masts can be lowered so that she can navigate the Kiel Canal, otherwise she would be too tall for some of the bridges spanning the canal.

Over the years, various modernizations have been applied to the ship. She was fitted with air conditioning, the asbestos used originally was removed and replaced by less dangerous materials in 1991, and in that year she also received a new auxiliary engine, a six cylinder diesel engine producing 1,220 kW (1660 hp), good for a top speed of 13.7 knots. The interior has also been modified multiple times; technological advances made it possible to reduce the size of the galley and enlarge the crew quarters.

Officially Gorch Fock is a Type 441 class naval ship with the NATO pennant number A60. Her international radio call sign is DRAX.
The Gorch Fock participates in sailing parades and Tall Ships' Races, where she is in amicable rivalry with the Italian vessel Amerigo Vespucci.




Restored Sea King Makes Final Landing

A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter flown by Prince Andrew during the Falklands conflict in 1982 has been handed over to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton, following a full restoration.



HAS Mk6 XZ574 was handed over Commodore David Evans from Defence Equipment and Support to Commodore Chris Palmer, Commanding Officer of Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, who accepted the aircraft on behalf of the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

Commodore Evans thanked those who gave up their time to undertake the restoration, he said: "This is a great day and my sincere thanks to all those involved, from MOD, industry and Front Line Commands, who found time, despite the operational tempo, to carry out this superb restoration," he said

Museum Director, Graham Mottram, said he was confident Prince Andrew would approve of the superb job the volunteer restorers had done: "The Sea King is an important aircraft and the museum has been after one for some time."
Sea King XZ574 was built by Westland Helicopters in Yeovil and first entered service with the Royal Navy on 6 October 1976 in the anti-submarine role.

The aircraft was finally retired from service on 7 October 2004 having been earmarked for disposal. Defence Equipment and Support' Sea King team worked with colleagues from the Defence College Aeronautical Engineering (Gosport) to remove any serviceable equipment and cosmetically prepared the aircraft to appear as it would have done in 1982.

Assistance was also provided by Vector Aerospace (Formerly the Defence Aviation Repair Agency) Fleetlands, who manufactured the stencils and decals for the markings. AgustaWestland funded and completed a respray of the aircraft, restoring it to its original 1982 colour scheme.


Photo of the Day



The Sea Wolf-class attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) sits moored in the Magnetic Silencing Facility at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor for her first deperming treatment.

Gator