Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Review - Tamiya's 1/350 USS Fletcher
MSW crew-mate Jay Massey (treadhead1952) shares his thoughts and opinions of Tamiya Models 1/350 scale plastic injection kit of the USS Fletcher, in this "inbox" style review.
Review.
Recruiting - Reviewers Wanted
Model Shipwrights is looking for kit reviewers. If you think you can write a review, click on the link below to see what the task entails and then contact Mark Smith (Gunny)
Reviewers
The Pearl Harbor History Associates
Today’s website is The Pearl Harbor History Associates. With November coming to and end, today’s website honors those who served and died on that fateful day in December.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1917 - USS Fanning (DD 37) and USS Nicholson (DD-52) sink first enemy submarine, U-58, off Milford Haven, Wales.
1924 - USS Langley (CV 1), first aircraft carrier, reports for duty.
1941 - Congress amends Neutrality Act to allow U.S. merchant ships to be armed. Navy's Bureau of Navigation directs Navy personnel with Armed Guard training to be assigned for further training before going to Armed Guard Centers for assignment to merchant ships.
1955 - Navy sets up Special Projects Office under Rear Adm. William Raborn, USN, to develop a solid propellant ballistic missile for use in submarines.
Two Somali 'pirates' killed in clash with British Navy
Source: Royal Navy
HMS Cumberland whilst conducting routine Maritime Security Operations in the Gulf of Aden on the 11 November had course to board a Yemeni flagged dhow, towing a skiff which they had reason to believe had been involved in an attack on the Danish-registered MV Powerful earlier in the day.
Various non-forcible methods had been used in an attempt to stop the dhow but they were unsuccessful. Sea boats were launched to circle the dhow in an attempt to encourage it to stop – these boats were fired at from the dhow and the crews returned fire in self defence. The dhow crew subsequently surrendered and a compliant boarding followed. It was then clear that two personnel, believed to be pirates, had been shot and killed.
A Yemeni national was also found injured and later died, despite receiving emergency treatment from the ship’s doctor. It is unclear whether his injuries were as a result of the firefight or a previous incident involving the pirates.
An MOD Spokesman said:
“Yesterday a crew from the frigate HMS Cumberland boarded a foreign flagged dhow, believed to be Yemeni, which had been positively identified in an earlier hijacking attempt on a Danish vessel. Prior to boarding, boats launched by Cumberland to intercept the dhow were involved in an exchange of fire. Two foreign nationals, believed to be Somali pirates, were shot and killed in self defence. A Yemeni national was also found injured and later died, despite receiving emergency treatment from the ship’s doctor. It is unclear whether his injuries were as a result of the firefight or a previous incident involving the pirates. As with all shooting incidents, a post shooting incident investigation is currently being conducted.”
Manoora in the Pacific
Source: Royal Australian Navy
HMAS Manoora departed Australian waters in mid-August for a South West Pacific deployment that included port visits to Apia, Auckland and Dunedin, and finished with visits to Hobart and Melbourne.
Manoora arrived in Apia on August 19 welcomed with glorious sunny weather and cool breezes as she berthed alongside the International Wharf. The Commanding Officer of Manoora, CMDR Paul Mandziy, had the honour of hosting the Samoan Deputy Prime Minister, the Honorable Misa Telefoni, MP, and the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency, Mr Matthew Anderson, at his luncheon.
A busy port visit saw Manoora's ship's company training the Samoan Maritime Police, helping them to overhaul seamanship procedures and safety equipment. The ship's company also held a blood donation drive on behalf of the Samoan Red Cross, which allowed visiting Australian doctors to provide urgent medical care.
The Samoan Victims Support Group House also benefited from the attention of Manoora's ship's company with the house totally renovated over a two day period that included electrical re-wiring, house re-stumping, painting, garden beds built, and a variety of odd jobs throughout the house.
POMT Howlett, Manoora's "Chippie", did what he does best supervising most of the internal work. "Knowing what these disadvantaged kids have gone through, we just want to do something to make them happy" said Howlett.
Not all of the time spent in Apia was hard work with many of the ship's company enjoying the tropical resorts, water sports and island lifestyle with the "Fia Fia" night of traditional fire dancing proving to be a clear winner for all.
Manoora's New Zealand experience included port visits to Auckland and Dunedin where the ship's company interacted with Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) personnel both in the professional setting and on the sporting fields.
A Passing Exercise with HMNZS Te Kaha and embarking the RNZN Sea Training Group dominated the passage between Auckland and Dunedin. Manoora took the opportunity to embark the New Zealand based family members of the ship's company for a sea ride.
A quick transit across the Tasman Sea to Hobart saw Manoora sail up the Derwent River on a bright sunny September day with the winners of the Hobart Secondary School 'Battle of Britain' Essay contest. The weekend's highlights in Hobart included Manoora's support for the national Battle of Britain Commemoration Activities as well as Australian Customs and Australian Federal Police Drug and Explosives Dog exercises. Tasmanian based Australian Naval Cadets (ANC), Royal United Services Institute national delegates and Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) candidates were also lucky enough to tour the ship.
Manoora sailed from Hobart for Burnie on September 15 with over 45 ANCs for 'Life-at-Sea' experience. Tasmanian based family members of ship's company also joined the ship for the family cruise between Hobart and Melbourne.
Manoora entered Port Phillip Bay in the early hours of September 17, having embarked over 70 High School and University students as well as media groups. The port visit to Melbourne saw many ship tours by family members, ANCs, Recruits from HMAS Cerberus and DFR candidates.
The final leg between Melbourne and Sydney saw Manoora embark over 100 Defence Materiel Organisation and Australian Federation Guard personnel for a sea riding experience.
All stated, the experience was very memorable for the ship's company and capped off a busy year for the ship.
Sailors Scaling the Heights for Children-In-Need
Source: Royal Navy
Sailors based in Portsmouth will be scaling the heights of one of their accommodation blocks to abseil down the side of the building to raise funds for this Friday’s BBC charity marathon Children-in-Need. Sam Dawes, a 20 year old Logistics specialist from Birmingham who recently served with the Royal Marines at the RM Training Centre in Lympstone was inspired by their daring activities to arrange this challenge and was keen to provide an opportunity for regular sailors to take part in the sponsored abseiling activity.
“It’s an ideal time to overcome a fear of heights for a great cause!” Sam said. “I saw the TV advertisements, sent off for a fundraising pack and then decided to arrange something suitably exciting to get involved with Children-in–Need, I’ve always wanted to do something for this particular charity and am really pleased that my mates are supporting the challenge.”
Royal Navy Stewards and an Army nurse currently serving in the Naval Base Medical Centre will be amongst those demonstrating their Commando-like qualities this Friday morning between 1000-1200. Individuals need to raise at least £25 minimum to take part in the abseil that will be fully supervised by mountain leaders qualified in Adventurous Training.
Earlier that morning The Royal Marines School of Music students will be marching and playing band music around the Nelson accommodation site and also collecting for the BBC Children-in Need Appeal.
Navy Pilots Learning to Fly Global Hawk
Source: US Air Force
In what could prove to be the first step toward creating a joint RQ-4 Unmanned Aircraft System training unit here, pilots of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron are teaching a class of Navy pilots the Global Hawk system.
The class, consisting of three active-duty P-3 Orion pilots and one civilian contractor, came about as a response to the secretary of defense's call to maximize the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability in support of the war on terrorism.
Navy officials are looking to the Air Force to assist in expediting their pending RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment, one reason the normally five-month course is being condensed to four.
"This is the initial Navy RQ-4 class, which is on an accelerated course," said Lt. Col. Scott Coon, 1st RS director of operations. "They are getting top priority. We bumped our regularly scheduled October class back by one month in order to fit the Navy pilots in."
Navy officials, who currently don't have a Global Hawk training program, will use the training Beale pilots provide to install their own Global Hawk presence in the Central Command area of operations by next year.
Based on the experience Beale aircrews have in training pilots to employ the Global Hawk, Colonel Coon said the 9th Reconnaissance Wing was a natural choice for the Navy when it came to deciding on where to send their pilots for training.
With more than 20,000 RQ-4 combat flying hours, Beale Airmen have racked up 75 percent of the total Global Hawk flying hours since the program's inception in 1998.
"We have trained our coalition partners," Colonel Coon said. "Now we are training our joint brethren to rapidly employ combat capability into the fight. Beale is postured to be a joint, interagency and multinational training base for high altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UASs."
More than 100 U.S., Australian and German pilots have been trained to fly the Global Hawk, with more becoming mission-qualified every month at a rate that has doubled in the last year, according to Colonel Coon.
"They (the Navy) want to take advantage of our years of experience, the mistakes we've made and the lessons we've learned and incorporate them into their own training program," he said. "After this class graduates, they can do one of two things; they can continue to have us train their pilots until they grow enough experience to establish their own training program, or we can work together to establish a joint training program."
In addition to providing pilot training for the Navy's new Global Hawk deployment, Beale's 9th RW Airmen will support their maritime Global Hawk mission until Naval personnel are fully trained to take over next year.
"We can launch and recover their Global Hawks using our Launch and Recovery Element and maintainers, but they'll still need to provide their own version of our Mission Control Element," explained Colonel Coon, adding that while the Air Force and Navy MCEs differ due to the software loads supporting the imagery sensors, taking off and landing is the same no matter what mission platform is used.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk, the Navy's choice for the service's unmanned aircraft system, is slated for testing in the AOR with their new Broad Area Maritime Surveillance platform. Eventually, Navy officials plan to use the RQ-4 and the P-8A Poseidon aircraft to replace the P-3 Orion, which is a large, four engine aircraft used for anti-submarine warfare, maritime patrol and reconnaissance.
"We are training to be fully mission-qualified in the RQ-4 Block 10's, of which the Navy owns two," said Navy Lt. Mike Anderson, a Global Hawk student. "In the spring, we are going to deploy those Global Hawks, and with Navy pilots behind the wheel, we're going to test the Global Hawks with some maritime missions."
The Navy's two contractor-operated Global Hawk Maritime Demonstrator RQ-4s are currently flown out of Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.
While focused on assisting the Navy deployment, Colonel Coon stated that hosting the first class of Navy pilots may prove to be the first step toward creating a joint training environment. He added that if a formal joint training unit were to happen, it would inevitably become a mix of Navy and Air Force instructors.
Currently Vance Air Force Base, Okla., is the Air Force's only joint specialized undergraduate pilot training base, with more than 400 Air Force, Navy and Marine pilots. Although it wouldn't be the first time Airmen have worked with personnel in other branches of service for joint training, it would be a first at Beale.
"I think it's a great step forward in getting a joint environment," said Colonel Coon. "There's no reason for the Navy to spend the time and effort to do what we've already done. It would be an expensive endeavor to catch up to where we are in the program. A joint approach seems to make sense in this situation."
For all you fans of college football, here’s this week’s BCS top 5
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Oklahoma
Scores from around the country…
No. 1 Alabama rolls past Mississippi State 32-7.
No. 2 Texas Tech was off this week.
No. 3 Texas smother Kansas in blowout 35-7.
No. 4 Florida embarrasses No. 25 South Carolina 56-6.
No. 5 Oklahoma was off this week.
Scores of interest
Stony Brook downs VMI 40-26.
Senior Newswriter Gator Loup’s alma mater McNeese beats Northwestern State 24-17.
Military Academy Scores
Notre Dame withstands Navy's last-minute rally 27-21.
No. 17 BYU cruise past Air Force 38-24
Army was off this week.
Photo of the Day
Lance Cpl. Samuel Joyce, from Boston, accepts a bagfull of toys during the Toys For Tots 5k Run at Fleet Activities Yokosuka.
Gator
