Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.



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Air Raid Pearl Harbor

Today’s website is NavSource’s Air Raid Pearl Harbor. We all know how valuable NavSource’s photos are. Here is their tribute to that fateful day. Enjoy.
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This Day in U.S. Naval History

1843 - USS Michigan is launched at Erie, Penn. Michigan is America's first iron-hulled warship, as well as the first prefabricated ship.
1941 - USS Lexington (CV 2) sails with Task Force 12 to transport Marine aircraft to Midway, leaving no carriers at Pearl Harbor only days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.


Southern Partnership Station Begins Aboard Swift
Source: US Navy

Military Sealift Command-chartered high speed vessel HSV-2 Swift (HSV 2) along with various embarked Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units departed Louisiana Nov. 25 for a five-month deployment in support of Southern Partnership Station (SPS).

Southern Partnership Station is an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command area of focus in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission's primary goal is information sharing with navies, coast guards and civilian services throughout the region.

"Southern Partnership Station provides an excellent opportunity to facilitate cooperation, interaction and communication between regional partners' civil and maritime services," said Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet. "Working together alongside our partner nations, sharing knowledge and experiences through joint, multinational and interagency exchanges will help to build strong relationships, improve interoperability and enhance regional maritime security."

Military training teams and subject matter experts embarked on Swift will provide partner nations with classroom and hands-on training in a variety of subjects.

"SPS provides us an opportunity to work with our friends, build partnerships and train together," said Cmdr. Christopher K. Barnes, SPS mission commander.

The ship is scheduled to visit El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Barbados and Colombia.

The mission is coordinated through U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet (NAVSO/ 4th Fleet) with partner nations to meet their specific training requests. Swift embarked elements of the Navy Expeditionary Training Command from Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va., Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group from Fort Story, Va., and Naval Criminal Investigative Service Security Training Assistance and Assessment Team.

Members of the Navy Expeditionary Training Command will provide instruction in small boat operations, maintenance and repair, boarding techniques, armed sentry, search and rescue, combat lifesaving, leadership principles for junior and senior partner nation enlisted service members, and instructor training.

The Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group will advise partner nation servicemembers on a variety of different topics including marksmanship, martial arts, and non-lethal weapons tactics.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service Security Training and Assessment Team will provide port security instruction and advice.

Information systems technicians will help install and instruct partner nation servicemembers on the use of Integrated Automatic Identification Systems (IAIS). IAIS is a computer based vessel identification program that provides ports and other ships with real-time location and information on friendly vessels within their region.

"This is a great system, I really like the way it works," said Information Systems Technician 2nd Class German Rodriguez, IAIS instructor. "I'm excited to interact with our friends and show them the great things this system can do."

As the Naval Component Command of SOUTHCOM, NAVSO's mission is to direct U.S. Naval Forces operating in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions and interact with partner nation navies within the maritime environment. Various operations include counter-illicit trafficking, Theater Security Cooperation, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, military-to-military interaction and bilateral and multinational training.

Fourth Fleet is the numbered fleet assigned to NAVSO, exercising operational control of assigned forces in the SOUTHCOM area of focus.

Swift is under long-term charter to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. A crew of civilian mariners working for a private company under charter to MSC operate and navigate the ship.


Medvedev says Russia, India must finalize Admiral Gorshkov terms
Source: Russian Navy

Russia and India must finally agree on the revised terms of a contract to deliver a modernized aircraft carrier to the Indian navy and ensure the implementation of the project, the Russian president said on Thursday. The original $750 million contract to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov to India, which Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport signed with the Indian Navy in 2004, stated that the work would be completed in 2008.



However, Russia later claimed it had underestimated the scale and the cost of the modernization and demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi said was "exorbitant."

"This issue is not the simplest one in our relations," Dmitry Medvedev told reporters on the eve of his December 4-5 visit to India.

"However, I believe that we must show mutual respect, agree on the final terms of cooperation in this project, and ensure its successful implementation," he said.

According to various sources, after long-running delays and disputes, Russia and India agreed in February to raise retrofit costs for the aircraft carrier, docked at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia for the past 12 years, by at least $800 million.

However, Sevmash officials later claimed that the ongoing maintenance and upgrade made up 60-70% of the carrier's cost, or at least $2 bln.

The current contract covers a complete overhaul of the ship and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.

Sevmash has said if New Delhi provides sufficient funding to complete work then the construction of the ship will be completed in 2010 and tests will start in 2011, while in 2012 it will be handed over to the Indian Navy.

The carrier, renamed the Vikramaditya, is to replace India's INS Viraat carrier, which, although currently operational, is now 50 years old.

After modernization, the carrier is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.


Photo of the Day



Sailors manning the rails aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) render honors to the USS Arizona memorial.

Gator