Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Alert - Community Build 8th Session
The 8th session of our MSW Community Build is coming to a close soon, make sure you have your progress shots ready, uploaded, and posted in your Blog by 2/1/09, EST to be in the running for this months point awards!!
Image Bank WW2
Today’s website is Image Bank WW2. This data bank brings together all images of the Second World War in the collections of Dutch war and resistance museums, commemoration centers and the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD). Enjoy.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1800 - Capt. Thomas Tingey is ordered to duty as the first superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard.
1870 - Cmdr. Thomas Selfridge sails the gunboat Nipsic on an expedition to ascertain the best location for an interoceaniccanal across the Isthmus of Darien.
1944 - During Operation Shingle, Amphibious Task Force 81, under the command of Rear Adm. F.J. Lowry, lands the Army's VI Corps at Anzio, Italy.
Boeing Increases Capability of On-Orbit US Navy Satellite
Source: Boeing Co.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. --- Boeing has successfully reconfigured an on-orbit U.S. Navy satellite, adding 30 percent more communications capability. The satellite, the 11th in the Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) series built by Boeing, was launched in 2003 and supports the Navy's global communications network, serving ships at sea and a variety of other U.S. military fixed and mobile terminals.
UFO 11 has the most sophisticated digital signal processor in the constellation. Its ability to reprogram existing user channels allowed Boeing to exploit small, unused portions of the allocated radio frequency spectrum to add 10 channels, for a total of 54.
"Given the extremely high demand for tactical communications in Southwest Asia, our Navy customer asked us to investigate ways to maximize the current capabilities of the UFO 11 spacecraft," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "After a series of careful analyses and rigorous testing, we found a way to achieve this goal at no additional cost to the customer.
"The military's need for communications bandwidth continues to rise," Cooning added. "Our unique combination of highly capable satellite hardware and experienced, highly skilled engineers allowed us to provide additional bandwidth that will directly support our men and women in uniform."
The satellite reconfiguration was accomplished in conjunction with U.S. Strategic Command, the Navy's Program Executive Office -- Space Systems, and the Naval Satellite Operations Command.
Boeing received the UFO contract in July 1988. By November 1999, all options had been exercised and the company began production of UFO 11. The spacecraft features both ultra high-frequency and extremely high-frequency payloads, which provide protected communications. Boeing UFO satellites have provided the Navy with a total of more than 100 years of service to date.
Brazil Exports Naval Ship to Namibia
Source: Brazilian Ministry of Defence
BRASILIA --- As a result of the tightening of relations between the governments of Brazil and Namibia, an agreement was signed in June 2004 for the supply of a patrol ship and two patrol boats to the navy of this African country.
The patrol ship, christened “Brendan Simbwaye” and armed with cannons and machine guns, is 46.5 meters long, can reach a maximum speed of 27 knots, and will be used to patrol and monitor Namibia’s coastline.
The project was managed by EMGEPRON, a public company tied to the Brazilian Navy, which guaranteed the ship’s quality as well as the armament installation and will provide logistic support to the Namibian navy.
For the construction of the vessels, the government of Namibia selected Indústria Naval do Ceará - INACE, based in Fortaleza, which had acquired the necessary know-how and technology by building Grajau-class patrol boats for the Brazilian Navy.
This successful initiative, in addition to generating employment, developing production as well as naval technologies, also opens new perspectives for the export of naval ships, and will thus contribute to the expansion of the country’s defence industry.
The patrol boat “Brendan Simbwaye” will be commissioned into the Namibian Navy on January 16, 2009, and a ceremony will be held at the INACE shipyard in the presence of the authorities including Governor of the state of Cearà, the Defence Ministers of Brazil and Namibia, the Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade; the commanders of the Brazilian and Namibian navies; and the Prefect of Fortaleza.
General characteristics:
-- displacement: 197 tonnes empty, 217 tonnes loaded;
-- Length: 46.5 meters, beam 7.5 meters and draught 2.3 meters;
-- propulsion: 2 MTU 16V 396 TB94 diesel engines rated at 2,740 bhp each, coupled to two shafts with fixed-pitch, three-bladed propellers.
-- fuel: 23 tonnes.
-- maximum speed: 26.5 knots; cruise speed: 22 knots.
-- range: 2,200 nautical miles at 12 knots (10 days).
Photo of the Day
Waves hit USS Texas hull. The photos were taken by the USS TEXAS Gunnery Officer, LCDR Charles W. Moses. The date of the photograph appears to be around 1941.
Gator
