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



Maritime Museum of Crete

Today’s website is the Maritime Museum of Crete. At the entrance of the port of Chanea is situated the Fortress "FIRKA", which was constructed by the Venetian (1204-1669), in order to establish the local guard and at the same time to control the entrance of the port with their cannons. Today, the Maritime Museum of Crete is located at this Fortress. The mission of the Museum is to shelter and preserve Crete’s maritime traditions that have been a source of national survival, progress and greatness of the country. The exhibition articles include ship models, various instruments and equipment, paintings, heirlooms, objects which were pulled up from the sea bottom, potsherd (shells), pictures, etc. Enjoy.
Website




This Day in U.S. Naval History

1893 - Navy General Order 409 of Feb. 25, 1893, establishes the rate of "chief petty officer".
1942 - The first Naval Air Transportation Service (NATS) squadron for Pacific operations is commissioned.
1945 - More than 1,200 Navy ships and Army troops begin invasion of Okinawa.
1966 - U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam established as a command.
1967 - Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3 is activated at Vung Tau.

For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at


Mission Develops African Partners in Maritime Safety, Security
Source: US Navy

WASHINGTON --- Improving the maritime capabilities of West and Central African navies is just one of the key focus areas for the ongoing Africa Partnership Station, a senior officer involved in the effort said yesterday.

"I think one of the critical benefits to working here is the involvement of partner nations in the planning process," Navy Capt. Cynthia Thebaud, commodore of the APS staff aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS Nashville told bloggers and online journalists taking part in a bloggers roundtable discussion hosted by the Defense Department’s Emerging Media directorate.

Nashville is in the Gulf of Guinea on a large-scale APS mission. Thebaud said the APS initiative has evolved into several maritime security conferences that U.S. Navy leaders have attended.

“[We are] trying to develop some concepts of ways forward in helping to enhance and develop maritime safety and security capability, and capacity in West and Central Africa is really the genesis of this initiative,” Thebaud said.

Africa Partnership Station began in the fall of 2007 with the deployment of USS Fort McHenry to West Africa. The ship included an international staff and acted as a floating schoolhouse, offering a variety of maritime courses and training. The initiative has continued with deployments of other Navy and Coast Guard ships, aircraft and small training units. In early March, USS Robert G. Bradley completed the first Africa Partnership Station mission to East Africa.

Thebaud said the APS mission covers four areas: “Helping them develop maritime professionals; helping them to develop a maritime domain or a special regional awareness; helping to develop response capability and capacity; and helping to develop the infrastructure,” she said.

As APS has continued its mission, it also has matured, Royal Navy Cmdr. Mark Fitzsimmons, staff director for APS Nashville, added.

“One of the things that I think we are the most proud of this year versus past is that we really feel like we are responding to the needs of the … country teams and the host-nation navies, and we’re supporting their navy outreach efforts,” Fitzsimmons said.

He added that APS continues to push its knowledge forward for the benefit of future ships and future missions.

“The main mission is maritime safety and security,” Fitzsimmons said. “But a by-product of that and a real tertiary benefit is our ability to do community outreach, while at the same time building maritime safety and security.”

Thebaud added that the critical component to the success of APS is the involvement of partner nations in the planning process.

"One of the things that we hear said the most frequently is the … opportunity to come and work in a collaborative and cooperative environment with members of other West and Central African navies," Thebaud added.


Japan's Helicopter Carrier Commissioned Amid Concerns
Source: Kyodo News International

YOKOHAMA --- Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force commissioned its largest helicopter-carrying destroyer, with a 195-meter full-length flight deck, on Wednesday amid concerns about its resemblance to a light aircraft carrier.

One of the largest vessels ever built for the MSDF, the 13,950-ton Hyuga can carry up to 11 helicopters aboard by using the deck and the hanger deck beneath it.

The Hyuga -- the first vessel in the Hyuga class -- also enables up to four helicopters, such as SH-60K antisubmarine helicopters, to take off and land almost simultaneously.

The government has taken the position that Japan cannot possess an offensive aircraft carrier due to its war-renouncing Constitution. The MSDF denies that the Hyuga is an aircraft carrier, saying the vessel does not have offensive capabilities like attack aircraft.

At a ceremony at IHI Marine United Inc.'s shipyard in Yokohama, Parliamentary Defense Secretary Ryota Takeda handed the MSDF's rising sun ensign to the skipper, Capt. Katsunori Yamada, to hoist on the destroyer.

''I recognize that people's expectations for the Hyuga are high,'' Yamada told reporters after the event, saying his crew would try to live up to them so that the ship can be up to fighting strength soon.

The Hyuga later headed for the MSDF base in Yokosuka, also in Kanagawa Prefecture, where it will become the flagship for the force's 1st Escort Flotilla.

With its sophisticated command, control and communications system, the Hyuga will serve as the nerve center for operations ranging from antisubmarine warfare to anti-disaster efforts at home and abroad, and for rescuing Japanese nationals overseas, the MSDF said.

Among the Hyuga's roughly 340 crew members are 17 women -- two officers and 15 sailors -- who have become the first servicewomen on board a destroyer since the Self-Defense Forces were established in 1954. Their presence on a destroyer reflects the MSDF's effort to expand the role of women in the force to make up for the chronic personnel shortage.

The flattop replaces the old 4,950-ton destroyer Haruna. The second Hyuga-class destroyer is to be commissioned in March 2011 to replace a similar destroyer.

Despite its look and feel of a light aircraft carrier, MSDF Chief of Staff Adm. Keiji Akahoshi said Tuesday at a news conference, ''An aircraft carrier, I believe, has a fair degree of offensive functions. Based on that definition, this Hyuga falls a little bit outside of the frame.''

The acquisition of a destroyer that could project the force far beyond Japan's coast, however, raises concerns in some quarters, with some experts fearing it could spur rivalry with countries like China, which is rumored to be building an aircraft carrier of its own.

Japan denies itself offensive capabilities under its pacifist Constitution, but the government interprets the supreme law to mean that it can possess the minimum level of armed force necessary for its self-defense.


Photo of the Day



The Amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transit the Gulf of Aden.

Gator