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



Curator of Navy Ship Models

Today’s website is the Curator of Navy Ship Models. The U.S. Department of the Navy Ship Model Program collects, preserves, interprets, and displays scale models in federal museums and offices and in state and local public educational museums and facilities. Depicting the rich tradition, historical heritage, and technological development of the United States Navy from earliest times to the present, the Department of the Navy Ship Model Collection is recognized as a precious national treasure. Enjoy.
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This Day in U.S. Naval History

1796 - Congress authorizes the completion of three frigates.
1861 - Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia is abandoned and burned by Union forces.
1914 - In the first call to action of naval aviators, a detachment on USS Birmingham sailed to Tampico, Mexico.
1915 - The first Navy contract for lighter-than-air craft is awarded.
1942 - USS Wasp (CV 7) launches 47 British aircraft to reinforce Malta.
1947 - Navy Capt. L.O. Fox, supported by 80 Marines, accepted the surrender of Lt. Yamaguchi and 26 Japanese soldiers and sailors, two-and-a-half years after the occupation of Peleliu and nearly 20 months after the surrender of Japan.
1953 - USS New Jersey (BB 62) shells Wonsan, Korea, from inside the harbor.
1964 - USS Henry Clay (SSBN 625) launches a Polaris A-2 missile from the surface in the first demonstration that Polaris submarines could launch missiles from the surface as well as from beneath the ocean. Thirty minutes later, the submarine launched another Polaris missile while submerged.


NATO ships, helicopters hunt down 7 pirates
Source: Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya – NATO warships and helicopters pursued Somali pirates for seven hours after they attacked a Norwegian tanker, NATO spokesmen said Sunday, and the high-speed chase only ended when warning shots were fired at the pirates' skiff.

Seven pirates attempted to attack the Norwegian-flagged MV Front Ardenne late Saturday but fled after crew took evasive maneuvers and alerted warships in the area, said Portuguese Lt. Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, aboard a warship in the Gulf of Aden, and Cmdr. Chris Davies, of NATO's maritime headquarters in England.

"How the attack was thwarted is unclear, it appears to have been the actions of the tanker," Davies said. Fernandes said no shots were fired at the tanker.

Davies said the pirates sailed into the path of the Canadian warship Winnipeg, which was escorting a World Food Program delivery ship through the Gulf of Aden. The American ship USS Halyburton was also in the area and joined the chase.

"There was a lengthy pursuit, over seven hours," Davies said.
The pirates hurled weapons into the dark seas as the Canadian and U.S. warships closed in. The ships are part of NATO's anti-piracy mission.

"The skiff abandoned the scene and tried to escape to Somali territory," Fernandes said. "It was heading toward Bossaso we managed to track them ... warning shots have been made after several attempts to stop the vessel."

Both ships deployed helicopters, and naval officers hailed the pirates over loudspeakers and finally fired warning shots to stop them, Fernandes said, but not before the pirates had dumped most of their weapons overboard. NATO forces boarded the skiff, where they found a rocket-propelled grenade, and interrogated, disarmed and released the pirates.
The pirates cannot be prosecuted under Canadian law because they did not attack Canadian citizens or interests and the crime was not committed on Canadian territory.

"When a ship is part of NATO, the detention of person is a matter for the national authorities," Fernandes said. "It stops being a NATO issue and starts being a national issue."

The pirates' release underscores the difficulties navies have in fighting rampant piracy off the coast of lawless Somalia. Most of the time foreign navies simply disarm and release the pirates they catch due to legal complications and logistical difficulties in transporting pirates and witnesses to court.

Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, four times the number assaulted in 2003, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau. They now hold at least 18 ships — including a Belgian tanker seized Saturday with 10 crew aboard — and over 310 crew hostage, according to an Associated Press count.


Northrop Grumman Successfully Delivers Amphibious Assault Ship Makin Island (LHD to U.S. Navy
Source: Northrop Grumman

PASCAGOULA, Miss. --- Northrop Grumman Corporation's Shipbuilding sector delivered to the U.S. Navy today one of the nation's newest and most advanced ships, the amphibious-assault ship Makin Island (LHD during a short ceremony held on the vessel's flight deck.

“We made a commitment to deliver this ship to the U.S. Navy in the second quarter of this year and through a determined effort by our shipbuilders, we successfully met this milestone,'' said Irwin F. Edenzon, sector vice president and general manager, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Gulf Coast. “This delivery will provide sailors and Marines a critical tool in performing their sea power missions worldwide. LHD 8's diverse capabilities will make it a significant and important member of the fleet.''

Makin Island (LHD was delivered to the U.S. Navy after successfully completing acceptance sea trials. Acceptance trials are conducted to allow representatives of the U.S. Navy Board of Inspection and Survey to witness and evaluate operation of ship systems and ship performance.

Makin Island is the eighth USS Wasp (LHD 1)-class amphibious assault ship built by the company's shipbuilders in Pascagoula, Miss. It is 844 feet long, 106 feet wide and weighs 42,800 tons. Its 70,000 horsepower hybrid propulsion system will drive it to speeds in excess of 20 knots. Makin Island contains the first gas turbine/electric-powered propulsion system ever used on large-deck amphibious assault ships. The gas turbine engines and electric drive, a change from previous steam-powered amphibious-assault ships, will provide significant life-cycle savings in manpower and maintenance costs over the previous ships.

As a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, Makin Island is designed to transport and land a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a force of almost 2,000 Marines, ashore by helicopter, landing craft and amphibious assault vehicle. It will also have secondary missions of sea control and power projection by helicopter and fixed-wing vertical short take-off and landing aircraft; command and control; and mission support, including a hospital with six operating rooms. Makin Island is scheduled for commissioning at its San Diego homeport in October 2009.




NSWC Crane Assists in Advanced Laser Technology Aboard Helicopter
Source: US Naval Surface Warfare Command

CRANE, Ind --- NSWC Crane will assist in the integration design for the installation of the Department of the Navy (DoN) Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system on the CH-53D helicopter.

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) assisted in the first successful launch of the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter with the Department of the Navy (DoN) Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system on its platform in January 2009.

The advanced laser technology now on board is designed to defeat threatening missile-guidance systems. The active countermeasure automatically directs a high-intensity modulated laser beam into the missile threat and alerts the pilot of its deflection without any action needed from the crew on board.

NSWC Crane's engineering, logistics and field test support provided a significant contribution to this technology currently being utilized in theater.

With more than 500,000 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles available on the worldwide market, infrared guided-missiles have become one of the greatest threats in conflict.

"Anywhere an infrared missile threat exists, these highly effective countermeasures systems come into play," said Ted Smock, division manager for NSWC Crane's Infrared/Radio Frequency (IR/RF) System Technologies division.

The Electronic Warfare/Information Operations (EW/IO) Center supports the Advanced Tactical Aircraft Protection Systems program office in the effort. This office is responsible for the fielding of DoN LAIRCM self-protection systems on Navy aircraft.

NSWC Crane has been supporting the CH-53E DoN LAIRCM project for approximately three years.

NSWC Crane partners with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and NSWC Crane's Special Missions Center on initiatives related to the DoN LAIRCM system, including the integration of the systems onto other Navy platforms. NSWC Crane is also developing solutions to counter next generation advanced threats the warfighter will face in the future.

"We dig deeply into the inner workings of the threat and basically understand what the missile is thinking," Smock said.

NSWC Crane's initiatives on the system stem from its role as the EW Center of Excellence within the Department of Defense (DoD). The command's nationally recognized leadership knowledge of the threat environment provides the expertise needed to successfully complete missions. NSWC Crane's secured engineering and test facilities, modeling/simulation and performance assessment methods, and development and prototyping ability offer a capability in one place that no other DoD organization can provide.

"We've been leveraging technology to save pilot and air crew lives for more than fifty years. We are the Navy's expertise in infrared countermeasure development. Laser-based countermeasures is just another technology applied to the overall mission," Smock said. "Nobody else can provide the whole package."


Photo of the Day



The tugboat Shinano guides the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) toward the pier as it moors in Fleet Activities Yokosuka after an underway period conducting a Unit-Level Training Assessment-Certification.

Gator