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



US Navy Office of Naval Intelligence drawings
MSW Crewmember Lou Coatney (LouCoatney) shares with us his collection of U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) made up recognition/identification manuals of Allied and Axis warships.
Drawings




Scuttling of the High Seas Fleet

Today’s website is and article on the Scuttling of the High Seas Fleet at the end of World War 1. The German warships were interned at the British Naval base at Scapa Flow when it happened. Enjoy.
Website




This Day in U.S. Naval History

1801 - Tripoli declares war against the United States.
1836 - U.S. Exploring Expedition authorized to conduct exploration of Pacific Ocean and South Seas, first major
scientific expedition overseas.
1845 - First U.S. warship visits Vietnam.
1975 - Marines recapture Mayaguez, go ashore on Koh Tang Island and release the crew.


Shipper-Supplied Security is Best Defense Against Pirates, Flournoy Says
Source: U.S Department of Defense

WASHINGTON --- The U.S. military will continue its efforts to help thwart acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, but merchant-ship-supplied security is the best short-term defense, a senior Defense Department official told Capitol Hill legislators here today.

“Our goal is to encourage all vessels to take appropriate security measures to protect themselves from pirates,” Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told Senate Armed Services Committee members.

“We will continue to respond when U.S.-flagged vessels and U.S. citizens are attacked by pirates,” Flournoy continued. “But when ships have effective on-board security measures in place, the vast majority of attempted pirate attacks can be thwarted without any need for military intervention.”

Therefore, the U.S. military’s main task with regard to piracy, Flournoy said, is “to help commercial carriers turn their ships into hard targets.”

About 78 percent of pirate attacks on merchant vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen were thwarted by the ships’ crews, Flournoy pointed out.

More than 33,000 vessels transit the Gulf of Aden area each year, Flournoy said. In 2008, she said, pirates achieved 42 successful attacks out of 122 attempts. And the relatively low instance of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden region, Flournoy said, “does have implications for how we allocate military resources.” Military or law enforcement interventions, she noted, played a role in thwarting pirates in only 22 percent of unsuccessful assaults.

“This highlights the fact that the single most effective short-term response to piracy will be working with merchant shipping lines to ensure that the vessels in the region take appropriate security measures,” Flournoy said. Such security measures, she said, can be passive or active in nature.

Passive anti-pirate security measures may include maintaining good communications with maritime security authorities, varying routes, avoiding high-risk areas, removal of external ladders, posting look-outs, limiting lighting, rigging barriers and other tactics, she said.

Commercial shipping companies also may opt to adopt active anti-pirate security measures, Flournoy said, such as rigging fire hoses to repel pirates or maintaining professional civilian armed security teams aboard ships.

The U.S. Congress could be engaged to offer tax credits so merchant shipping firms could more easily invest in anti-pirate measures, Flournoy said.

From the Defense Department’s viewpoint, Flournoy said, confronting piracy off the coast of Somalia involves components of deterrence, disruption and interdiction, and prosecution. However, she said, combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden region is a challenging endeavor for several reasons:

-- The geographic area is vast; the Somalia-based pirates operate in a region of more than one million square nautical miles, making it difficult for naval or law enforcement authorities to reach the scene of a pirate attack quickly enough to thwart it.

-- The causes of Somali piracy are rooted to the poverty and instability that continues to plague that country.

-- International law recognizes a country’s right to arrest pirates and put them on trial. However, some nations still lack a viable system of laws or an effective judicial system to prosecute pirates.

-- Many merchant shipping firms believe, unrealistically, that military forces always will be present to thwart pirate attacks. Consequently, many firms are unwilling to make investments to outfit their vessels with anti-pirate security measures.

Most merchant vessels plying the Gulf of Aden’s waters that are prepared and equipped to thwart pirate attacks successfully do so, Navy Vice Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s director for strategic plans and policy, told committee members.

“The majority of ships, notably those with high access points and reasonable rates of speed,” Winnefeld said, “are able to defend themselves quite well, without any kind of assistance, using the relatively simple passive measures that we’ve discussed.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. military will continue its longer-term efforts to prevent and punish those who commit piracy off Somalia’s coast, Flournoy said.

“We will work with allies and regional states to develop their capacity to control the seas and protect their own shipping and we will encourage them to take any steps necessary to prosecute pirates in their own courts,” Flournoy said. “And we will work, when possible, with Somali authorities to address the on-shore components of piracy – tracking pirates’ investors and safe havens.”


Navy's Largest P-3 Hangar Takes Flight
Source: US Navy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- The acting secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) joined community leaders and hundreds of guests May 5 for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Hangar 511 built at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville to increase the Navy's aviation community's warfighting readiness.

"The opening of this hangar brings us one step closer to getting our critical P-8 capability to the fleet. This facility is state-of-the-art and incorporates many environmental enhancements which will make operations here safer for our Sailors as well as the environment," stated Acting SECNAV B.J. Penn.

Hangar 511, the largest structure of its kind in the Navy, is a $127-million facility designed to accommodate the P-8 Poseidon, the replacement aircraft for the P-3 Orion.

NAS Jacksonville Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr. expressed his pride on the important role his base is playing in supporting this new capability.

"As commanding officer of the finest naval air station in the world, I could not be more proud of the hard work that went into making this day a reality. Hangar 511 represents the future of naval aviation.

"The $127 million invested in this project will serve the Navy's maritime patrol and reconnaissance community for decades to come," said Scorby. "This facility also rings in a new era of construction design and environmental sustainability that provides our warfighters with the very best in modern infrastructure that includes being the first 'green' aircraft hangar in the U.S. Navy."

Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing (CPRW) 11 Commanding Officer Capt. Kyle Cozad quoted author Victor Hugo when he told the audience, "There is nothing like a dream to create the future."

He also noted the symbolism of the new hangar's number (511) that represents the upcoming merger of CPRW-5 from NAS Brunswick with CPRW-11 at NAS Jacksonville.

"Today's ceremony brings Hangar 511 to life and reminds us of how our maritime patrol and reconnaissance community has evolved and adapted to remain relevant for the past 50 years. Without question, it's our people who have not only dreamed but taken action to turn those dreams into reality," added Cozad.

The new hangar is a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Committee (BRAC) that ordered the closure of NAS Brunswick, Maine. On April 13, 2007 officials broke ground for the project designed to accommodate approximately 37 P-3C Orion aircraft. At a length of 333 yards, the structure is longer than three football fields placed end to end.

Local military, political and business leaders attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and recognized Sailors' important contributions and service to the Navy, nation and local community.

"Jacksonville is proud to be the location for the new P-3 hangar and the additional squadron members who will be living and working in our community. Currently, more than 250,000 Jacksonville residents are active members of the military in addition to the more than 150,000 veterans who call Jacksonville home. This city has enjoyed a true partnership the military and with NAS, in particular," said Mayor John Peyton.

"Members of this community influence Jacksonville's culture, leadership and economy. As always, the military continues to be an incredible asset to the North Florida region, and we are committed to meeting their needs."




More Ospreys Will Deploy With Marine Unit, General Says
Source: US Department of Defense

WASHINGTON --- After three successful combat deployments over more than 19 consecutive months, Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys will begin a global deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, a senior Marine aviation official said yesterday.

“The Marine Corps views these first three deployments of the Osprey into combat as marvelously successful,” Lt. Gen. George J. Trautman III, deputy commandant of aviation, said during a “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable. “The aircraft completed every assigned mission, and it did so flying faster, farther, and with safer flight profiles than any other assault support aircraft in the history of military operations.”

While in Iraq, the Osprey flew thousands of missions, impressing those who flew in it with its speed and range, Trautman said.

“The way the Osprey collapsed the battle space in al Anbar -- in fact, indeed throughout all of Iraq -- is really something that amazed those who saw it perform,” he said. “The aircraft has tremendous range, and [impressive] speed with which it moves around the operational area.”

For example, Trautman said one of his commanders told him that when the Osprey arrived in Iraq, it turned his battle space from the size of Texas into the size of Rhode Island.

The Osprey’s speed and range, Trautman said, means a lot more support for Marines on the ground.

“Marine aviation exists to support the warfighter -- the Marine on the ground, the soldier in distress -- and the Osprey offers the warfighter a tremendous advantage over the enemy, and it also offers an incredible increase in capability for our commanders.”

While the MV-22 is being deployed only with the 22nd MEU right now, Trautman said every MEU will have an Osprey squadron in the future.

“As the transition from our legacy CH-46s to MV-22s continues, every subsequent MEU from the East Coast is going to deploy … Ospreys, and this will have a very important effect on those combatant commanders that we support,” he said.

Though the Osprey has faced some challenges and there is still much to learn from the deployments to Iraq, Trautman said, plans call for sending one squadron to Afghanistan later this year.

“We understand that Afghanistan is a harsh environment, especially a harsh environment on aircraft,” he said. “But we’re incredibly confident that having the Osprey in that environment is going to pay dividends for our forces.”

Trautman added that several different weapons and weapons systems have been mounted to the Osprey, and that officials are discussing other options.

“We’re going to increase the capability of the ramp-mounted weapon system to take up to a .5- caliber machine gun for heavier firepower should we need it,” he said. Also, the Air Force Special Operations Command has developed a smaller-caliber weapon that can provide 360-degree quadrant coverage, the general added.


Photo of the Day



The SMS Seydlitz scuttled at Scapa Flow.

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