Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Review - HMS Repulse
MSW Crewmember D.T. (DR_WHO2) shares with us his thoughts on Trumpeters 1/350 HMS Repluse.
Review
Kodiac Maritime Museum
Today’s website is the Kodiac Maritime Museum. The Kodiak region was first inhabited roughly 8,000 years ago by the Alutiiq people. The Museum’s first permanent exhibit consists of 14 interpretive panels along the Kodiak Harbor. The panels display fishing vessel gear types commonly seen in the harbor. Enjoy.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1812 - U.S. declares war on Great Britain for impressment of Sailors and interference with commerce.
1942 - First African-American officer, Bernard W. Robinson, commissioned in Naval Reserve.
1957 - Chief of Naval Operations approves ship characteristics of the Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine.
USS Ohio Crew Readies for Multimission Deployment
Source: U.S Navy
SILVERDALE, Wash. --- With a major maintenance period completed, the men of the guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726) (Blue) crew are ready to take their boat, June 9, and head back out to sea later this month.
Ohio class guided-missile submarines (SSGN) provide the Navy with an unprecedented combination of strike and special operation mission capability within a stealthy, clandestine platform. Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, SSGNs are capable of directly supporting dozens of special operations forces (SOF).
According to Capt. Murray Gero, Ohio Blue crew commanding officer, the crew is ready to get the boat out to sea and complete missions that she is capable of doing.
"They're excited," said Gero, of the 160-man crew. "The missions that we do are very exciting and challenging. They are very complex, and they involve very close coordination with several outside agencies, including SEALS. They've been home from deployment for almost ten months now, and I think most of us have sea legs that have been screaming to get back to sea."
Ohio has the capability of performing multiple missions, making it a valuable asset to the Navy.
"The ship is capable of as many as five different submarine war missions simultaneously, including surveillance and reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship undersea warfare, and we also do strike missions and special operations," said Gero.
"We carry the capability of carrying two dry deck shelters, which house the SEAL delivery vehicles, and they enable us to deploy and retrieve special ops forces from off-shore."
The boat's capability to carry a heavy load of missiles also makes them a go-to asset for fleet commanders.
"We typically go to sea with over 100 tomahawk missiles, and that basically replaces a tomahawk missile inventory of three surface warships," added Gero.
"This increases the flexibility of the surface fleet, because we basically allow them to reassign those three ships as soon as we get into our operating theater."
Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a recent podcast that the silent service is a method of leveraging the undersea domain.
"We pride ourselves in having the quietest, most efficient, most technologically advanced submarines anywhere; they're expensive, and we never have enough of them," said Willard. "So we in the Pacific Fleet strategically emplace our submarine forces in order to maintain a continuum of operations and give us the capability to surge those submarine forces forward whenever we need them."
Ohio recently completed a major maintenance period (MMP), one month ahead of schedule. Ohio's Gold crew, commanded by Capt. Dennis Carpenter, leveraged the early completion to conduct training out at sea, which was welcomed by the crew.
"The ship has been out of the yards for over a month. Working closely with Captain Carpenter and the Gold crew, we were able to complete the MMP, and that enabled the Gold crew to have the ship and conduct training and midshipmen operations in San Diego for about three weeks," said Gero.
Both the Gold and Blue Ohio crews worked together to ensure the ship successfully completed the MMP, while ensuring the work being done to the ship was completed successfully and correctly.
"We (the Blue crew) took the boat out for about six days in late December so we could get some proficiency and make sure we were able to operate the boat safely," explained Gero. "We started the MMP and spent about seven or eight weeks there, taking apart some of the systems, making some of the repairs and generally trying to oversee the shipyard's repair and installation processes.
"Once we identified that all of the equipment was operating normally, the Gold crew was able to take about two and a half weeks of additional operational time, which is a great training opportunity for them, as well as a great show and tell opportunity for us during the midshipmen training period."
While the Gold crew utilized underway training time, the Blue crew also took advantage of the time available to ensure they were trained by honing in on the skills they need.
"While the Gold crew was working hard to get the ship ready for sea again at the end of MMP, and during midshipmen operations in San Diego the last three weeks, my crew was hard at work here," said Gero. "We just finished a very comprehensive and very challenging command training exercise, or CTE, which is overseen by Submarine Squadron 19 and [Trident Training Facility], where they observed us go through our paces, and our crew came out with flying colors."
Thales Sonar Systems Play Critical Role in Anti-Submarine Exercise
Source: Thales
A number of Thales UK's world-leading sonar systems have been playing a critical role in a major underwater exercise as part of the Royal Navy's (RN's) largest overseas deployment for a decade.
As part of the ‘Taurus 09' deployment, the task group has been taking part in an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise in the Arabian Sea. Thales's underwater systems were used aboard frigates, helicopters and a submarine.
The exercise scenario was based on RN Type 23 frigate combining their submarine-hunting skills with Merlin helicopters to try to locate and ‘destroy' an enemy submarine - in this case played by an RN Trafalgar-class submarine.
Some of the most capable and advanced sonar systems produced by Thales have been central to the exercise, including the 2087 surface-ship towed-array sonar, the 2076 submarine sonar, the FLASH helicopter dipping sonar, and the 2050 bow-mounted active sonar.
HMS Somerset (Type 23 frigate) is fitted with S2087, HMS Talent (Trafalgar-class submarine) operates with S2076, the Merlin helicopters fly with FLASH dipping sonar and HMS Portland (also a Type 23 frigate) is fitted with S2050.
Somerset is one of the latest Type 23s to be fitted with the highly rated S2087, a towed-array system described as ‘impressive' by the Royal Navy at the start of the deployment.
In the ASW role, the Type 23 frigate combined their active sonar sweeps with the Merlins, operating from the deck of the helicopter assault ship, HMS Ocean. The Merlins hover over the search area, dipping the FLASH sonar system into the water in an attempt to locate the submarine threat.
Speaking as the exercise got underway, Commanding Officer of the Merlin squadron, Commander Jason Phillips, said: "This extended opportunity for the Merlins of 820 Squadron embarked on HMS Ocean to work with HMS Talent has allowed us to refresh our skills in finding and fighting submarines in different waters away from the UK."
"The Merlin is a world-beating anti-submarine helicopter and training such as this means that my aircrew are able to practise using it to full effect."
Speaking of the exercise's value, HMS Talent's commanding officer, Commander Simon Asquith, added: "It will allow us to hone our attack and evasion skills operating against multiple air and surface units. As well as helping Talent's operational capability, we will be able to offer a worthy opponent to our surface and air colleagues who will be working hard to regenerate their anti-submarine warfare capability."
Reflecting on the roles played by the sonar systems involved in the exercise, Ed Lowe, Managing Director of Thales UK's naval business, says: "This has been a rare opportunity for Thales sonars 2050, 2087, 2076 and FLASH to demonstrate their capabilites in the same ASW exercise and we are keen to see the results."
"Thales's underwater systems business has been developing innovative sonar solutions since the 1940s. Today, our products are currently in use with more than 20 navies around the world."
Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Begins Next Phase of Flight Testing
Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.
BETHPAGE, N.Y. --- Almost 22 months after its first flight over the skies of St. Augustine, Fla., Northrop Grumman's first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye test aircraft flew north to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in Maryland, to begin the next phase of testing in preparation for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in 2011.
"Since our first flight on Aug. 3, 2007, the joint Advanced Hawkeye team has been putting the aircraft through its paces, and recently passed the 1,000th hour of flight testing," said Jim Culmo, vice president of Airborne Early Warning and Battle Management Command and Control programs for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector. "We're looking forward to getting the E-2D out on the aircraft carrier. This next phase -- carrier suitability testing -- brings us that much closer to delivering this revolutionary weapons system to the warfighter."
To ensure that the aircraft operating on carriers are compatible, all naval aviation assets undergo carrier suitability testing prior to joining the fleet. During this test phase all aspects of aviation/ship integration are addressed, including logistics, manpower and interoperability. "Carrier suitability testing for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will concentrate on verifying that the aircraft is structurally prepared for the rigors of carrier operations," said Marty McCord, Northrop Grumman Contractor Flight Test Director. "The bulk of the testing involves catapult and arrested landing structural tests, also called 'Shake, Rattle, and Roll Tests', as well as determining the minimum acceptable approach airspeed and establishing crosswind limits," he added.
Designed and built for the U.S. Navy, the E-2D will utilize its newly developed AN/APY-9 Electronic Scan Array (ESA) radar, Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system, Electronic Support Measures (ESM), and off-board sensors, in concert with surface combatants equipped with the Aegis combat system to detect, track, and defeat cruise missile threats at extended ranges. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will also provide unparalleled maritime domain awareness including airspace control for manned and unmanned assets, monitoring of surface movements, civil support, and command and control of tactical forces.
The E-2D's new AN/APY-9 radar, designed and built by a radar team led by Lockheed Martin, represents a two-generational leap in radar technology. "The AN/APY-9 can see smaller targets and more of them at a greater range than currently fielded radar systems," Culmo added.
Photo of the Day
F/V Wizard on the hunt for king crab in the Bering Sea of the coast of Alaska.
Gator
