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



Feature - Counter Below!

MSW Crew-member Karl [captsonghouse] shares with us a dramatic build of the HMS Stanley attacking a U-boat in the North Atlantic.




Royal Navy Loses valuable resources in Umm Qasr
Source: The Times

Most military forces would have chosen a conventional way of disposing of 7,000 cans of beer. Like drinking the lot.
But the American troops who came across the haul when they temporarily took over the naval support mission in Iraq from the Royal Navy had different ideas: they lined up the cans in a car park and drove an armoured vehicle over them.

The British had been forced to vacate the premises after the Iraqi parliament failed to ratify an intergovernmental agreement in July. Before leaving, the naval trainers packed their beer into a container at the base in Umm Qasr, intending to reclaim it when their legal status was settled. However, American servicemen are not allowed to drink alcohol at the base and so had no use for the 7,000 cans — with dire results.

The common room at the base, known as the AK Bar, serves Coors alcohol-free beer only. “You’d be more likely to get drunk from sniffing the hand sanitisers,” said one soldier. The wooden shack has a tabletennis table and karaoke machine, now mainly playing country music. A picture of President Obama is on display but there is no sign of the Queen. Brits and Yanks try to get on as best they can: American technicians have promised to upgrade the satellite TV system to receive “what you call football”.


General Dynamics to Christen the U.S. Navy's Most Advanced Submarine, Missouri, on Saturday
Source: General Dynamics Electric Boat

GROTON, Conn. --- General Dynamics Electric Boat will christen Missouri (SSN-780), the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced nuclear attack submarine, at a ceremony at its Groton shipyard on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 11 a.m. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.

Mrs. Rebecca W. Gates is the ship's sponsor. She is the wife of Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. The event's principal speaker is U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). Cmdr. Timothy A. Rexrode, a 1990 honors graduate of West Virginia University, is the ship's commanding officer.

The Missouri is the seventh ship of the Virginia Class, the first U.S. Navy combatant designed for the post-Cold War era. Unobtrusive, non-provocative and connected with land, air, sea and space-based assets, Missouri and the other Virginia-class submarines are equipped to wage multi-dimensional warfare around the globe, providing the U.S. Navy with continued dominance in coastal waters and the open ocean.

With its construction partner Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the company has contracts to build a total of 18 Virginia-class ships; 30 ships are planned altogether.




EA-18G Achieves Initial Operational Capability
Source: US Naval Air Systems Command

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. --- The Navy’s first electronic airborne attack aircraft to be manufactured in more than 35 years achieved initial operational capability (IOC) Sept. 22.

Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet officially declared the first EA-18G electronic attack squadron, VAQ-132, “safe for flight operations” in a ceremony Oct. 2 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.

By reaching IOC, the Navy can effectively employ the EA-18G aircraft for operational missions to take full advantage of its airborne electronic attack capabilities.

Following the Department of Defense’s full rate production decision Nov. 23, the F/A-18 & EA-18G program office and industry counterparts have been authorized to procure and produce 54 EA-18G aircraft remaining in the current program of record.

The full rate production decision review, signed by Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Ashton Carter, gave the go-ahead to fulfill the program of record for 88 aircraft.

"The system development and demonstration contract was signed in December 2003, kicking off the EA-18G program in earnest, with an IOC planned for fall of 2009. That schedule and goal has held and is a testament to the hard work and talent of thousands of program, industry, Navy, and fleet professionals who played a part in this program over the past six-plus years,” said Capt. Frank Morley, F/A-18 & EA-18G deputy program manager.

“We are pleased that the EA-18G has been, and continues to be, on cost and on schedule,” said Capt. Mark Darrah, F/A-18 & EA-18G program manager. “The Growler’s IOC means our country’s warfighters will soon be able to utilize the unique capabilities of the nation’s first, newly-designed electronic attack aircraft in more than three decades.”

The EA-18G aircraft combines the two-seat, twin-engine F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block 2 with the Improved Capability III electronics receiver system from the EA-6B Prowler to provide next-generation electronic attack capability to the warfighter. The aircraft also retains all of the Super Hornet’s multi-mission capabilities and the capability to perform a wide range of enemy defense suppression missions.

Integrating the latest electronic attack technology, the Growler combines the ALQ-218 receiver, ALQ-99 jamming pods, communication countermeasures and satellite communications. Along with the electronic attack suite, the Growler also features the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, a game-changing radar in its own right.

The commonality between the Super Hornet and the Growler’s flexible platform allows the Growler future upgrades, growth and maintainability.

The first Growler test aircraft went into production October 2004 and made its first flight August 2006. Following the delivery to the fleet in June 2008, the Growler conducted sea trials and entered initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E). The major milestone of IOC marks the end of the IOT&E phase for the Growler program.

“Meeting this IOC milestone was essential to support Navy plans and operational force structure in this time of active combat operations. Congratulations to NAS Whidbey Island and everyone that has been a part of this extremely successful effort,” Morley said.

The first potential deployment of the Growler is slated for 2010, while the Navy expects the Prowler-to-Growler transition to be completed by 2013.




Battleship USS West Virginia

Today’s website is Battleship USS West Virginia. This site has been developed as a tribute to those who served aboard the Wee-Vee. It contains information about the ship's involvement in Pearl Harbor as well as information about its overall history.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1933 - The Secretary of the Navy establishes the Fleet Marine Force, integrating a ready-to-deploy Marine force with their own aircraft into fleet organization.
1941 - The United States declares war on Japan.
1941 - USS Wake (PR 3), a river gunboat moored at Shanghai, is only U.S. vessel to surrender during World War II.
1942 - Eight PT boats (PT 36, PT 37, PT 40, PT 43, PT 44, PT 48, PT 59 and PT 109) turn back eight Japanese destroyers attempting to reinforce Japanese forces on Guadalcanal.


Photo of the Day



Navy spirit poster for the Dec. 12, 2009 college football game between the Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Black Knights from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Gator