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



Feature - Building the "Perfect Storm"

MSW crew-mate Guido Hopp (Tailor) gave us a special treat within our "Divine Waterline" Campaign, a wonderful scratch-build project of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing vessel which was lost at sea with all hands during the "Perfect Storm" of 1991. This "Build Story" chronicles the entire project, from start to completion.




Bath Iron Works Awarded $114 Million Contract for Advanced Procurement of Aegis Destroyer Long Lead Material
Source: General Dynamics Bath Iron Works

BATH, Maine --- The U. S. Navy has awarded Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, a contract valued at up to $114 million to procure long lead material to support the anticipated construction of DDG 115 under the DDG 51 class destroyer program. Procurement efforts are expected to complete by December 2012.

Bath Iron Works president, Jeff Geiger, stated, "This award is the first step leading to continued construction of Aegis destroyers at BIW for many years to come. As the lead shipbuilder of the class, we have a track record of excellent performance in both procurement and construction activities across the 31 ships of this class we've built in the last two and a half decades. We're excited about the opportunity to continue that performance."

Bath Iron Works, a leader in surface combatant design and construction, employs approximately 5,600 people. Since 1991, BIW has manufactured and delivered 31 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world, to the U.S. Navy. Three additional ships are currently under construction for delivery by 2011. In addition, BIW is the lead designer and builder for the Navy's DDG 1000 Zumwalt class program.


HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System Demonstrated in Korea
Source: Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace

The HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System has been demonstrated in Korean waters. The operation was carried out by Kongsberg's AUV Department in close cooperation with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The sea trials took place southwest of the city of Busan and covered both search for mines in shallow waters and REA in deeper waters. The HUGIN AUV executed all test dives autonomously without problems in up to sea state 4.

"It took one week, from the beginning of the transportation in Horten to the HUGIN 1000 first touched Korean waters, which is quite fantastic", explains &M HUGIN AUVs, Svein Otto Schjerven. "The first operation of this kind with the HUGIN 1000 system was a great success, and fully demonstrated the capacity of such an AUV system."

HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System

The portable AUV system is fully containerized into one 20-foot ISO container for storage, battery management, vehicle maintenance, launch and recovery (L&R), and one 10-foot ISO container for mission planning, vehicle checkout, mission execution, and post-mission analysis (PMA). This advanced AUV system covers a wide range of operations like MCM, REA, route survey and high-quality bathymetric mapping surveys in areas of interest.

The main advantage of the HUGIN AUV is its small overall system footprint. This is primarily due to the multi-function 20-foot container, providing AUV storage, shipping, maintenance, battery charging, launch and recovery facilities, and furthermore due to the compactness of the 10-foot operations container, with only two operators needed for the entire operation.

The system allows fast and easy mobilization onto vessels of opportunity due to ISO containerization, well-defined and simple interface points, and the self-sufficient nature of the system. The entire system fits on a standard truck, and can use all standard shipping methods, including overnight airlift to anywhere in the world.

AUV operations are run directly from the 10-foot ISO container, with no need to tie into a ship's systems or internal spaces. In the portable system, a Kongsberg High-Precision Acoustic Positioning (HiPAP) 350 system and a tow-fish transducer for acoustic communication are included, as well as a Kongsberg SeaPath system for accurate ship reference position and attitude.

The 20-foot container includes a two-stage L&R "stinger" (hydraulically controlled hinged ramp) which allows AUV operations from vessels with a stern freeboard of up to 5 meters. Both ISO containers are insulated and equipped with heating systems to enable operations in Arctic environments, as well as air condition system for operations in tropical climate.


Avio Signs Contract for the Second Series of U212A Submarines
Source: Avio Group SpA

Avio has signed a contract with the Naval Division of the Fincantieri Company for the development and manufacture of two Autopilot systems for the second series of U212 A submarines, destined for the Italian Navy.

Thanks to this contract, worth about EUR 6 million, the overall number of U212 autopilot systems for Avio has risen to eight: four already supplied to the German Navy and two to the Italian Navy for the first construction lot.

In this order, some modernization has also been included with respect to the previous version.

Production will begin this year – March is envisaged; the working team involved in the project will be that of Naval Automation at the Rivalta di Torino industrial site.

The two U212A submarines will be delivered to the Italian Navy, respectively, in 2015 and 2016.

It is foreseen that Avio deliver the first autopilot in March 2013, and the second by 2014. These will then pass to the shipyard test sessions.




Russian “Ecranoplanes”

In today’s website we learn about the unusual Russian “Ecranoplanes”. Enjoy.

This Day in U.S. Naval History

1783 - USS Alliance, commanded by Capt. John Barry, defeats HMS Sybil in the final naval action of the American Revolution in West Indies waters.
1933 - The Pacific Fleet provides assistance after an earthquake at Long Beach, Calif.
1945 - Navy and civilian nurses interned at Los Banos, Philippines, are flown back to the United States. The Navy nurses are each awarded a Bronze Star.
1948 - First use of jets assigned to operational squadron (VF-5A) aboard a carrier - USS Boxer (CV 21).


Photo of the Day



The Caspian Sea Monster in drydock.

Gator