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



On Display - USS Canberra CAG-2

Crew-mate David J. Salvin (djandj) shares one of his latest builds, this time, the spotlight is on USS Canberra CAG-2 “On Display” feature.




HSV 2 Swift Departs for Southern Partnership Station 2010
Source: US Navy

MAYPORT, Fla. --- High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2), along with various embarked Navy and Marine Corps units, departed Naval Station Mayport May 5 for a five-month deployment for Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2010.



While in port, Swift received 140 Project Handclasp pallets and two fire engines. The Wisconsin National Guard State Partnership Program donated the fire engines to Project Handclasp for transportation to Nicaragua, their partner nation.

Project Handclasp is a U.S. Navy program that accepts and transports educational, humanitarian and goodwill material on a space-available basis aboard U.S. Navy ships for distribution to foreign nation recipients.

SPS is an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission's primary goal is information sharing with navies, coast guards, and civilian services throughout the region.

A compliment of U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines embarked on Swift will conduct training and subject matter expert (SME) exchanges with partner nations in the USSOUTHCOM AOR. During the SPS deployment, Swift will visit Barbados, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Suriname.

COMUSNAVSO is the naval component command for USSOUTHCOM and is responsible for all naval personnel and assets in the AOR. COMUSNAVSO conducts a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Maritime Strategy, including Theater Security Cooperation, relationship building, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, community relations, and counter-illicit trafficking operations.


Unveiling of the Multi-mission Frigate Aquitaine
Source: French Ministry of Defence

LORIENT --- French President Nicolas Sarkozy today attended the "unveiling" of the frigate Aquitaine, the first of eleven new FREMM multi-mission frigates on order for the French Navy, at the DCNS shipyard here.

He was accompanied by Defense Minister Hervé Morin, Industry Minister Christian Estrosi, the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the Delegate General for Armaments, Laurent Collet-Billon, and the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Pierre-Francois Forissier.

"Shipbuilding, both civil and military, is a strategic sector for our country. France has extensive know-how in this field that it will not let go,” Sarkozy said.

The FREMM program is Europe’s largest naval program, and is led by France in cooperation with Italy. It is managed by OCCAR, the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation . The program aims to renew the French Navy’s fleet of anti-submarine and anti-aircraft frigates.



The French part of the program consists of nine anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates and two anti-aircraft (FREDA) frigates, bringing to eleven the number of FREMMs ordered for the Navy. All these frigates will be named for French regions (Aquitaine, Normandy, Provence, Brittany, Auvergne, Languedoc, Alsace and Lorraine). Overall, the Franco-Italian program calls for delivery of 21 frigates to the two countries.

FREMM Multimission frigates will form the backbone of the French surface fleet for the long term. They are designed to operate in joint and combined operational theaters.

Displacing 6,000 tons and with a length of 142 m, the FREMM frigates can reach speeds of 27 knots, are crewed by 108 people, and are heavily armed with Exocet 40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles, Aster air-defense missiles and MU90 torpedoes.

The first nine frigates, designated ASM, will have enhanced capabilities for deep strike when the Future Naval Cruise Missile enters service in 2014.

The 2 FREDA are designed to protect a carrier battle group or an amphibious group against aircraft and missiles. All FREMMs will operate an NH90 helicopter, and carry special forces troops and their equipment.

Construction of the eleven FREMM will generate, up to 2022, very significant business turnover for DCNS (mainly at its site at Lorient, but also at its facilities at Brest and Cherbourg) and for many sub-contractors, mainly SMEs.

The build rate, selected according to the multiyear defense blueprint, combined with anticipated export orders, is expected to maintain DCNS’ industrial workload. “Today, I am visiting a company that has a full order book for the next four years. The FREMM program gives DCNS visibility for the next 10 years or more,” Sarkozy said. “Our goal is not to maintain employment at DCNS, but to increase it,” he added.

Regarding exports, one FREMM sold in Morocco is currently under construction [for delivery in 2013—Ed.]. Other countries such as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Greece and Brazil are also potentially interested. The third frigate, "Normandy", ordered for the French Navy, will go into production in September.

Aquitaine will shortly move to its fitting-out dock, and is to be delivered to the Navy in 2012.




USS San Diego (CL 53)

Today’s website is history of the USS San Diego (CL 53). Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1862 - CSS Virginia blown up by Confederates to prevent capture.
1898 - Sailors and Marines from USS Marblehead cut trans-oceanic cable near Cienfuegos, Cuba, isolating Cuba from Spain.
1943 - Naval task force lands Army troops on Attu, Aleutians.
1965 - U.S. destroyers deliver first shore bombardment of Vietnam War.


Photo of the Day



The amphibious transport dock ship Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) San Diego (LPD 22) is escorted by tugboats from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Ingalls shipyard.

Gator