Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Royal Navy Mine Countermeasures Flotilla Sails for Exercise in the Gulf
Source: UK Ministry of Defense
Four Royal Navy mine countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) departed Bahrain recently for a ten-day exercise with their counterparts from the US Navy in the Gulf.
The exercise is designed to enable the two navies to further develop mine hunting techniques in the warm, shallow waters of the Middle East, which form a busy and important maritime environment.
For the Royal Navy, it is also an opportunity for the Commander UK Mine Countermeasures Force to direct a bilateral, multi-ship mine countermeasures task force at sea.
The British contingent consisted of two Hunt Class MCMVs, HMS Middleton and HMS Chiddingfold, and two Sandown Class vessels, HMS Grimsby and HMS Pembroke. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship RFA Lyme Bay has also joined the exercise as the afloat headquarters.
The UK ships were joined by four ships from the US Navy's Avenger Class - USS Ardent, USS Dextrous, USS Gladiator and USS Scout.
Commander David Bence, Commander UK Mine Countermeasures Force, said:
"Sea mines and unexploded ordnance have the potential to cause great disruption to international shipping lanes, restricting freedom of the seas and damaging world economies.
"The Royal Navy is at the forefront of mine countermeasure capabilities in experience, expertise and in technology. It is important that we maintain these capabilities across a range of different environments, from the cold Atlantic to the warmer coastal waterways of the Middle East.
"This exercise was an opportunity to demonstrate our ability to deploy an expeditionary mine countermeasures task force and battle staff in conjunction with international partners."
The four British MCMVs are forward deployed to Bahrain for several years at a time. They are maintained locally and crew members are rotated with counterparts in the United Kingdom on a regular basis.
They are among several Royal Navy warships and auxiliaries operating in the Middle East region, undertaking maritime security operations such as counter-piracy and counter-terrorism alongside partner nations from NATO, the European Union Naval Force and the 24-nation Combined Maritime Force.
China is ready to lay down own aircraft carrier
Source: Radio Mayak
China is ready to start building of its first aircraft carrier, reports Japanese Kyodo News agency.
Although official Beijing does not disclose date of the keel laying, Shanghai shipyard Changxing press service said that "creation of aircraft carrier is a matter of time". At present, required materials are being delivered.
To build an aircraft carrier, China constructed the biggest dock in the country (580 meters long and over 100 meters wide) at Changxing shipyard. Japanese media previously reported that two ground-based simulators designed for training of future deck-based aviation had been already built in China. In 2008 Chinese military command decided to reinforce national navy with aircraft carriers.
It is planned that China will build two aircraft-carrying ships equipped with conventional power plants by 2015, and two more carriers with nuclear power plants by 2020. This will sensibly increase the role of Chinese Navy in the region.
Charles B. Momsen
Today’s website is the biography of Charles B. Momsen. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1913 - Navy tests Sperry gyroscopic stabilizer (automatic pilot).
1929 - Near New London, Conn., 26 officers and men test Momsen lung to exit submerged USS S-4.
1961 - Two Cuban frigates fire on a Naval Reserve aircraft on a training mission over international waters.
Photo of the Day
Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) man the rails as they prepare to pull into their homeport of Everett, Wash.
Gator
