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MSW Scuttlebutt
09/07/10
#027
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: April 13, 2005
KitMaker: 5,422 posts
Model Shipwrights: 5,079 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 12:59 AM UTC


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



Feature - Building the Heller Chebec

MSW crew-mate Julian Sallows (Gremlin56) shares with us a special project, building the classic Heller kit of a French sailing vessel Chebec in 1/50 scale.




Second Submarine Line for Mazagon Dock
Source: Business Standard

NEW DELHI ---With public sector shipyard Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai, years behind schedule in building six conventional Scorpene submarines for the Indian Navy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is handing Mazagon Dock another lucrative order to build three more submarines.

Although private sector shipbuilders — especially L&T and Pipavav Shipyard Ltd (PSL) — argue that Mazagon Dock already has more than it can handle, MoD insists the public sector shipyard can execute this order.

The MoD’s Secretary of Defence Production, R K Singh, talking exclusively to Business Standard, has detailed Mazagon Dock’s road map for simultaneously executing the Scorpene order (Project 75, as it is termed) and the three additional submarines that are a part of the six-submarine Project 75I order.

Business Standard had reported yesterday that the MoD’s apex Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had ruled out India’s private sector from Project 75I. The first two submarines of Project 75I will be built abroad in the foreign collaborator’s shipyard. The other four submarines will be built in MoD-owned shipyards: recently acquired Hindustan Shipyard Ltd will build one, while MDL builds three.

R K Singh explains, “First, the Scorpene delay will be trimmed down to less than 18 months. The original plan was for the first Scorpene to be delivered in December 2012; and the other five submarines at one-year intervals till December 2017. While the first Scorpene will only be ready in August 2015, Mazagon Dock will deliver the others faster, at nine-month intervals, and finish the last Scorpene by May 2019.”

MoD sources say Mazagon Dock is being pushed towards an even more ambitious delivery schedule: Of one Scorpene every seven months. On August 11, Defence Minister A K Antony told Parliament that Project 75 would complete work by the second half of 2018.

But Project 75I, argues R K Singh, does not have to wait till then; it can begin as early as 2012. By that year, with all six Scorpene hulls fully built, the specialised hull workers and welders of Mazagon Dock could begin fabricating hulls for Project 75I.

Singh explains, “Two Scorpene hulls are already built and MDL is close to completing the third. By early 2012, all six Scorpene hulls will be ready. MDL’s hull fabrication shop — which cuts steel for the hull, rolls it, fabricates hull segments and then welds them together into a complete hull — will be sitting idle from 2012, and ready to be diverted to Project 75I.”

The Department of Defence Production also points out that Project 75I cannot begin for another five years. At least 12-24 months are needed for a Cabinet sanction for building the first two Project 75I submarines abroad. Selecting a foreign shipyard as collaborator for Project 75I will take another 24-36 months and then one year for price negotiations.

The six Project 75I submarines will be built on a new production line, on which work has already begun. During a visit to MDL in 2009, Business Standard was shown a 16-acre plot, adjoining MDL’s facilities in Mazagon, Mumbai, which the shipyard had acquired in the 1980s from Gujarat state PSU, Alcock Ashdown.

R K Singh confirmed, “We are going to execute Project 75I in a new yard, the Alcock Yard, on which MDL is building a second submarine production line.”

Private sector shipbuilder Larsen & Toubro finds the MoD’s decision to patronise Mazagon Dock inexplicable. L&T sources say the company was given to understand that they would participate in Project 75I as the second submarine line. Now, L&T’s experience and infrastructure would lie idle.


Thai Offshore Patrol Vessel Takes Shape
Source: BAE Systems

BANGKOK, Thailand --- Construction of the first BAE Systems designed Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Royal Thai Navy is now well underway in Thailand, as demonstrated this week at a formal keel laying ceremony at Bangkok Dock, the Company’s local partner.

The occasion, attended by Thailand's Royal representative, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and senior officials from the Royal Thai Navy, comes just 14 months after the initial contract was signed.

Under the agreement, BAE Systems supplied the design of its proven 90 metre Offshore Patrol Vessel, which Bangkok Dock has adapted to meet the specific requirements of the Royal Thai Navy, for example incorporating a similar combat system to that being fitted to other ships in its fleet. Engineers from BAE Systems are working alongside Bangkok Dock, throughout the construction of the vessel to transfer design knowledge, technology and skills that will contribute to the growth of a sustainable shipbuilding capability in Thailand.

Commenting on the programme, Alan Johnston, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Surface Ships division, said: “At a time when we are seeking to boost exports, this approach to industry partnerships shows the strength that BAE Systems can bring to navies around the world as they look for cost-effective solutions to enhance the capability of their fleets to meet future requirements.”

Captain Chumpol Promprasit, managing director of Bangkok Dock, said: “To promote a domestic shipbuilding industry, the Royal Thai Navy assigned Bangkok Dock to undertake the provision of design and supply of ship build material using both domestic and international experts during construction of the Offshore Patrol Vessel.

“This is considered as promoting and improving the technical competency and potential of the Royal Thai Navy personnel in building ships for domestic purposes, based on the King’s self sustainability programme.”

The multi-mission Offshore Patrol Vessel will be used by the Royal Thai Navy to primarily be used for Economic Exclusion Zone roles, including routine patrols and border controls. It will also undertake fishery protection tasks as well as protection of natural resources in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea and disaster relief.

The BAE Systems designed 90 metre Offshore Patrol Vessel being built by Bangkok Dock for the Royal Thai Navy is the same core platform design as the ships that BAE Systems is building in the UK for the Trinidad & Tobago Coast Guard. The platform is based on the design for the smaller River Class vessels used by the UK Royal Navy and is a highly capable vessel that is attractive to the export market.

As the company continues to expand its international maritime footprint, there are ongoing discussions with prospective customers and partners in a number of markets, including South America and India.




Bushnell’s Turtle Attacks British Ship of the Line

Today’s is the anniversary of the heroic attack of David Bushnell in his submarine Turtle on a British ship of the line during the American Revolution. Enjoy.




David Bushnell’s Turtle

Today’s website is David Bushnell’s Turtle. Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1776 - David Bushnell attempts to destroy a British ship-of-the-line, HMS Eagle, in New York Harbor with his submarine Turtle.
1814 - USS Wasp captures HMS Avon.
1864 - USS Wachusett captures CSS Florida at Bahia, Brazil.
1942 - First air evacuation of casualties to hospital ships off shore occurs at Guadalcanal.


Photo of the Day



The guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) transits the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California.

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