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



On Display Feature - British Short Sea Trader, SS Pearl

MSW crew-mate Peter Fulgoney (peterf) shares a gallery of images of his build one of Battlefleet Models unique kits, British Short Sea Trader, SS Pearl in this "On Display" Feature.




Singapore Navy Launches Second Archer-Class Submarine
Source: Republic of Singapore Navy

The Republic of Singapore's (RSN's) RSS Swordsman, its second Archer-class submarine, was launched by Mrs Ivy Ng, the wife of Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen, at the Kockums Shipyard in Karlskrona, Sweden, on 20 Oct.

In Dr Ng's opening address at the launch ceremony, he highlighted that the launch of RSS Swordsman underlines the RSN's drive to develop its submarine capability.

"The RSN's submarines are part of an integrated warfighting system which includes our stealth frigates, naval helicopters, missile corvettes and mine countermeasure vessels," he said. "Together with the Challenger-class submarines, RSS Archer and RSS Swordsman will enable the RSN to better fulfill its mission of protecting Singapore's sea lines of communication and territorial integrity."



The submarine was acquired from the Royal Swedish Navy (RSwN) and follows the first Archer-class submarine RSS Archer's launch in June 2009. Together with the Challenger-class submarines, this addition to the fleet adds on to the RSN's capability to protect Singapore's sea lines of communication and territorial integrity.

Similar to its sister vessel, the RSS Swordsman has been extended with a modern suite of combat and sensor systems which allows it to detect and engage targets from greater distances.

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Loh Mun Heng, Commanding Officer of RSS Swordsman, said: "Like RSS Archer, RSS Swordsman brings with it technology that improves and challenges the air-surface warfare capabilities, improving the RSN's fleet and providing better options in the field."

Military Expert (ME) 3 Tay Chay Yong, Combat Operations Expert and coxswain for RSS Swordsman compared the submarine to a space shuttle: "A submarine sails independently, just like a space shuttle out in space. Anything that happens on board will have to be solved by the crew. Therefore, it underlines the complexity and importance of the training involved where everyone needs to be well-versed in the engineering and combat systems of the submarine."

The launch of RSS Swordsman also emphasises the ongoing defence partnership and close friendship between Singapore and Sweden. ME1 Nagarajan s/o Muthusamy, Underwater Weapons Operator, attributed it to his Swedish counterparts going the extra mile over the course of two years of training, resulting in a positive bond forged between the Singaporean and Swedish Navy.

"The Swedes bring our working relations past office hours, if I need help with anything, I can call them at any time. They are also very patient, always willing to teach us again and again without getting irritated. Even away from work, we spend time together enjoying leisure activities such as fishing or floorball," he said.

As a result of this close bond, one which has been reaffirmed and built upon over the last 40 years, Singapore's defence relationship with Sweden has matured to encompass wide-ranging interactions and collaborative projects such as the assistance provided by the RSwN to build the RSN's mine-countermeasure force and submarine capability.

"Sweden and Singapore are both nations which believe in building a defence force for deterrence… Therefore, what brings us together is this common ideology about defence," explained LTC Loh.

With the launch of the RSS Swordsman, the submarine crew has come away not only prepared for the challenges ahead, but also with a healthy respect for, as well as a strong rapport with, their Swedish counterparts.

Said ME3 Tay: "Working with our Swedish counterparts, who are open, innovative and not afraid to try new things, has helped our relatively young crew to experience and learn more."


Littoral Combat Ship Competition Rife with Rumors
Source: Lexington Institute

The Navy's close-lipped effort to pick a winning design for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is generating more rumors than Lindsay Lohan's love-life. Maybe it's the approaching mid-term elections or maybe it's the lack of official information about how the selection process is progressing, but interested parties seem to be working overtime to formulate fanciful conspiracy theories about what's going on.

The competition pits two second-tier shipyards teamed with giant defense contractors against each other for the right to produce dozens of unconventional warships that are the only new class of surface combatants to survive recent course changes by the Navy's leadership. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has strongly endorsed the small, fast vessel designed for combating shallow-water threats, while curtailing the bigger Zumwalt class of next-generation destroyers and killing a future missile-defense cruiser outright.

The LCS should come in handy when Roughead gets to his next assignment in the Pacific, but first the Navy has to decide which of two designs it wants. The design being pitched by Marinette Marine of Wisconsin and Lockheed Martin looks like a smaller version of a traditional steel surface combatant, but it's much faster. The design being pitched by Australian-based Austal for construction in its Alabama shipyard -- using General Dynamics electronics -- looks like nothing that U.S. sailors have ever seen before. It's basically an aluminum trimaran.

Both designs are highly innovative, relying on automation and easy reconfigurability to hold down personnel and hardware costs. But because one design would be built in Alabama and the other in Wisconsin, the program lends itself all too readily to political rumor-mongering. One rumor has the White House intervening to force a split buy of both designs on the Navy. Another rumor has the White House trying to delay announcement of a winner until after the election. Both rumors are almost certainly wrong, but they show how thousands of jobs and votes can hang on who gets to build arcane weapons systems.

The nightmare that keeps Austal executives awake at night is that Navy evaluators will pick the "safe" design -- a fast but fairly conventional steel vessel backed by the nation's biggest defense contractor. The nightmare that keeps Marinette Marine executives awake is the possibility Austal might try to even up the odds by bidding a price too aggressive for Marinette to match. Marinette and partner Lockheed Martin have been in the business for a long time, and therefore have detailed metrics that drive their bidding behavior. Austal is an upstart with almost no relevant track record, so its bidding process is a mystery.

Since the Navy isn't talking, observers are free to postulate any theory they want as to what is going on. Only one thing is certain: regardless of who wins, there's sure to be a protest by the loser.




Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

Today’s is the anniversary of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.




USS Hornet

Today’s website is USS Hornet. Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1921 - In first successful test, a compressed-air, turntable catapult, launches a N-9 seaplane.
1922 - Lt. Cmdr. Godfrey de Chevalier makes fhe first landing aboard a carrier, USS Langley (CV 1), while underway off Cape Henry, Va.
1942 - USS Hornet (CV was lost and USS Enterprise (CV 6) was badly damaged during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Island.
1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with Navy carrier and U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft attacks on the retreating Japanese ships. U.S. forces sink many Japanese ships, including four carriers, three battleships, 10 cruisers and nine destroyers, for a total of 26 capital ships.
1944 - Special Task Air Group 1 makes last attack in month-long demonstration of TDR drone missile against Japanese shipping and islands in the Pacific. Of 46 missiles fired, 29 reached their target areas.
1950 - U.S. Amphibious Force 7th Fleet lands 1st Marine Division at Wonsan, Korea.
1963 - USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN 619) launches first Polaris A-3 missile from a submerged submarine, off Cape Canaveral, Fla.


Photo of the Day



The South African Valour class frigate SAS Spioenkop (F147).

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