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



Review – Volume 88: Steel Navy

Join MSW Managing Editor Jim Adams (goldenpony) for a first look review of another great DVD volume from Still Motions Photographics Volume 88: Steel Navy Vintage US Warships 1860s-1900s.




Team of Experts to Plan Way Forward on Amphibious Ships Fleet
Source: Australian Department of Defence

The Government will appoint an independent team of experts to develop a plan to address problems in the repair and management of the amphibious and support ship fleet.

Mr Paul Rizzo, a Director of a number of major Australian corporations including the National Australia Bank and Malleson Stephen Jacques and the Independent Chair of the Defence Audit and Risk Committee, will lead the team.

He will be supported by Air Vice Marshal Neil Smith (rtd) and Rear Admiral Brian Adams (rtd) who have relevant experience in defence administration, engineering, maintenance, logistics, systems engineering, safety certification and the operation and support of amphibious ships.

The Terms of Reference for their work is released today and attached.

On 1 February, the Government announced that HMAS Manoora was to be decommissioned on the advice of the Chief of Navy. The Manoora was placed on operational pause by the Chief of Navy after the Seaworthiness Board in September last year, and an examination of the 40 year old ship has revealed it requires remediation of significant hull corrosion and the replacement of both gear boxes. As this work would cost over $20 million and take until April 2012 to complete, it is not considered value for money when Manoora was scheduled to be decommissioned at the end of next year.

On receiving that advice the Minister for Defence asked Defence for further advice outlining the reasons for the early decommissioning of HMAS Manoora and the extended unavailability of HMAS Kanimbla.

This advice, released today and attached, identifies systemic and cultural problems in the maintenance of the amphibious ship fleet.

Today we also outline ongoing maintenance activity with respect to HMAS Tobruk.

On 28 January, we were advised that with the decommissioning of HMAS Manoora, and the extended unavailability of HMAS Kanimbla, Navy was maintaining HMAS Tobruk at 48 hours’ notice for sea to ensure an amphibious lift capability was available.

On 2 February, we were advised that HMAS Tobruk was to commence maintenance work in order to be fully prepared to provide any assistance in the days following Cyclone Yasi, in the event not required.

On 4 February, we were advised that HMAS Tobruk had left its dock and was being prepared to return to 48 hours’ notice for sea.

This has however not yet occurred as further maintenance issues and problems have been identified.

This work includes efforts to survey, verify, certify and replace a number of safety critical flexible hoses necessary to ensure the safe operation of HMAS Tobruk.

The advice about the amphibious fleet provided by the Secretary of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force makes it clear that problems with the amphibious fleet have built up over the past decade or more.

It states that many of the seeds of the problems we now face were sown long ago, and insufficient resources have been allocated to address materiel and personnel shortfalls since the ships were brought into service many years ago.

It also states that the establishment of the Seaworthiness Board in 2009 was a long overdue means of providing Chief of Navy with an independent review of maritime systems and its review of the amphibious ships provided a focus on the situation that was not previously available.

It is essential that the problems outlined in the advice are addressed as a matter of priority ahead of the transition to the new Landing Helicopter Dock Ships.

That is why we have asked Mr Rizzo to develop a plan to address the problems identified by the Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force, to reform these practices, and oversee early stage implementation of those reforms.

Their work will be additional to the new comprehensive transition plan we have asked Defence to prepare to ensure a smooth transition to the introduction of the LHD ships in the middle of the decade.


Northrop Grumman Announces Team to Outfit Littoral Combat Ship Mission Package Containers, Site to Install Modules
Source: Northrop Grumman

BETHPAGE, N.Y. --- Northrop Grumman Corporation will support assembly of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mission packages at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif. It also has rounded out its team of subcontractors to support the production effort.

The company recently announced the award of the first low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract, a $29 million award for three mission module packages – one mine countermeasures and two surface warfare packages. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems is responsible for management of production and all production-related engineering of the mission packages.

"Our CEO recently told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the defense industrial base will be called upon to find needed solutions at a time of tremendous pressure on the nation's defense investments," said Dan Chang, Northrop Grumman vice president of Maritime and Tactical Systems. "The Navy's Littoral Combat Ship concept is one Navy response to that call. It maximizes our nation's warfighting capabilities while ultimately minimizing budgetary impact. To help ensure their success, we put together a production team that will maximize the Navy's investment in this concept."

The mission module supplier team comprises: Earl Industries, Portsmouth, Va., which will build the TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) containers and be responsible for mission module electrical systems; Excelco, Silver Creek, N.Y., responsible for the Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) capture spine; Granite State, Manchester, N.H., which will manufacture RMMV cradles; Smith Brothers, Shelby Township, Mich., which will produce the maintenance stand assemblies mission module hardware; and, Teledyne Brown, Huntsville, Ala., for the gun mission modules.

The end items from each of those companies will be shipped to Port Hueneme, where a Northrop Grumman-Navy team will complete the assembly of each package.

The first of the LRIP mission packages will be delivered in 2012 from the Mission Package Support Facility in Port Hueneme. Northrop Grumman will reach an initial production plateau of four packages per year – two each of the surface warfare and mine countermeasures mission packages – in 2014.

A separate set of suppliers produce the various weapon, sensor and other mission systems contained within each package.

Each of the current packages was designed by U.S. Navy laboratories. Northrop Grumman has been the Navy's mission package integrator during the development of the packages and will continue in that role. The company also installs the Mission Package Computing Environment in each Littoral Combat Ship and manages the Mission Package Support Facility for the Navy.




The Habbakuk Project

Today’s website is the The Habbakuk Project. Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1815 - USS Constitution captures the British vessel Susannah.
1945 - Carrier aircraft from Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 58 strike Japanese installations around Tokyo.
1967 - Operation River Raider begins in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam.


Diorama Idea of the Day




A shipyard worker hand-paints depth markers on the hull of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) in the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company dry-dock.

Gator