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









“Queen's Oman Visit to Foster Frigate Order for Dutch Shipyard”
Source: DutchNews.nl

The main reason behind Queen Beatrix’s visit to Oman is a hoped-for EUR 110m order from the Oman authorities for four frigates to fight piracy, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

Last week, the official state visit and trade mission was postponed because of political unrest in the Gulf state.

However, it emerged later the Queen and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander will still attend a private dinner hosted by Sultan Qaboos bin Said a-Said on Tuesday.

The postponement of the official visit and accompanying trade mission is a blow to shipyard Damen Schelde which hopes to win the order, the paper says.

Reception

A Dutch navy frigate, built by the Dutch firm, had been due to anchor off the Oman capital Muscat and the Queen should have hosted a reception on board, the paper claims.

Nevertheless, Dutch diplomats hope that a good relationship between the Queen and Sultan will still smooth the way for the deal to take place, the paper says.

‘We want to fit in to Damen Schelde’s strategy,’ said one foreign affairs ministry insider. ‘This cabinet is strong on economic diplomacy.’

Interests

The Netherlands has considerable economic interests in Oman, which has been ruled by the Sultan for 40 years.


Navy-Based Submarine Rescue System Goes Airborne
Source: UK Ministry of Defence

The NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS), which is based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, was deployed by air for the first time last week to be a part of a major exercise in Norway.

The £47m system was loaded onto two giant Boeing C-17 Globemasters and three Antonov 124 aircraft before taking off for Bergen to participate in Exercise Golden Arrow.

The system can be deployed at a moment's notice anywhere in the world to the scene of a submarine in distress.

Although the rescue system has been put through its paces many times before, this was the first time that it had been deployed by air - an important milestone in proving that it is fit for purpose.

Brian Grant, Base Manager for the NSRS, said: "This is the final tick in the box so that Rolls-Royce, who operates the system, can prove to their customer - the Ministry of Defence - that they've got a working system that can be deployed anywhere. We train constantly and are looking forward to arriving in Bergen for the next stage of the exercise."

The rescue system left its home at the naval base in Faslane in a fleet of 28 lorries and on arrival in Norway was installed in a 'mother ship'.

Twelve Babcock workers were on hand to help with this operation, as well as a team of welders whose job it was to fit the system's framework to the vessel: "We will be sailing the mother ship to the North Sea before deploying the system," Mr Grant continued. "What it will involve is sending down our remotely-operated vehicle to a target on the seabed and successfully deliver life-pods.

"We will also be testing our manned Submarine Rescue Vehicle [SRV], again to prove that we can successfully dock with the target which simulates a submarine's escape hatch. The SRV is piloted by three people and can rescue up to 15 trapped submariners at a time."

After the exercise the mother ship will sail back to the UK where it is due to dock at Leith on 13 March 2011.

Jointly owned by the UK, French and Norwegian navies, the NSRS is made up of three different independent systems.

The first is a remotely-operated vehicle which can be used to locate a submarine in trouble, clear debris from the vessel and deliver life-saving pods full of food, water and oxygen through the escape hatch.

The second system is the SRV itself. Christened 'Nemo' by the pilots who operate her, the SRV is a manned vessel that can dive to depths of up to 610 metres and evacuate up to 15 people at a time.

The third part of the NSRS is the TUP (Transfer Under Pressure) system, a portable decompression and medical support unit that can take up to 68 people.

Not surprisingly, getting the system out to the scene of an incident is a massive logistical challenge.




Battle of Hampton Roads – Day 1 Ironclad ram CSS Virginia destroys USS Cumberland and USS Congress

Today’s is the anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads – Day 1.




CSS Virginia

Today’s website is CSS Virginia. Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1854 - Commodore Matthew Perry opens treaty negotiations with Japan.
1862 - Ironclad ram CSS Virginia destroys USS Cumberland and USS Congress.
1945 - Phyllis Daley, assigned to the Navy Nurse Corps, becomes the first African-American ensign.
1958 - Battleship USS Wisconsin (BB 64) is decommissioned, leaving the Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1895.
1965 - The 7th Fleet lands the first major Marine Corps units in South Vietnam at Danang.


Diorama Idea of the Day



Sailors paint the island structure of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).

Gator