Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
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Marinette Marine Breaks Ground for New Facility to Enhance Littoral Combat Ship Program
Source: Lockheed Martin
MARINETTE, Wis. --- Marinette Marine Corporation, a member of the Lockheed Martin-led Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) industry team, today broke ground for a new panel-line fabrication building to support construction of the U.S. Navy's LCS.
The new building will improve the first stage of ship construction at Marinette Marine and decrease ship module travel distance throughout the LCS construction process. The building will feature automation to increase efficiency and provide the capacity for storage of steel and other raw materials.
In addition to this groundbreaking, Marinette Marine also marked the opening of its professional center and the completion of a project to expand its main indoor ship construction building. This expansion project nearly doubles the building's size and provides enough indoor space to simultaneously house two complete LCS hulls and parts for two additional ships.
These investments are part of a five-year, $100 million plan by the shipyard's parent company, Fincantieri, to modernize its U.S. shipbuilding operations, which will benefit the LCS program. In 2009, Marinette Marine installed higher-capacity overhead cranes, plasma-cutting tables and pipe-bending machines to increase efficiency and capacity.
"We are very pleased to continue with our shipyard modernization capital plan, increasing our capacity for the LCS program and enhancing our capabilities," Richard McCreary, president and CEO of Marinette Marine. "This plan has been carefully laid out to add the new, larger facilities with additional automation prior to the phase out of select older facilities."
"The projects underway at Marinette Marine will ensure our team continues improving efficiency for the LCS class," said Joe North, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Littoral Ship Systems business. "As we enter serial production, the shipyard enhancements – combined with lessons learned from building two ships in this class – will enable us to meet the Navy's need for affordable and survivable warships."
Marinette Marine and Lockheed Martin constructed and launched the nation's first LCS, USS Freedom. USS Freedom's capabilities have been demonstrated since its commissioning in 2008. The ship successfully completed its first deployment in 2010 and is now based in its homeport of San Diego, Calif. The industry team is also constructing the Navy's third LCS, Fort Worth, which was launched and christened in December. The ship is more than 80 percent complete and remains on cost and on schedule for delivery in 2012.
Pak Navy Seeks Approval to Purchase Chinese Submarines
Source: ddi Indian government news
Pakistan's Defence Ministry has asked the federal cabinet to approve the purchase of conventional Chinese submarines to counter "emerging threats" that the country faces, according to a media report on Wednesday.
The acquisition of the Chinese vessels will pave the way for joint development of conventional submarines, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted unnamed officials as saying.
The Defence Ministry informed members of the cabinet that the Pakistan Navy is facing a "critical force imbalance" in terms of the number of submarines and ships in its fleet.
The "capability gap is widening exponentially with the passage of time", the report said.
In view of "urgent naval requirements", the issue of acquiring Chinese submarines was part of the talking points for President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to China in 2009.
The matter was also discussed during the Chinese premier's visit to Pakistan in 2010, the report said.
The cabinet has been told that Naval Headquarters had pursued the purchase of submarines with Chinese authorities.
A "mutually agreed draft protocol" is to be signed between the Pakistan Navy and the relevant Chinese department as a first step towards the joint development of conventional submarines.
USS Alliance, commanded by Capt. John Barry, defeats HMS Sybil
At the end of a largely uneventful passage, the Alliance anchored off Saint-Pierre, Martinique, on 8 January 1783. There Barry found orders to sail to Havana to pick up a large quantity of gold and to deliver it to Congress at Philadelphia. After brief repairs, Alliance resumed her voyage on the 13th, touched at St. Eustatius and Cape Francois, and reached Havana on the last day of January.
However, another American warship, USS Duc de Lauzun, was already in port on the same mission. The specie had already been loaded on that ship, and Barry decided to escort her home. The inevitable delays kept both ships in port until 6 March. The next day, they encountered two Royal Navy frigates which gave chase. Barry chose not to fight these warships rather than risk losing the funds his consort carried, and the American vessels successfully eluded their pursuers. Three days later they encountered the same pair - HMS Alarm and HMS Sibyl - in company with sloop-of-war HMS Tobago.
Still striving to avoid risk to the desperately needed money he was carrying to Congress, Barry again headed southwest to escape from these unidentified strangers and ordered her consort to follow. Far off in that direction, the rigging of another ship appeared over the horizon, sailing away from the others.
Soon Alliance was noticeably pulling away from the pursuers but Duc de Lauzun - second in line - was losing ground to Alarm. In the distance, the newcomer was seen to change course and head toward Alliance. Alarm evidently gave up the chase and headed away. Sybil pressed on and soon began firing at Duc de Lauzun.
Confident in both Alliance's speed and her fighting ability, Barry maneuvered her between Sybil and Duc De Lauzun to demand the full attention of the former so that the latter might slip away to safety. Sybil then turned her fire toward Alliance and managed to send one shot from her bow chaser into the American frigate's cabin, mortally wounding a junior officer and scattering many splinters. Yet Barry held Alliance's fire until she was within a "pistol's shot" of her opponent. At that point, a broadside from the American warship opened some 40 minutes of close-in fighting which finally forced Sybil to flee in the wake of Alarm and Tobago. Ship's logs indicate that this battle was fought off the coast of Cape Canaveral. Captain Vashon, commander HMS Sybil, is recorded as saying “he had never seen a ship so ably fought as the Alliance.” Captain Vashon is further quoted as saying of Barry, “every quality of a great commander was brought out with extraordinary brilliancy”.
Meanwhile, the Treaty of Paris which ended the war and recognized the independence of the United States had been ratified on 3 February 1783, some five weeks before the battle in which Alliance fired the last shot of the American Revolutionary War.
The two American ships again headed home on the day following their brush with the British, 11 March, but separated off Cape Hatteras a week later. On the 19th, Alliance met a British ship of the line as she headed in toward the Delaware capes. She gave chase and forced Alliance back out to sea. This created a diversion which allowed Duc De Lauzun to slip into the Delaware unmolested and ascend the river to Philadelphia.
USS Boxer Veterans Association
Today’s website is the USS Boxer Veterans Association. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1783 - USS Alliance, commanded by Capt. John Barry, defeats HMS Sybil in the final naval action of the American Revolution in West Indies waters.
1933 - The Pacific Fleet provides assistance after an earthquake at Long Beach, Calif.
1945 - Navy and civilian nurses interned at Los Banos, Philippines, are flown back to the United States. The Navy nurses are each awarded a Bronze Star.
1948 - First use of jets assigned to operational squadron (VF-5A) aboard a carrier - USS Boxer (CV 21).
Diorama Idea of the Day
Sailors aboard the the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) prepare the boat for port services during a routine port visit.
Gator
