Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
The Presentation to the Brazilian Navy Took Place on April 11 and Has the Full Support of the Spanish Government
Source: Navantia
Navantia, the leading Spanish shipbuilder, on April 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, filed an offer to the Brazilian Navy for the PROSUPER program.
Navantia's proposal to the Brazilian Navy is based on two major strengths: proven ship designs for the three class of ships required by Brazil (frigates, OPVs and AOR), and extensive experience in technology transfer in countries such as Australia, India and Norway.
In addition, Navantia, as a public company, has the full support of the Spanish Government, and in particular of the Ministry of Defense and the Spanish navy, which was set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in December 2010 between the Brazilian and the Spanish ministry of defence.
Navantia has extensive knowledge and experience in the design and construction of naval vessels as well as of other complementary areas as propulsion, combat systems, platform control and life cycle support, which it is able to develop into comprehensive and risk-free proposal for the customer.
Additional information
- Navantia has developed over the last decade the most complex program of frigates, the F-100, equipped with the sophisticated AEGIS system. Four units are in service in the Spanish Navy and a fifth, already launched, will be delivered next year.
- Venezuela's navy in 2005 contracted Navantia to build 8 patrol boats, four of which are designed for coastal surveillance, and which have already been received by the Navy of Venezuela.
- Since July 2010, with the AOR "Cantabria" designed and built by Navantia, the Spanish Navy has the capability to provide operational logistics support to other ships while observing environmental regulatory requirements.
General Dynamics NASSCO Launches USNS William McLean
Source: General Dynamics NASSCO
SAN DIEGO --- General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, today launched the U.S. Navy's newest supply ship, USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12), during an evening christening ceremony at the shipyard. The USNS William McLean is the 12th of a class of 14 dry cargo/ammunition ships slated to serve as Combat Logistics Force (CLF) ships or be part of the Maritime Prepositioning Force.
USNS William McLean is named after William Burdette McLean (1914–1976), the U.S. Navy physicist who conceived and developed the heat-seeking Sidewinder missile. The Sidewinder was the first effective heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried by fighter aircraft. After five decades, variants and upgrades of the Sidewinder remain in active service with many air forces today.
More than 1,000 people attended the evening launch of the USNS William McLean at the NASSCO shipyard. McLean's eldest niece, Mrs. Margaret Taylor, served as the ship's sponsor. Mrs. Taylor christened the ship by breaking the traditional bottle of champagne against the bow before the 689-foot-long vessel slid into the waters of San Diego Bay.
During World War II, McLean worked on ordnance equipment and testing at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. Following the war, he moved to the Naval Ordnance Test Station in Inyokern, Calif. (now the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake), where he led the project team developing the Sidewinder missile from 1945 to 1954. In April 1954, he was appointed technical director, the senior civilian position at the station, a position which he held until 1967. He then served as technical director for the U.S. Navy's submarine-warfare research center in San Diego until 1974.
"We at NASSCO are proud of the role the USNS William McLean will play in support of the U.S. Navy," said Fred Harris, president of NASSCO. "This ship joins a distinguished tradition of NASSCO-built or modified ships bound for service under the direction of the Navy's Military Sealift Command."
USNS William McLean is the twelfth ship of the 14-ship Lewis and Clark (T-AKE) Class of dry cargo ammunition ships General Dynamics NASSCO is building for the Navy's Military Sealift Command. NASSCO began constructing USNS William McLean in September 2009. Following its at-sea testing phase, the ship will be delivered to the Navy in the third quarter of 2011. When delivered to the Military Sealift Command, the ship will carry necessary supplies and equipment required to support U.S. Marine Corps operations anywhere in the world.
There are currently 16 Military Sealift Command prepositioning ships that have been especially configured to transport supplies for the U.S. Marine Corps. Nearly half of the ships in this Maritime Prepositioning Force were built or modified at General Dynamics NASSCO since the mid-1980s and are now forward-deployed to the western Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
USS New Jersey (BB 62) shells Wonsan, Korea
NEW JERSEY fired on coastal batteries and buildings at Kojo 16 April; on railway track and tunnels near Hungnam 18 April; and on gun emplacements around Wonsan Harbor 20 April, silencing them in five areas after she had herself take several near misses. Songjin provided targets 23 April. Her NEW JERSEY scored six direct 16 inch hits on a railroad tunnel and knocked out two rail bridges.
Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society
Today’s website is Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1796 - Congress authorizes the completion of three frigates.
1861 - Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia is abandoned and burned by Union forces.
1914 - In the first call to action of naval aviators, a detachment on USS Birmingham sailed to Tampico, Mexico.
1915 - The first Navy contract for lighter-than-air craft is awarded.
1942 - USS Wasp (CV 7) launches 47 British aircraft to reinforce Malta.
1947 - Navy Capt. L.O. Fox, supported by 80 Marines, accepted the surrender of Lt. Yamaguchi and 26 Japanese soldiers and sailors, two-and-a-half years after the occupation of Peleliu and nearly 20 months after the surrender of Japan.
1953 - USS New Jersey (BB 62) shells Wonsan, Korea, from inside the harbor.
1964 - USS Henry Clay (SSBN 625) launches a Polaris A-2 missile from the surface in the first demonstration that Polaris submarines could launch missiles from the surface as well as from beneath the ocean. Thirty minutes later, the submarine launched another Polaris missile while submerged.
Diorama Idea of the Day
Launching officer, Lieutenant David McCampbell, USN, gets the ready signal from the pilot of a British Royal Air Force "Spitfire", just before it took off for Malta, 9 May 1942. To see the original high resolution photo, click here.
Gator
