The U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program completed blast and fire testing of a full-scale structural assembly at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center officials announced Aug. 9. Built to replicate Independence variant LCS standards of shipbuilding, the Multi Compartment Surrogate (MCS) was u
Three Navy pilots who saved an E2-C Hawkeye aircraft from crashing into water after a cable snapped aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were awarded the Armed Forces’ Air Medal for valor aboard the ship, the Navy said August 11. Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Browning, Lt. Cmdr. Kellen Smith and Lt. Matthew Halliwell
The Royal Canadian Navy has deployed two Kingston-class maritime coastal defense vessels to Arctic waters so as to “continue RCN’s presence in the Canadian North”. Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Shawinigan and Moncton departed from their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on August 11 to conduc
Unmanned Aircraft Systems manufacturer AeroVironment announced the US Navy has recently tested and deployed the company’s RQ-20B Puma small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) aboard a Flight I Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. According to the company, some of the exercises included the use of AeroVironmen
The final ship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) departed its forward-deployed homeport of Sasebo, Japan for a routine patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, August 10. While on patrol, the Bonhomme Richard ESG and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will conduct a
The voyage data recorder from El Faro, a US flagged cargo ship that sank during Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015, was successfully recovered from the ocean floor late Monday evening. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Military Sealift Command’s fleet ocean tug USNS Apache depart
All hull sections of the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarine USS Indiana have been joined to form a single, watertight unit meaning that the 16th submarine in the class is now ‘pressure hull complete’. Pressure hull complete is the last major milestone before the submarine’s christening. Constructi
The U.S. Navy said its amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) completed a routine patrol in international waters of the South China Sea on August 6. Another ship from the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), completed a similar patrol August 4. Th
Capt. Roy Love relieved Capt. Curt Jones as commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) during a change of command ceremony Aug. 4. Rear Adm. Markham K. Rich, commander, Navy Region Southwest presided over the event. During the ceremony, Jones was presented with the Legion of Merit for excepti
Sea Hunter, the U.S. Navy’s unmanned anti submarine warfare vessel, has recently completed at-sea tests off the coast of San Diego, California. Developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program, the ve
U.S. Navy’s amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41), with embarked U.S. Marines of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), transited the Suez Canal and entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations on August 7. Navigating the 120-mile-long canal is no easy task, requiring hours of
The largest U.S. icebreaker, Coast Guard Cutter Healy is set to return from a 39-day science mission to the Arctic Chukchi Sea. The icebreaker will moor in Seward on August 10 to disembark 46 researchers from the University of Alaska-Anchorage and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The crew of the Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) fleet replenishment oiler USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO 193) started preparing for the ships return to sea following a regular overhaul (ROH) period. Sailors conducted shipboard training on August 8 in the Singaporean Sembawang Shipyard where the overhau
Minehunters from the U.S. and Royal Navy conducted the quarterly mine countermeasures (MCM) exercise Squadex-16 in the Arabian Gulf, July 30 through August 5. Participating naval vessels included U.S. Navy mine countermeasures ships USS Gladiator (MCM 11) and USS Sentry (MCM 3), U.K. landing ship do
