Amphibious & Support Ships
HMS Forth en route to Portsmouth homeport
HMS Forth, the first of five new Royal Navy patrol vessels, has started a journey to her new homeport in Portsmouth after completing sea trials. The ship got underway February 21, setting sail from Glasgow where it was built by BAE Systems. Designed for counter-piracy, anti-smuggling, fishery protec
Iwo Jima ARG ships enter US 6th Fleet area of operations
US Navy ships from the Iwo Jima amphibious ready group (ARG) entered the US 6th Fleet area of operations together with embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on February 21. While in theater, the blue-green team’s 4,500 sailors and marines will train with international militaries “Being in th
German minehunter FGS Bad Bevensen joining SNMCMG1
German Navy’s Frankenthal-class mine hunter FGS Bad Bevensen is scheduled to depart its Kiel homeport on February 25 to join the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 (SNMCMG1). The minehunter will spend the next five months operating in the North and Baltic Seas. FGS Bad Bevensen will be unde
Electrical issues force German tanker to withdraw from Norwegian drill
German Navy’s 40-year-old tanker FGS Spessart was forced to abort its participation in a Norwegian-hosted exercise in the North Sea after experiencing electrical issues. Spessart was part of a multi-ship group maneuvering off Bergen, Norway, during two linked exercises – the Norwegian fleet exercise
Fincantieri lays keel for Italian Navy’s new Landing Helicopter Dock ‘Trieste’
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri held a keel laying ceremony for the Italian Navy’s new landing helicopter dock (LHD) at its Castellammare di Stabia shipyard on February 20. Construction on the ship started with a steel cutting ceremony on July 12, 2017, and the delivery is expected for 2022. The shi
Russian task group enters Atlantic en route to Northern Fleet homeport
A Russian Navy task group returning from their deployment as part of the country’s permanent Mediterranean task force entered the Atlantic Ocean en route to their Northern Fleet homeport. Ropucha-class landing ship Aleksandr Otrakovskiy, Vishnya-class intelligence ship Feodor Golovin and Altay-class
HMS Sutherland to join major Australian Navy fleet exercise Ocean Explorer
A fleet of Royal Australian Navy ships departed Fleet Base East in Garden Island, Sydney, on Tuesday to start exercise Ocean Explorer. Ocean Explorer will see two submarines, ten ships and embarked aircraft take part in war games off the east coast of Australia. They will be joined briefly by Royal
Dutch submarine HNLMS Walrus concludes Portsmouth visit
Royal Dutch Navy submarine HNLMS Walrus paid a weekend visit to Portsmouth, UK, becoming the first submarine in two years to visit the Royal Navy base. Walrus is on the return leg of her operational sea training which she is undergoing after completing a dry-dock maintenance in 2017. Prior to enteri
Brazil’s purchase of HMS Ocean confirmed
The sale of Royal Navy helicopter carrier HMS Ocean to the Brazilian Navy has been officially confirmed, UK media reported. The price was set at £84 million, according to the reports. The sale is to take place next month while the ship itself will sail to Brazil in the summer. Babcock and BAE System
US Navy sends two destroyers to the Black Sea
The US Navy now has two guided-missile destroyers in the Black Sea after USS Carney transited the Bosphorus on February 18. Carney is joining sister ship USS Ross which entered the Black Sea on February 17. Recognizing the fact that having two destroyers in the Black Sea is not something the navy do
New 1,000-ton floating dock launched for Italian Navy’s La Spezia base
Italian shipbuilder Cantieri Navali Megaride launched a new floating dock for the Italian Navy’s La Spezia naval base at its shipyard in Naples on Saturday. The 1,000 ton dock was designated as GO60 and will be transferred to the Italian Naval base La Spezia located in the Gulf of La Spezia on the n
Indian Navy’s deep search and rescue vehicle completes harbor trials
Indian Navy’s deep search and rescue vehicles (DSRV) came one step closer to delivery after completing harbor trials in Glasgow, Scotland. India is acquiring two of the submarine rescue systems from James Fisher Defence (JFD) under a £193 million contract signed in 2016. The contract includes the de
Four-nation drill Khunjar Haad concludes in Gulf of Oman
Ships and personnel from the navies of Oman, UK, France and US concluded the international exercise Khunjar Haad in the Gulf of Oman on February 8. Overall 11 vessels, including US Coast Guard ships, took part in the exercise. Khunjar Haad featured a variety of evolutions consisting of air-defense,
USS Ross completes war-at-sea drill with Albanian Navy
US Navy destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) completed a war-at-sea exercise (WASEX) with Albanian Naval Brigade patrol vessel ALS Iliria (P 131) in the Adriatic Sea on February 7. The two vessels completed the drill before the US destroyer pulled into the Albanian city of Vlore for a regularly-scheduled por