French Navy’s D’Estienne d’Orves-class aviso FS Ducuing completed its second deployment to the European Union’s Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia. Taking over from FS Commandant Birot, Ducuing spent 43 days deployed to the Mediterranean Sea where it helped fight people- and arms smugglers operating
The US-hosted amphibious drill Bold Alligator will be joined by Mexican, Canadian and French Navy ships in addition to personnel from a number of other ally countries. Bold Alligator 2017 (BA17) started in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on October 18 and will run through October 30 around Camp Lejeun
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 joined NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, to take part in a series of experiments and trials last week. Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond, Turkish Navy’s TCG Barbaros and Spain’s ESPS Blas de Lezo visited Italy after
Mine countermeasure experts form the UK and US navies embarked the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Cardigan Bay to complete the Mine Identification and Exploitation Exercise 2017 . The exercise allowed for US and UK forces to share knowledge of mine countermeasures (MCM) capabilities in searching, identi
The lead ship of the new Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers has completed her air sea acceptance trials (ASCT) with a Merlin Mk2 helicopter from QinetiQ at Boscombe Down. Completing the ASCT is a major milestone before the RFA Tidespring enters naval service. “Successful completion of these trials will c
RFA Tidespring, the first of four new tankers in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s fleet, paid her first visit to Gibraltar on October 17. Sailing with an embarked Merlin helicopter during pre-commissioning workups, the tanker called in on the Rock for routine logistics support. She is the first of a flee
German Navy’s combat support ship EGV Frankfurt am Main which damaged its stern in March this year is ready to deploy again after undergoing repair works in Kiel. The ship sustained stern damage while reversing into a sea lock at Wilhelmshaven navy base and had to sail for Kiel where it was repaired
US Navy transport dock USS San Diego (LPD 22) pulled into Souda Bay, Greece, on October 15, for a scheduled port visit and a mid-deployment voyage repair maintenance stop. The San Antonio-class ship USS San Diego arrived in Greece together with embarked Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Uni
The French Navy’s new ice-breaking and patrol vessel L’Astrolabe started her first ever mission to Antarctica getting underway from her homeport at Port des Galets, in La Réunion, October 12. L’Astrolabe deployed exactly two months after first arriving to her new homeport from Concarneau, France, wh
Royal Navy’s bomb disposal experts carried out an unusual operation recently after a tanker carrying some 1,000 tonnes of fuel caught a test torpedo with its anchor. The tanker’s anchor had speared the torpedo in Portland, UK, and had dragged it up from the seabed, 15 meters below. Portsmouth-based
The Royal Navy’s second River-class patrol vessel HMS Severn is set to visit her affiliated city of Newport one last time before she decommissions by the end of October. Severn will be berthed at Alexandra Docks with the ship’s crew exercising Freedom of the City, parading through the city centre wi
British defense contractor and shipbuilder BAE Systems is cutting around 375 jobs across its Maritime Services division, the company announced on Tuesday. The cuts in Portsmouth and Solent are part of a wider, company-wide restructuring which will see BAE Systems reduce over 1900 positions. The move
Royal Navy’s amphibious transport dock HMS Albion embarked officer cadets from Britannia Royal Naval College for their first experience at sea. The 18,500 tonne assault ship sent two of her largest landing craft into the River Dart to embark the group of 75 cadets. They will spend the next six weeks
A Dutch and a Royal Navy ship recently completed what was termed by the Royal Navy as “the easiest RAS ever”, as support vessel RFA Mounts Bay took on fuel from Dutch ship HNLMS Karel Doorman in the Caribbean. A difficult – potentially dangerous – manoeuvre it’s typically performed mid-Ocean between
