Royal Navy’s amphibious landing ship royal fleet auxiliary (RFA) Mounts Bay together with three border force cutters will join the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea that aims to reduce the flow of migrants from Turkey to Europe, the UK Prime Minister said ahead of an EU sumit. RFA Mounts Bay, supported
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) arrived in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to begin conducting counter illicit trafficking operations in support of Operation Martillo, March 2. Operation Martillo (Spanish for “hammer”) is a U.S., European and Wester
Japanese Ministry of Defence on March 7 received the seventh Soryu-class submarine, ‘Jinryu’ in a ceremnoy held at the MHI Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works’ No.3 pier in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. The Jinryu, which translates to “benevolent dragon”, is the fourth submarine to be built by Mitsubishi Heav
U.S. Navy’s 14th Virginia-class submarine, USS Washington (SSN 787), was christened at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries on March 5. Ship sponsor Elisabeth Mabus, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, smashed a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to ma
Ships of the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 recently concluded fire and flood control training in the North of Germany. The exercise took place at the Einsatzausbildungszentrum Schadensabwehr (Combat Training Centre for Damage Control or EAZS) in Neustadt, about 30 miles southeast of Ki
Two U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships, USS Kearsarge and USS Boxer have received Battle Effectiveness (Battle “E”) awards. The officers and crew of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) were awarded March 3, while USS Boxer received its Battle E for the fifth consecutive year on March 6
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Darwin has uncovered and seized a large weapons cache after boarding a small fishing vessel approximately 170 nautical miles (313 kilometres) off the coast of Oman. The frigate’s crew initially conducted a flag verification boarding. After assessing the vessel to b
USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), a U.S. Navy Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship homeported in Mayport, Florida, is participating in Exercise Cold Response 2016. Fort McHenry will be the only U.S. Navy vessel participating in this operation, providing support for U.S. Marines as well as Navy constructi
UK’s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on March 3 announced additional £642 (approx. $907.2M) million of investment for the Successor submarine programme. New parts and facilities, as well as further design work will be funded by the latest investment which will help to progress work on the four new
Sailors onboard the U.S. Navy dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) held a change of command ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, March 1. With the traditional exchange of salutes, Cmdr. Thomas S. Stephens turned over command of Rushmore to Cmdr. Sarah H. DeGroot, who had previously served as the shi
The new LX(R) line of U.S. Navy amphibious combat ships could be built faster than the LPD line and could be procured as early as 2018, a U.S. Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing indicated on March 2. U.S. Senator Thad Cochran chaired the hearing to review the FY2017 budget request fo
The U.S. Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center has awarded General Dynamics a contract for the phased maintenance availability (PMA) of USS Essex (LHD-2). Under the $156,5 million contract, GD will plan and perform depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications on the U.S. Navy’s amp
U.S. Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), took the Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7 aboard for a patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. Bonhomme Richard arrived in White Beach, Okinawa February 28 to r
Images: EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta warships met with their Chinese counterparts in the Indian Ocean to conduct joint training on February 27. Main focus of the training were air operations with the ships’ embarked helicopters. The Chinese ships, tanker CNS Taihu and frigate CNS Daquing, also conduc
