The Royal Navy’s first Batch-2 River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Forth arrived in her new homeport at Portsmouth Naval Base on February 26. She is the first of five vessels in the class, designed for counter-piracy, anti-smuggling, fishery protection, border patrol, counter terrorism and mariti
The US Navy is set to christen its newest expeditionary fast transport ship in a ceremony at Austal’s Mobile, Alabama, shipyard on February 24. The future USNS Burlington, designated T-EPF 10, will be the first ship in naval service to honor Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. The first Navy ship Bu
After entering the Atlantic Ocean on their return home from Mediterranean tasking on February 19, a Russian task group composed of three ships has now passed the English Channel. The Royal Navy announced on February 22 that it deployed patrol ship HMS Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter from RNAS Yeovil
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
The crew of a US Navy P-8A Poseidon on February 20 helped rescue three fishermen after they spent three days adrift at sea. The 19-foot skiff was first reported missing Feb. 12 after it failed to return from a fishing expedition near Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia. According to t
The Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is so big that the crew have had enough space aboard to set up a ping pong club, according to a recent Royal Navy story. The Royal Navy says that the ride of the 65,000-ton ship is smooth enough to provide a stable platform for the […]
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
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
The US Navy has selected five contenders for its FFG(X) future frigate program and awarded them conceptual design contracts on February 16. The selected companies are Austal and Lockheed Martin with their adaptations of littoral combat ship designs, Huntington Ingalls Industries with its offshore pa
The US Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division a $1.43 billion contract to design and build the 13th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock LPD 29. Preliminary work has begun on LPD 29, and the start of fabrication will take place later this year, HII said.
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,
The US Navy has mapped the wreckage of a C-2A Greyhound aircraft that crashed into the Philippine Sea in November 2017. The navy carried out the mission from aboard research vessel RV Petrel using the vessel’s side scan sonar and remote operated vehicle (ROV) to survey the aircraft from Feb. 2-5. Th
US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) pulled into Laem Chabang, Thailand, on Feb. 11, where its sailors and marines are to participate in exercise Cobra Gold 2018 (CG18). The CG 18 opening ceremony took place February 13, marking the beginning of one of the Indo-Pacific region
Royal Navy helicopter carrier HMS Ocean on Friday returned to Devonport Naval Base for the final time as a commissioned Royal Navy ship. The flagship entered Plymouth welcomed by well-wishers and flanked by landing craft and tugs firing water hoses high into the air. The amphibious helicopter and co
