Pacific Partnership 2016, embarked aboard hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), arrived in Padang August 19 for the fifth and final mission stop of 2016. This year marks the fifth time the mission has visited Indonesia and will include partner nations’ military forces from Australia, Canada, Japan, Ne
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) conducted coordinated maneuvering events, Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), and a search-and-rescue (SAR) swimmer training event with the People’s Liberation Army (Navy) Jiangkai II class frigate Daqing (FFG 576
Pacific Partnership 2016 arrived in Palau, August 4, aboard JS Shimokita (LST 4002), making this the second year Pacific Partnership has visited Palau since the mission began in 2006. While Shimokita is in Palau, USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and the rest of the Pacific Partnership 2016 team are making missi
U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Force 7th Fleet changed command aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) in Sasebo, Japan on August 3. During the change of command ceremony Rear Adm. Marc H. Dalton took over from Rear Adm. John B. Nowell Jr.. Nowell highlighted the work Expeditionary Strike Group 7 sailors and ma
Pacific Partnership 2016 (PP16) kicked off in Da Nang, Vietnam on July 15, for the third consecutive year, with the arrival of the U.S. hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and the Japanese Navy ship JSDS Shimokita (LST-4002). This year, the Vietnam People’s Navy ship Khanh Hoa is also participating.
Some 50 submarine officers and civilian contractors from seven countries worked together in a Rim of the Pacific 2016 submarine rescue tabletop exercise held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, July 12. The tabletop exercise preceded a practical submarine rescue exercise conducted by the U.S. and Chi
Responding to reports of a Chinese spy ship entering Japanese waters while spying on U.S. Navy aircraft carrier John C. Stennis (CVN-74), China’s Ministry of National Defense released a statement saying the Chinese warship conducted “normal navigation and training in relevant waters of the Western P
A Chinese spy vessel entered Japanese waters as it shadowed the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis which is taking part in the U.S., Japanese, Indian naval exercise Malabar 2016 in the Western Pacific. The Dongdiao-class intelligence vessel was spotted by patrol aircraft a
Ex-USS Taylor, a former U.S. Navy Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, was recently towed from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to the Detyens Shipyard in Charleston where the vessel will be converted in preparation for delivery to the Taiwanese government as part of the U.S. foreign military sales pro
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have kicked off the Malaysia phase of the annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise series between the U.S. and the armed forces of nine ASEAN member-countries. CARAT is a series of bilateral naval exercises between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Co
U.S. Navy’s hospital ship USNS Mercy performed a medical evacuation to help a ROK Navy sailor in need of medical attention. The U.S. Navy ship on May 26 received orders from Commander Task Force (CTF) 73 to render medical assistance to a Republic of Korea Navy (ROK-N) submarine in the mid-pacific. M
Ships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy 22nd Escort Task Group came alongside in Simon’s Town, South Africa for a formal visit from May 16-20, 2016. The visiting group was constituted by Luhu-class destroyer Qingdao, Jiangkai II-class frigate, Daqing and the Taihu replenishment ship, Taihu. The
U.S. Navy’s second Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, USS Germantown, held a change of command ceremony in Sasebo, Japan on May 10. Commander Severn Stevens relieved Commander Gary Harrington as commanding officer of the ship. Harrington, who assumed command of Germantown on October 27, 2014, l
Crewmembers aboard the U.S. Navy’s hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) recently participated in an abandon ship drill while in its homeport at Naval Base San Diego. Mercy is preparing for Pacific Partnership 2016, the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparednes