The US Navy’s Military Sealift Command received its fourth expeditionary sea base, future USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams, from General Dynamics NASSCO on February 22. The delivery took place after the vessel completed sea trials which started January 17, 2018. Construction of the USNS Hershel “Woody”
Future FGS Sachsen Anhalt, the German Navy’s third F125 class frigate, set sail for first time on February 22 for a series of in-port trials. During the next two weeks, shipbuilders and navy officials will test the ship’s technical systems and equipment, including its propulsion system, maneuvering
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, for a port visit, Feb. 21. Wayne E. Meyer is on a regularly scheduled Western Pacific deployment with the Carl Vinson strike group. While Wayne E. Meyer headed for Malaysia, USS Carl Vinson and destroye
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
BAE Systems has awarded propulsion systems specialist Rolls-Royce two contracts to supply low-noise propellers and mission bay handling technologies for the first three Royal Navy Type 26 frigates. The first Type 26 is currently under construction at the BAE Systems shipyard in Glasgow. The Rolls-Ro
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
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
US-based defense contractor Curtiss-Wright Corporation is acquiring Dresser-Rand Government Business, a US subsidiary of Siemens AG in Germany, for $212.5 million in cash. Dresser-Rand is specialized in US Navy power and compression products and will operate within Curtiss-Wright’s Power segment. Dr
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
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
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson got underway from Manila on February 20, completing a four-day visit to the Philippines. More than 5,500 sailors from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) arrived February 16 to visit local attrac
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 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
The Royal Navy has decommissioned its smallest ship, the HMSML Gleaner, in a ceremony at Devonport Naval Base. Crewed by just eight sailors, Her Majesty’s Survey Motor Launch (HMSML) Gleaner spent 35 years in service with the Royal Navy. Since her commissioning in 1983, Gleaner has operated in the m
