US Navy’s forward-deployed command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) completed her dry dock maintenance, undocking and mooring pierside at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on January 21. Blue Ridge is the oldest operational US Navy ship and this dry-docking period extended her life by approximately 20-plus year
US destroyer USS Hopper sailed within 12 miles of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea under what the US Navy refers to as a freedom of navigation operation. Hopper sailed near the China-claimed island on January 17 as part of its Western Pacific deployment. China’s foreign ministry
Damaged US Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) has arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it will undergo some two years of repairs after being involved in a collision with a merchant tnaker in June 2017. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer arrived in Pascagoula on January 19 aboa
The US Navy’s forward-deployed command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) pulled into Valletta, Malta, on January 19, 2018, for a scheduled port visit. During her time in Valletta, Mount Whitney is providing ship tours and enhancing relationships between the two countries. “The sailors and civilian mar
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) welcomed the commander of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force while underway in the Persian Gulf on January 16. Commodore Mohammed Yousif Al Asam and members of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force visited the ship while the Bahrain Navy frigate RBNS Sabha
Former US Navy officers in charge of two destroyers involved in fatal collisions in the Pacific in 2017 are facing charges of dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel, and negligent homicide, the US Navy said in a statement on January 16. US Navy Admiral Frank Caldwell, the man in charge of a review
US Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) has embarked on its first underway period of the new year to prepare for an upcoming deployment. The ship got underway from its homeport of Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on January 16. John C. Stennis Sailors are scheduled to conduct flight operati
US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) left its homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on January 15, to join the Carl Vinson carrier strike group on a Western Pacific deployment. Michael Murphy deployed with a crew of approximately 320 sailors and a detachment of MH-60R helicopte
The US Navy announced it has recently completed its first Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) flight test on the AH-1Z helicopter at Patuxent River. During the flight which took place in December, aircrew aboard the AH-1Z navigated the missile through various operational modes and exercised its activ
US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) completed an independent deployment to the Western Pacific and South America, returning to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on January 12. While deployed, the ship conducted theater security cooperation and maritime presence operations with partne
US Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) arrived in Sasebo, Japan, on January 14, to become the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship in 7th Fleet. USS Wasp, which has undergone significant upgrades to be able to land and launch the US Marine Corp’s F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, completed
Fincantieri Marine Group announced it would be teaming with design firm Gibbs & Cox and propulsion systems integrator Trident Maritime Systems to offer a modified version of its FREMM frigate for the US Navy’s new guided‐missile frigate, FFG(X) bid. “We’ve assembled a world‐class team of partners to
The newest US Navy amphibious transport dock ship Portland (LPD-27) will serve as a platform for the technology demonstration of a laser weapon developed by the Office of Naval Research. This was announced by LPD-17 and LHA program manager Capt. Brian Metcalf at the Surface Navy Association’s annual
German Navy’s F124 air-defense frigate FGS Hessen will be joining a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group off the US east coast for joint drills. Hessen is scheduled to depart her homeport of Wilhelmshaven on January 15 and will be joined by a Norwegian frigate which will also be integrating into a
