On Sunday morning 27 July a memorial service for the victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17 was held on board HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën. The Dutch frigate is currently at sea off the coast of Somalia conducting counter-piracy patrols as part of the EU Naval Force. The warship’s Chaplain, Thijs Oosterhu
From its RIMPAC 2014 headquarters, onboard the United States Navy Amphibious Assault Ship USS Peleliu, the Australian Amphibious Task Group (ATG) has commanded an Expeditionary Strike Group made up of 13 warships and a combined landing force of soldiers and marines from Australia, Canada, Indonesia,
The Royal Australian Navy’s newest maritime combat helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’, successfully fired its first Hellfire missile in the United States on 26 July 2014. The AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile was fired by Navy’s 725 Squadron from aircraft currently deployed to the United
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac Class Frigate HMAS Ballarat proudly celebrated her tenth birthday recently, on a characteristically windy day at Fleet Base West. It was a busy time for the ship’s crew as they were preparing Ballarat to enter the Anti Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) upgrade progr
On Friday 25 July 2014 the EU Force Commander, Rear Admiral Jürgen zur Mühlen, took the opportunity to visit warship, ESPS Navarra. The Spanish Navy frigate recently joined the EU Naval Force and was in close vicinity to the EU flagship, FGS Brandenburg, in the Gulf of Aden. The purpose of the vis
On Thursday 24 July the EU Naval Force flagship, German frigate FGS Brandenburg and the Japanese destroyer, JS Inazuma, met at sea in the Gulf of Aden. The EU Force Commander, Rear Admiral Jürgen zur Mühlen, took the opportunity to welcome his counterpart, Japanese Commander of Escort Division 8,
USS Makin Island ARG Leaves San Diego Nearly 4,000 Sailors and Marines from the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are scheduled to depart San Diego July 25, for a deployment in support of the Navy’s maritime strategy. Senator: Australian Naval Shipbui
Five months after departing from her home port of Las Palmas, in Spain, the EU Naval Force Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV), ESPS Relámpago, has completed her counter-piracy deployment with Operation Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. As she departed for home waters, the Spanish Navy
Twenty three young men and women Navy recruits graduated from the Defence Indigenous Development Program North Queensland (DIDP-NQ) at a ceremony held at Australian HMAS Cairns earlier this week. This program, the first coordinated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for Defence Indigenous Affairs,
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $13,7 million modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee, incentive-fee contract for USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) fiscal 2014 planned incremental availability. A planned incremental availability includes the planning and
The German EU Naval Force Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance (MPRA) Detachment in Djibouti received a welcome visit from their Squadron Commanding Officer, Captain Hans-Jörg Detlefsen, who is based in Germany. Since 2009 men and women from the German Squadron Graf Zeppelin in Nordholz, Northern German
Personnel in the Australian coastal mine hunter HMAS Yarra have used their diving expertise to recover an anchor and shackles weighing one tonne from the seabed near Ashmore Island. The anchor, belonging to Armidale class patrol boat HMAS Bundaberg, was cut lose when it firmly wedged beneath a lar
On the morning of 22 July destroyer Andrea Doria departed Stazione Navale Mar Grande, Taranto to participate in Operation Atalanta in the Indian Ocean. The unit is due to moor at Gibuti port next August 6, where the German Rear Admiral Jὓrgen ZUR Mȕhlen will pass on the torch of the operation to I
On Tuesday 22 July 2014 Spanish frigate ESPS Navarra joined the EU Naval Force Somalia Operation Atalanta. Over the next five months the task of the 214 men and women on board will be to deter, prevent and repress acts of piracy and armed robbery in the piracy high risk areas and escort World [&he
