A fire broke out on board USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) while the ship was in Viktor Lenac Shipyard (Rijeka, Croatia) July 31, 2015. There were no personnel injuries in the fire, which was extinguished within 45 minutes by ship’s force and shipyard fire brigade personnel. The cause of fire and extent o
On 25 July 2015, staff from Operation Atalanta Force Headquarters visited the Japanese Detachment of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 in Djibouti. Led by the Force HQ Chief of Staff, Captain Jens Nykvist, the meeting was hosted by Captain Masahisa Motomura, Commanding Officer of the Deployment Air-Forc
This month, a Damen RoRo 5612 was launched at Halong Shipyard in Vietnam. The RoRo is one of nine Damen vessels ordered by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force as part of its Sandy Bottom Project. The vessel’s multi-purpose capabilities will be put to use by the Defence Force in a range of situations inc
On Saturday 25th of July 2015, EU Naval Force Commander, Rear Admiral Alfonso Gomez Fernando de Cordoba, welcomed the Chief of the Djiboutian Navy, Colonel Abdourahman Aden Cher, on board Operation Atalanta flagship, ESPS Galicia. The visit included a guided tour of the Spanish warship, followed by
Sailors on board HMS Somerset were given the rare opportunity to visit the spectacular sights of Iceland while on a short break between North Atlantic patrols. Although the North Atlantic is a regular operating area for Royal Navy warships it is not often that there is a stop in Iceland and it was t
The head of the Royal Navy Admiral Sir George Zambellas visited reservists in Scotland where he presented a medal and gave an address to the assembled sailors. HMS Scotia is based in Rosyth, and is the East of Scotland’s Royal Naval Reserve unit which has around 100 members of the Royal Naval Reserv
This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Royal Navy Aircraft Handlers Branch, who was formed to meet a need in 1945 to launch and recover aircraft from the navy’s large carriers. The first Aircraft Handlers (AH) were intrinsically involved with operations at the latter part of World War 2, that s
Spanish warship, ESPS Galicia, recently reached the halfway point in her deployment as the flagship for Operation Atalanta. Since joining the Operation in May 2015, ESPS Galicia has sailed over 15,000 nautical miles, conducting counter-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and Somali basin, as well as
Colombian Navy warship, ARC 7 de Agosto, recently completed sea trials with the Spanish Navy prior to her collaboration with Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia. Conducted at the Spanish Navy Combat at Sea Centre in south western Spain, the sea training ensured that ARC 7 de Agosto was ready
Ships in the Caribbean have been treated to an impromptu daytime firework display as the Lynx helicopter of RFA Lyme Bay tested her defences. The Royal Navy helicopter fired their Infra-Red Countermeasures – better known as flares – over waters off Grand Cayman during a training flight for the 180-k
Two Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre (JSATC) 72ft yachts, ‘Adventure of Hornet’ and ‘Discoverer of Hornet’ have set sail on a circumnavigation of the globe as they embark on the much heralded tri-service adventurous training sailing expedition, Exercise Transglobe. Skipper of HMSTC Ad
OceanWorks International has completed system upgrades to the third Italian Navy’s HARDSUIT™ Atmospheric Diving System (ADS), designed and delivered by OceanWorks. The conclusion of the work on the third ADS marks the completion of a major survey and upgrade of the Italian Navy’s ADS fleet to the Qu
The Royal Navy warship HMS Iron Duke has tested its ‘soft kill’ systems in a rare series of firings off UK’s South coast. Designed to seduce, distract or confuse an incoming missile, the Sea Gnat and DLF were both used in the practice session – and it was the first time for many of the […]
The Royal Navy’s smallest ships which are used to give university students a taste of life in the Senior Service have been sailing round the Baltics for their summer deployment. Four of the 16 patrol boats are flying the flag for Britain and the Royal Navy in ports, towns, islands and cities UK wars
