More than 300 Royal Navy sailors, aircrew and Royal Marines have been supporting ongoing air strikes against ISIL forces in the Middle East as part of a US Navy carrier battle group. Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Kent, two Sea King helicopters from 849 Naval Air Squadron and support ship RFA Fort Aus
USS Tortuga’s CO, XO Relieved of Duties USS Tortuga’s (LSD 46) Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Thomas Goudreau and Executive Officer, Cmdr. John Fleming, were relieved of their duties Dec. 16, due to loss of confidence in their ability to safely operate and navigate the ship and their credibility to lead
Personnel from 857 Naval Air Squadron have completed their latest deployment in the Persian Gulf and have started the journey home to Cornwall for Christmas. For some of the Squadron, this will be the first Christmas that they have spent at home for three years, having previously been based at Camp
On 5 December 2014, the French frigate Guépratte sailed out of the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, ready and willing to support Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) counter-terrorism operations under Canadian-led Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150). For this mission, Guépratte’s crew have four goals: gathering
The Head of the Lebanese Navy, Rear Admiral Nazih J’baily, was welcomed to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) headquarters in Bahrain by Commodore Keith Blount OBE Royal Navy on 11 December 2014. Rear Admiral J’baily took the opportunity presented by the visit to attend the CMF morning briefing, whe
U.S. Marines and Sailors with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), along with members of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, began exercise Red Reef 15 Dec. 7 in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Red Reef is a biennial, bilateral exercise between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Ar
Nearly seven months after departure embarked in HMS Defender 217 Lynx Flight return home to Yeovilton. The Lynx Mk 8 celebrated her 35th birthday while onboard and has been embarked on the Type 45 Destroyer since departing Portsmouth at the beginning of June this year to be engaged in patrols in the
HMAS Toowoomba completed a successful Operation MANITOU maritime security deployment to the Middle East Region on Saturday, 13 December 2014, and is heading home to Perth. Deployed as part of Australia’s Joint Task Force 633, Toowoomba conducted security patrols as part of the international communit
Commander of Australia’s Joint Task Force 633 (JTF633) in the Middle East Region (MER) Major General Craig Orme, AM, CSC has officially transferred command to Rear Admiral Trevor Jones, AO, CSC, RAN. The Transfer of Authority ceremony was held this week at Camp Baird, Australia’s main headquarters i
Pyotr Velikiy Practices Submarine Seeking Skills Pyotr Velikiy, Russian Navy’s fourth Kirov-class battle cruiser, yesterday deployed on a mission to undertake submarine seeking exercises. UK to Establish Permanent Naval Base in the Middle East Royal Navy’s vessels will soon have its first permanent
Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Kent joined forces with a US Navy carrier strike group when she linked up with the USS Carl Vinson in the Persian Gulf. The Type 23 has also been helping French allies during her first major work period upon arrival in the Middle East. The Vinson is carrying out strikes
849 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) has set off for the Gulf this week to support Royal Navy and coalition forces on operations in the Middle East. 849 NAS has played an essential role in training the Culdrose Sea King Force aircrew and engineers as well as supporting frontline operations. It has also supp
Representatives from international counter-piracy organisations, as well as nations deploying warships independently, have gathered in Bahrain to discuss how they can best work together to combat the threat posed to shipping by criminal gangs from Somalia. NATO chaired the 34th Shared Awareness and
The laser weapon system (LaWS) – a cutting-edge weapon that brings significant new capabilities to America’s Sailors and Marines – was for the first time successfully deployed and operated aboard a naval vessel in the Arabian Gulf. The operational demonstrations, which took place from September to N
