The Australian Navy will progressively change the colour of its surface fleet to meet modern war-fighting and regional environmental conditions, the Chief of Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, has announced. While not normally apparent to the bystander, the recent International Fleet Review w
Just a few days shy of the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, Sailors and Marines manned the rails of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) as they entered the harbor Dec. 3. Passing by the USS Arizona memorial, the crew on board Nimitz paid tribute to their [
On Tuesday 3 December, Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel, ESPS Tornado joined the European Union’s counter piracy task force operating off the coast of Somalia. The warship will be part of the EU Naval Force for four months as Spain’s contribution to Operation Atalanta. Commissioned in 2012, ESPS Tornado
Russia has launched a new submarine in St Petersburg – the first in a series of six to be delivered to the Russian Black Sea fleet over the next two years. The diesel-electric submarine Novorossiysk is the latest example of non-atomic technology. It is well armed and hard to detect when submerged. A
A biting wind whistled across Portsmouth Harbour as six Royal Naval Reservists plunged into the dark waters of the diving training lake at the Navy’s Horsea Island training site, swimming across the lake, completing a timed set of circuits and leaping several times from the highest platform (over 30
Portsmouth based HMS Lancaster has visited her final Caribbean port and started her long journey home for Christmas. The ship called into Bridgetown, Barbados, for a four day visit that also marked the island’s Independence Day. A squad of 15 sailors were sent along to participate in the 47th Indepe
The U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) completed its largest replenishment-at-sea (RAS) for the 2013 patrol with Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10), Nov. 30. While RAS’s are nothing new to the Sailors aboard George
During the medal ceremony which was held on the flight deck in the Gulf of Aden, the international staff and ship’s company were decorated by the Force Commander of Atalanta, commodore Peter Lenselink of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Commodore Lenselink praised the EU flag staff and ship’s company “Yo
On Saturday 1 December, an EU Naval Force Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD) handover ceremony was held in Djibouti between Lithuanian and Serbian Forces in Djibouti. Members of the Lithuanian Forces have spent the past four months embarked in the World Food Programme (WFP) aid ship, MV
Sailors and Marines aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) hosted a reception for the Dubai Airshow Nov. 17, during a port visit to Jebel Ali. The reception, attended by approximately 750 guests, marked the opening of the 2013 Dubai Airshow and is considered by many to be the premi
The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Minister for the Arctic Council, yesterday announced the award of two contracts totaling $1.1M to Northern Tra
Three federal politicians were given a hands-on experience of life in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) recently, when they visited HMAS Creswell as part of the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program 2013. Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, the Hon. Darren Chester MP, together with Parliamen
During the last two months, a Danish Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) Challenger (CL604) from the Royal Danish Air Force provided support to NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD (OOS) under the control of Maritime Air Directorate (MARAIR). This MPA was stationed in the Seychelles between 23 Se
HMS Montrose marked her Scottish connections with a flight deck St Andrew’s Day celebration whilst on deployment to the Gulf. The Type 23 Plymouth based Duke Class frigate has longstanding ties with Scotland. To celebrate the Scottish link, the ship took a few hours aside from maritime security oper
