The US Navy’s future amphibious dock landing ship USS Portland (LPD 27) and future littoral combat ship USS Omaha transited the Panama Canal on January 9 en route to their commissioning sites. The two ships met up at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB) early January before continuing together toward
The recently-commissioned Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has kicked off preparations for her rotary wing trials which are set to start in the coming weeks. According to the Royal Navy, a Merlin helicopter from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has been training aboard the aircraft ca
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 Philippines Coast Guard has contracted French shipbuilder OCEA for the delivery of four 24-meter patrol boats and one 84-meter offshore patrol vessel, the French company announced on January 8. According to the French shipbuilder, the smaller boats will be based on the company’s FPB 72 MKII desi
Norwegian Navy Commodore Petter Kammerhuber handed over command of the Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) to his Royal Danish Navy counterpart, Commodore Søren Thinggaard Larsen, in a ceremony on January 15 in Bergen, Norway. SNMG1 has been under Norwegian command since January 2017, under the
The Royal Navy’s fourth Astute-class submarine, Audacious, completed her first ever dive last week, shipbuilder BAE Systems announced. BAE Systems also shared a video of the trim and basin dive which took place over two days in Devonshire Dock, at the company’s site in Barrow-in-Furness . The operat
US Navy Rear Admiral Patrick Piercey, US Pacific Command operations director, recently paid a visit to the Royal Navy’s carrier strike group commander Commodore Andrew Betton onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth. The Admiral was visiting the home base of the Royal Navy’s carriers as part of a wider UK visit
A commemorative service to mark the centenary of the sinking of Royal Navy destroyers HMS Opal and HMS Narborough. Wreaths were laid during a ceremony on January 12 in memory of the 188 men who perished when the two destroyers hit rocks off Orkney exactly 100 years ago. HMS Opal and HMS Narborough r
Japan’s defense minister Itsunori Onodera has condemned China’s deployment of a PLA Navy submarine to the disputed Senkaku Islands. Onodera’s reaction came after a submarine of the Chinese Navy was detected by Japanese warships and aircraft as it sailed near the disputed islands on January 11. Accor
The Cyprus Naval Command commissioned its first ever offshore patrol vessel – Commodore Andreas Ioannides (P61) – in a ceremony on January 15 at the Evangelos Florakis naval base. The 62-meter OPV was built by Israel Shipyards and launched in September 2017. After further outfitting and trials, P61
US Navy destroyer USS Carney exited the Black Sea on January 13 after making a port call in Ukraine and taking part in an anti-submarine warfare drill a Romanian frigate and a Turkish submarine. Carney spent a total of eight days in the Black Sea. “Our time in the Black Sea provided the opportunity
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
