The US Navy’s forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) joined Royal Moroccan Navy SIGMA frigate Tarek Ben Ziyad for a series of live fire exercises off the Moroccan coast. The drill took place after USS Ross departed Agadir, Morocco, January 13, after a scheduled port visit t
Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigate HMCS St. John’s departed Naval Station Halifax on January 16 to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. The bad weather delayed the frigate’s departure by two hours, but the crew are now en route to Europe where they will represent the Canadian contributi
Former US Navy officers in charge of two destroyers involved in fatal collisions in the Pacific in 2017 are facing charges of dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel, and negligent homicide, the US Navy said in a statement on January 16. US Navy Admiral Frank Caldwell, the man in charge of a review
US Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) has embarked on its first underway period of the new year to prepare for an upcoming deployment. The ship got underway from its homeport of Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on January 16. John C. Stennis Sailors are scheduled to conduct flight operati
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
