Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans arrived in London on March 7 for a four-day visit to the capital. The visit of the Portsmouth-based warship coincided with International Women’s Day, the 100th anniversary of women in the Royal Naval Service, and National Apprenticeship Week. Those on board took part
The U.S. Navy carried out the first ever structural test firing of the Surface to Surface Missile Module (SSMM) from littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Detroit (LCS 7), Naval Sea Systems Command announced on Tuesday. The test took place on February 28 off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, and marked the f
Dynamic Manta 2017, NATO’s annual anti-submarine warfare exercise, is set to start on Monday next week, off the coast of Sicily, Italy. The two-week drill will gather ships and sailors from ten allied countries for ASW training in the central Mediterranean. Submarines from France, Greece, Italy, Spa
Warships from NATO’s standing mine countermeasure group 2 (SNMCMG2) joined the underway portion of the Romanian-hosted exercise Poseidon that is taking place between March 5 and 13. The exercise as a whole is hosted by Romania this year and will include more than 1,500 sailors and 17 warships from s
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense has deployed a 12-man strong vessel boarding team to the European Union-led operation Sophia aimed at curbing human and arms smuggling activity in the Mediterranean Sea. The team embarked the German Navy tender FGS Rhein on March 6 during a ceremony at Lithuanian N
U.S. Navy surveillance ship USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24) was forced to change direction in order to avoid a collision with an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boat on March 4. The surveillance ship was harassed by several Iranian boats as it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz together with t
Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth departed Plymouth on Monday to start a nine-month deployment in the Persian Gulf. The frigate set sail after spending 18 months undergoing assessment and training, preparing to fight smugglers, terrorists, drug and people traffickers. Preparations for the extended sti
U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) stopped in Souda Bay, Greece, for the first port visit during its 2017 deployment with the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG). USS Philippine Sea was in Greece from March 1 to March 5 conducting a community relations project, w
Royal Navy frigate HMS Iron Duke set sail for the first time this year having spent the winter in her home port undergoing a sustained period of maintenance. The Type 23 frigate, which spent the first half of 2016 on NATO duties in the Baltic and waters of northern Europe, is now headed for operatio
Polish Navy minehunter ORP Wigry joined German Navy mine countermeasure ships from the Kiel-based 3rd Minesweeping Squadron for mine countermeasure drills in the Baltic Sea. German units taking part in the exercise included minehunters Datteln and Sulzbach-Rosenberg, minesweeper Pegnitz and tender D
U.S. Navy’s Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), together with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), entered the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations on March 7. While in theater, more than 4,000 sailors and marines of the ARG and MEU will train to share information, experiences, and work together.
Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Viraat was decommissioned in Mumbai on Monday after 56 years of service. The ship had its naval ensign and commissioning pennant hauled down one last time during a ceremony attended by all of 21 Indian Navy commanding officers to have commanded the carrier in almos
Australia’s first air warfare destroyer NUSHIP Hobart returned to Adelaide after completing its sea acceptance trials off the coast of South Australia. Hobart spent the past five weeks demonstrating its on-board weapons capabilities, including 21 days at sea, where it conducted 20 platform system te
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri launched ‘Federico Martinengo’, the seventh Italian Navy FREM frigate, during a ceremony on March 4 at the Riva Trigoso shipyard in Genoa. Federico Martinengo is the seventh of overall ten vessels in the Carlo Bergamini-class Fincantieri is to build for the Italian Na
