A fire broke out aboard the German Navy frigate FGS Schleswig-Holstein while the ship was underway in the Baltic Sea on September 17. While the fire was quickly brought under control by the ship’s crew, ten sailors were injured after inhaling smoke. According to the German Navy, the fire broke out i
Italian Navy transport vessel Nave Caprera was used to smuggle cigarettes on the return trip from Libya where the ship was deployed in support of an EU migrant interdiction mission. The ship reportedly returned to the Italian Navy base Brindisi with over 700 kg of cigarettes on board. This was confi
The Royal Navy’s Sea King Mk7 helicopters officially retired from active service as two Sea Kings from 849 Naval Air Squadron performed a final, three-hour flypast on September 19. Helicopters ZE420 and ZA126 flew as far east as Teignmouth, over the wilds of Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, the northern Co
Poland’s Remontowa Shipbuilding held a steel-cutting ceremony for the second Kormoran II-class minehunter for the Polish Navy at its Gdansk site on September 18. The steel-cutting ceremony comes ten months after the lead ship in the class – ORP ‘Kormoran – entered service. The first of the additiona
US Navy aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman has resumed operations in the US 6th Fleet area of operations after returning to its Norfolk home in July for a month-long deployment pause. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) initially deployed to the European theater April 11, 2018, and returned
A facility for the manufacturing of LiftFan systems for F-35B jets has been ceremonially opened by UK defense minister Stuart Andrew at Rolls-Royce in Bristol today. Production at the site has been building up since 2009, with the official opening now marking the fact that the facility is heading to
Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon got underway from her Portsmouth homeport on September 17 after a short, unspecified, delay. Dragon is now headed for the Persian Gulf where it is expected to spend several months an operational deployment. The destroyer is scheduled to work alongside coalition and regio
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, after evading Hurricane Florence which hit the East Coast of the USA. The ‘WESTLANT 18’ Task Group, which includes the carrier’s escort, HMS Monmouth, was forced to take evasive action to avoid the damaging winds which hav
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond is on her way home after spending two months on operations in the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. The destroyer has been activated throughout the traditionally busy summer season, as she monitored Russian naval activity twice, visited four ports and helped tra
Belgian Navy Tripartite-class minehunter BNS Bellis (M916) found an unexploded mine from the Second World War in the North Sea on September 13. Personnel performing unexploded ordnance (UXO) destroyed the mine off the Belgian coast this morning, the navy informed. Breaking! On Thursday night BNS Bel
The Royal Navy’s newest survey vessel HMS Magpie has made her maiden visit to her affiliated town of Salcombe. The 18-meter catamaran has spent three days at sea under the White Ensign for the first time as her crew get to know how the survey ship handles. A replacement for HMS Gleaner which retired
The Royal Netherlands Navy’s mine detection and neutralization force has added three new autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The new generation Remus 100 marine robots enable mapping of the underwater soil and viewing objects such as mines, explosives but also missing persons. The AUV can perform
The German Navy’s frigate Augsburg (F213) will set sail for the Mediterranean Sea next week to participate in the EUNAVFOR MED operation Sophia. The Bremen-class ship is scheduled to depart its Wilhelmshaven homeport on Monday, September 17. Following an extensive training program, Augsburg is to re
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has unveiled a new proposal for the 10,000-strong European Border and Coast Guard to help better protect European borders and tackle migration. The proposal is one of three new initiatives presented in Juncker’s State of the Union Address 2018 on Sep
