gCaptain.com

The Guardian tells us:

A nuclear-powered Royal Navy submarine needed £5m worth of repairs after it struck the seabed because a piece of tracing paper covered its navigational chart, investigators have found.

The tracing paper had been used on the chart to protect it from being written on, obscuring vital information.

HMS Trafalgar was grounded near the Isle of Skye in October 2002 because of basic navigational errors during a training exercise for students, according to the official board of inquiry report, which has been released under a freedom of information request.

According to the report, just 90 seconds before the boat hit the seabed, a crew member realised what was about to happen and was recorded as saying: “We’re going to have to change course. This is too dangerous.”

TSSBP gives us a bit of insight:

To me, this wasn’t really a “training aid”-induced accident; I think all boats used tracing paper over charts when you were staying in the same small area for a long time with lots of maneuvering, whether you were doing PCO Ops or not. All submariners, I’m sure, have good stories about where training aids actually contributed to real-world casualties; unfortunately, all of mine happened back aft, so I can’t talk about them.

While The Lone Voice captures our sentiment in this post:

The involvement of unsupervised student submariners in the navigation procedures and the use of tracing paper on the chart were criticised heavily by the board.

With the shows Carrier America’s Port and The Deadliest Catch ships are dominating America’s primetime reality television but a new show broadens the coverage to an international audiance. Our friends at MarineBuzz tell us:

Further to the telecast of USS Nimitz documentary series by PBS last month, it is now the turn of Channel Five to telecast Warship Documentary series of light aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious of the Royal Navy.The 26 year old ship is also known as ‘Lusty’ to her 1000 strong crew. The documentary series will be telecast in six episodes on every Monday at 2100 hours starting from May 19. The series was filmed by Channel Five during her four month deployment that commenced in January 2008.

You can view the TV commercial HERE and below is a preview of the show [Continue Reading →]

Experts attempting to understand the strategic aims behind China’s aggressive military expansion have generally focused on Taiwan. But a new naval base points at Beijing’s significant and growing interest in projecting power into waters far from the Taiwan Strait.

The new underground base for submarines and comfortable facilities that would attract technically proficient soldiers and sailors. Its location will allow China to exert greater dominance over disputed territories of the South China Sea; to place a much larger naval force closer to sea lanes crucial to Asia’s commercial lifeblood; and to exercise influence over the critical Straits of Malacca. (Source: Wall Street Journal - NPR Audio)

If you think that it is no big deal that China is building submarines at an alarming rate take a look at this video of an Australian Navy torpedo test.

And if you think the US Navy has the ability to protect Merchant Shipping against this kind of attack first ask: can they protect themselves?

If not can they at least protect the US Mainland and that of our allies against China’s new boomers?

Details:

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) sunk HMAS Torrens on June 14th 1999 with a single Mk48 wire guided torpedo fired from the Collins Class submarine Farncomb. Torrens was the last of six Australian ‘River Class’ Type 12 Destroyer-Escort, the others (Derwent, Parramatta, Stuart, Swan and Yarra) having been disposed of previously. Before the sinking Torrens had been thoroughly cleaned of all fuels, oils and potentially environmentally harmful substances. Her gun turret was donated to the South Western City of Albany. Torrens was then towed from Fleet Base West (HMAS Stirling) 90km out to sea, west of Perth. The submarine Farncomb fired the torpedo at the stationary target from a submerged position over the horizon . (Source: BTInternet)

For the science behind the explosion click HERE.

Video:

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

For those of you who missed 10-hour PBS CARRIER marathon, have no fear as they were kind enough to post the full series online.

I am about halfway through episode 2 and it’s a great show. So click on the image to go to the episode list.

Full Episodes of CARRIER - PBS

When we think of early Aircraft Carriers, most defer to the US Navy converting Jupiter (Collier # 3) in 1920 to CVI Langley. Commissioned in March 1922, Langley was the U.S. Navy’s first conventional aircraft carrier. In October-November 1922, she launched, recovered and catapulted her first aircraft during initial operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas.

The history of Aircraft Carriers dates back to 1806 when the British Frigate HMS Pallas was used as platform to launch kites that dropped leaflets over France.

During the (American) Civil War, Union Forces converted the coal barge George Washington Parke Custis to launch hot air ballons to conduct reconnaissance. The barges never worked off shore.

The Union Army balloon Washington aboard the George Washington Parke Custis, towed by the tug Coeur de Lion.

During World War I, a number of countries used Balloon Tenders.

Swedish captive balloon carrier in 1907.

Merchant aircraft carriers (MAC) were minimal aircraft carriers used during WW II by Britain and the Netherlands as an emergency measure until United States-built escort carriers became available in useful numbers.

They were bulk grain carriers or tankers built with flight decks and small islands, but no catapult or other aircraft support facilities. The nature of the cargoes removed the need for the type of deck mounted cargo-handling gear needed by general freighters. They operated with civilian crews, under merchant colors, and carried their regular cargo while serving as aircraft carriers. Their Fairey Swordfish aircraft carried out anti-submarine patrols around the convoy.

Merchant Carrier MV Empire Mac Cabe

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting the head of Japan’s Navy (a civilian)  has been removed in the wake of the sinking of a fishing vessel by an Aegis Class Destroyer last month.  This news comes after the Admiral in charge of Japan’s Maritime Self Defense was removed.

The original gCaptain post is here.

The ABC post is here.

via Military.com

Women have been serving as an integral part of the US Navy since the establishment of the Nurse Corps in 1908.

Nine years later, the US Navy authorized the enlistment of women as “Yeomanettes.” In 1948, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed, making it possible for women to enter the Navy in regular or reserve status.
In 1972, the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress, allowing for no separate management of men and women, authorized entry of enlisted women into all ratings, and opened Recruit Officer Training Command to women.

Today, women account for more than 15 percent of the Navy’s Sailors and command expeditionary strike groups, aviation squadrons, combatant ships, civil engineer corps commands, and numerous other operational and shore units.
“The increasing number of women shows that our nation and our military supports equal opportunity and hopefully other organizations will follow us,” said Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Amber Reyes, a criminal investigator assigned to the Security Department at Naval Station Pearl Harbor.

Women in today’s Navy can be seen doing the same jobs as their male counterparts such as: saving lives in the ocean as search and rescue swimmers; building houses as Seabees; patrolling streets as security force members; and navigating ships as master helmsmen.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Stealth ships: HMS Helsingborg and HMS Visby. Photo: Peter Nilsson/Kockums AB

The folks at Giz Magazine are reporting scientists at Britannia Royal Navy College are working on a plan to use it to create the ultimate stealth vessel, according to a report in this month’s edition of Physics World.

Here’s a excerpt:

Unlike natural materials, which refract light to the right of the incident beam, metamaterials are “left handed”, refracting light at a negative angle, to the left of the incident beam. This allows scientists to “bend” light around the object, allowing the beams to continue as if the object were not there. Duke University succeeded in bending microwaves around metamaterials in 2006, and in the following year researchers at Ames Laboratory developed a method for bending wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. Scientists predict that invisibility will be possible for objects of any shape and size within the next decade.

For us non technical types, think of a sophisticated form of polarization. For the technically oriented, info on incident beams is here.

The original story in Physics World Magazine the states:

As the Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War — which, dating from around 450 BC, is probably the world’s oldest treatise on military strategy — “all warfare is based on deception.”

Most of us are familiar with the Philadelphia Experiment. Wikipedia states it was an alleged naval military experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime around October 28, 1943, in which the U.S. destroyer escort USS Eldridge was to be rendered invisible to human observers for a brief period of time. It is also referred to as Project Rainbow. The story is widely regarded as a hoax.

I wonder how the 72 ColRegs would treat such a vessel or if could be seen by conventional radar.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd

The bow and stern parts of the Seitoku Maru fishing boat are lifted onto the deck of a salvage barge Wednesday off Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture. Two fishermen from the boat were still missing on Wednesday. (TSUYOSHI TAKEDA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

A number of sources are beginning to flush out the circumstances surrounding the collision between the Japanese Aegis class Destroyer Agato, and the fishing vessel Seitoku Maru. The collision took place about 04:00. The two fisherman aboard Seitoku Maru are missing.

Here’s an excerpt from The Daily Yomiuri:

“Before the accident, a crew member went out on deck in readiness to replace the crew member on duty, taking a lookout position at about 3:45 a.m. to get used to the dark. The relieving crew member spotted a red light on a fishing boat ahead of the destroyer to the right. The crew member continued surveillance, but it is likely that the member failed to tell the radar crew or other crew members about the sighting. Having just taken over lookout duty, the relieving crew member may have incorrectly assumed that the crew member who had just been relieved of duty already knew about the light, thereby failing to recognize the importance of this information.”

While news sources do not refer to Bridge Resource Management issues, it is apparent that the collision developed around the 04:00 change of watch.

Google news links on the Destroyer Agato collision can be found here.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

A short follow up to yesterday’s post: 72 ColRegs and a Japanese Destroyer

Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to dismiss Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) Chief of Staff Eiji Yoshikawa over failure to report a ship collision in time on Tuesday, Japanese media reported Friday. Yoshikawa waited ninety minutes to inform higher ups.

The full report is at ChinaView.cn

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.