Kenneth J. Braithwaite, U.S. ambassador to Norway and the nominee to become the next Navy secretary, in 2018. During his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on May 7, Braithwaite spoke of the importance of the U.S. foothold in the Arctic to counter “Great Power Competitors” China and Russia. U.S Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Theron J. Godbold

The Navy League on-line magazine is reporting that the current nominee for Secretary of the Navy, a former Navy P-3 patrol plane commander, is saying that he will be a strong advocate for a Navy presence in the Arctic.

Braithwaite also told Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) that he would be a strong advocate for a strategic Arctic port large enough to handle destroyers and icebreakers. The nearest such port is Anchorage, Alaska, which is 1,500 miles from the Arctic Circle, Sullivan added.

“The great news is the United States Navy has been up there for many, many years,” Braithwaite said. “You may not see them, but they’re up there. As it begins to become more navigable on the surface, we also need to make sure that our presence is noted.”

“We continue to need to be vigilant,” he added. “We continue to need to be present. That requires an adequate-size Navy to be there.”

“It will be a priority of mine.”

We talked about Arctic port development earlier:

• New Base at Port Clarence?, Dec. 2018
• “The United States Needs a Deep-water Arctic Port” –USNI, Sept. 2019
• “Coast Guard Focused On Being Sea-Based In Arctic As Merits Of Deep-Water Port Debated” –USNI, Oct. 2019

Coast Guard Compass is “the official blog of the U. S. Coast Guard,” but the Compass is broken. While it appears to welcome comments, in fact they do not seem to work. Over the past three weeks I have attempted to comment three times on two different stories, but they never showed up. All the stories currently visible on the blog end with the notation, “no comments.”

A typical day on the Imperial Star Destroyer Kimball. (stolen from Kimball’s Facebook page)

Yummm…waffles!

“This isn’t my laundry?!”

Touch and Goes

HIFR (Hot In Flight Refuel)

All hands qualified at the range, except for TK-0756 (…again)

TK-0756 on Messcook duty

“What is the password to unlock the Detention Block!?”

Main Control

“Conn, Lookout. Rebel X-wing fighters inbound!”

“Contact bears 115 degrees relative, position angle 2”

General Quarters!

The six new Cape-class patrol boats will extend the fleet of ten ships currently operated by the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy around Australia (Image: ADV Cape Inscription operating with the RAN)

NavyRecognition reports,

Austal Limited is pleased to announce that Austal Australia has been awarded an A$324 million contract to design and construct six evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats (CCPBs) for the Royal Australian Navy.

These “Cape Class” patrol vessels are a bit unusual in size, slotting between typical “inshore” and “offshore” patrol vessels. We talked about this class when Trinidad and Tobago ordered two of them.

This is the information we had on the class earlier, compared to the Webber class.

• Displacement about twice as large: 700 tons vice 353
• Length: 57.8 m (190 ft) vice 46.8 m (154 ft)
• Beam: 10.3 m (34 ft) vice 8.11 m (26.6 ft)
• Draft: 3 m (9.8 ft) vice 2.9 m (9.5 ft)
• HP, less: 6,772 vice 11,600
• Speed, slower: 25 vice 28
• Crew, smaller: 18 vice 24
• Boats: two on davits vice one in stern ramp
• Range: greater, 4000 vice 2500 nautical miles
• Endurance: greater, 28 vice 5 days

These new ships will have some upgrades including accommodation for 32.

I was a little surprised by this procurement. Not too long ago, Australian Navy’s patrol force consisted of only thirteen 300 ton Armidale class patrol boats. These are being replaced by twelve 80 meter OPVs. None of these larger vessels have been completed so far. In the interim they leased two of these Cape Class. Now they are getting six more, improved versions. Presumably they will retain these even after the larger OPVs are completed, giving them 20 vessels.