Author Archives: Chuck Hill

“Special forces retake cargo ship after stowaways threatened staff” –The Telegraph (UK)

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Special forces aboard the Grande Tema on Friday night

Special forces aboard the Grande Tema on Friday night , photo from Telegraph

The Telegraph, a UK news organization, brings a report of an attempted takeover of a container ship by four stowaways, apparently want-a-be immigrants, and their subsequent capture by British special forces.

Four stowaways who allegedly threatened the crew of a cargo ship with armed bars were detained by police on Friday night after an operation to secure the vessel was launched off the Kent coast.

The crew of Grande Tema, en route from Lagos in Nigeria to Tilbury in ­Essex, locked themselves on the bridge after the stowaways they had discovered broke free from a cabin and started to make their demands.

Read the entire report here.

This is the sort of operation where inserting law enforcement by helicopter makes sense. Fortunately no casualties, unlike some earlier vertical insertions.

Thanks to EagleSpeak for bringing this to my attention.

 

“Government Shutdown Puts Coast Guard Heavy Icebreaker Program at Risk” –USNI

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The Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice around the Russian-flagged tanker Renda 250 miles south of Nome Jan. 6, 2012. The Healy is the Coast Guard’s only currently operating polar icebreaker. The vessels are transiting through ice up to five-feet thick in this area. The 370-foot tanker Renda will have to go through more than 300 miles of sea ice to get to Nome, a city of about 3,500 people on the western Alaska coastline that did not get its last pre-winter fuel delivery because of a massive storm. If the delivery of diesel fuel and unleaded gasoline is not made, the city likely will run short of fuel supplies before another barge delivery can be made in spring. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard – Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis) NY112

The US Naval Institute has a report on the impact of the government shutdown on the Coast Guard and other government agencies, with a close look at what it probably means for the Polar Security Cutter (icebreaker) program.

“Coast Guard Awards Production For 10th and 11th National Security Cutters” –CG-9

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NSC 5 James on builders trials in the Gulf of Mexico March 30, 2015.

The Acquisitions Directorate (CG-9) reports award of production contracts for the tenth and eleventh National Security Cutter. While some of the cost was already covered in procurement of long lead time items. The price looks good.

The Coast Guard awarded a fixed-price contract option to Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. of Pascagoula, Mississippi, today for the production of the 10th and 11th national security cutters (NSCs). The option exercised is valued at approximately $930 million.

The 10th and 11th NSCs will be built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula.

Six NSCs are currently in service. Coast Guard cutters Hamilton and James are stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, and Coast Guard cutters Bertholf, Waesche, Stratton and Munro are stationed in Alameda, California. The seventh NSC, Kimball, will be commissioned in January 2019 in its Honolulu, Hawaii, homeport. Midgett, the eighth cutter, is planned for a 2019 delivery; it will be the second NSC stationed in Honolulu. The ninth cutter, Stone, is slated for delivery in fiscal year 2021.

National Cuttermen Chapter of the Surface Navy Association, Message from the Chapter President

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Got this by email. I am reposting for those of you who may not be on the mailing list. Not too late to join.

From Captain Scott Clendenin, USCG, President, National Cuttermen Chapter of the Surface Navy Association

Colleagues,

I hope this holiday season finds you well.

The Surface Navy Association’s 31st National Symposium will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from 15 to 17 January 2019.

Please see the agenda on our website: http://navysna.org/

Last year we had good attendance by our Coast Guard men and women.  I received a lot of great feedback from those  who attended about how great this event is for Coast Guard members and staff.  Unfortunately, many of us did not sign up in advance which was a bit of a burden for the SNA event team.  To remedy this we ask that you please go to the link now to register and sign up for the events that you are interested in attending.  As cuttermen you are certain to find the discussions and exhibits of great interest.

Secondly, this is a great time to join, rejoin, or re up your SNA membership.   Your modest membership fee brings a lot of support to you, your chapter, and cuttermen.  Please help us grow.

Lastly be sure to sign up for the regularly scheduled SNA Symposium Cuttermen’s Call on Thursday Afternoon where the Atlantic Area Commander will address us, followed by a traditional Cuttermen’s  cocktail gathering, all sponsored by SNA.

We hope to see you there!

Vr,

Captain Scott Clendenin, U.S. Coast Guard

President, National Cuttermen Chapter of the Surface Navy Association.

202 372 2003

“Narco Subs Lineage 2016-2018” –Covert Shores

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Covert Shores brings us an update on what the well equipped drug smuggler is using these days, tracing the evolution of the Very Slender Vessel (VSV).

The post has lots of photos of past captures and traces apparent families of designs.

I do think his supposition that the bow planes are to keep the bow down may be incorrect. Given the angle of incidence with which they are mounted, it appears to me they are intended to keep the bow from burying itself in a wave and having the boat swamped. (See VSV family2 in the family tree diagram)

Longbow Hellfire Test Against 8 Small Targets

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Felt the need to share this. Very impressive test results against small surface targets. Given how close the targets appeared to the horizon, the targets must have been near the extreme range of the Hellfire or about 8000 yards. This is also about the effective range of the 57mm and the 76mm except that the accuracy is much greater and the time to destroy the target much shorter.

NAVSEA claims a 90% success rate in testing.

“The Coast Guard turned down a request for an exercise for an Arctic exercise out of concern the US’ only heavy icebreaker would break down and Russia would have to rescue it” –Business Insider

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Business Insider brings us an interesting report that the Coast Guard had declined to undertake a suggested “Freedom of Navigation” transit of the Northern Sea Route because of fear the Polar Star would break down while in the ice near Russia and require Russian icebreaker assistance.

The fact that using the Polar Star in the Arctic would have probably made, making the McMurdo breakout problematic, probably also made such an exercise almost impossible. As we have seen in the last year, between dry docking and the trip South the crew spent very little time in homeport

Surface Navy Association Symposium 15-17 January, Crystal City

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HMAS Success (AOR-304) refuelling probe goes in for a hook-up with the US Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Waesche (WMSL-751) as the Royal Australian Navy Auxilliary Oiler Replenishment Ship conducts a dual RAS (Replenishment at Sea) off the coast of Hawaii during the Sea Phase of Exercise RIMPAC 2014, 19 July 2014. (RAN Photo by Leading Seaman Brenton Freind RAN)

The annual Surface Navy Symposium is scheduled for 15-17 January in Crystal City. Active Duty and Reservists in uniform along with government civilian employees (excluding contractors) can register at no charge, but others can save up to $120 by registering early. I received the following by email.

—–

Ready, Agile, Focused:  Own the Fight!

Registration is open for the 31st Annual National Symposium that will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 15-17 January 2019.  Please note that there is a FEE increase on 19 December 2018 that raise all the prices to those under Tier 3.  Register and pay now to avoid these increases!  Complete pricing information can be found at https://navysnaevents.org/national-symposium/pricing.html

The link for more information, the up-to-date schedule of events and to register is http://navysnaevents.org/national-symposium/

SURFACE NAVY ASSOCIATION
6551 Loisdale Court, Suite 222
Springfield, VA 22150
Phone: 703-960-6800
www.navysna.org
communications@navysna.org

New Base at Port Clarence?

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Bering Strait. Port Clarence bay is the large bight in the southeast.

Adapted from Wikipedia’s AK borough maps by Seth Ilys.

At the National Press Club Headliners Luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 6, the Commandant discussed the Coast Guard’s Arctic presence. We noted the Commandant’s remarks on the Polar Security Cutter earlier, that he was guardedly optimistic, but the US Naval Institute report on the same presentation, brings us more information about the possibility of a new port facility in Western Alaska.

Long-term, Schultz said it’s possible the Coast Guard would look to create a permanent presence in the Arctic. Most likely, Schultz said, the Coast Guard would look for a sea base, possibly in the far northern Port Clarence area. One option, Schultz said, is for the Coast Guard to install moorings to provide a safe haven. Port Clarence, Alaska, had a population of 24, according to the 2010 Census.

Port Clarence was at one time a LORAN Station, and it appears it may still have a substantial runway, so it might also develop into a seasonal air station.

The Secretary of the Navy has already expressed an interest in having a strategic port in Alaska. From the Navy’s point of view it is near the potentially strategically important Bering Strait.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz meets with Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan in Nome and Port Clarence, Alaska to discuss the construction of deep draft ports in western Alaska, Aug. 13, 2018. This would allow the Coast Guard and Navy to have a strong presence in the U.S. Arctic. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jetta Disco.