Recently the US Naval Institute put out a call for articles written by women. They got several on diverse subjects, but one in particular by a Coast Guard Academy graduate, Damage Control Assistant, boarding party member, and Diver got my attention, because it seems to indicate that, not only that we are not properly outfitting crew members that are smaller than average, but also that we may be putting their lives in dangers because they are not given gear that fits.
The new MEKO A-100 design unveiled at MSPO 2015. The variant shown here is the Mine Counter Measures (MCM) one.
NavyRecognition is reporting that the German ship builder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), is offering a new hull form for its OPC- sized MEKO A-100 to meet Poland’s projected requirement for six Offshore Patrol Vessels. It is claimed that the new design will allow the ship to go 1.5 knots faster with no increase in installed power.
Two major differences are apparent,
Increasing waterline length does have the effect of decreasing wave making resistance which is predominant at higher speeds. Conversely increased length tends to result in increased wetted area which would make ships less efficient as slower speeds by increasing skin friction. Deleting the fin stabilizers would have the benefit of reducing wetted surfaces. There may also be some less obvious changes, not apparent in the artist’s rending.
The original post has a nice side by side comparison of the conventional corvette and TKMS’s proposal to meet Poland’s Mine Countermeasures OPV requirement.
Image: Willard Marine
MarineLink is reporting that Willard Marine has received a contract to build 30 foot and 34 foot patrol boats for the Philippine National Police Maritime Group.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that five Chinese Navy vessels (three surface combatants, an LPD, and a replenishment vessel) have been operating in international waters near Alaska.
This may have something to do with their recent exercises with Russia. It may also be that they hope to discourage US freedom of navigation exercises near China with the idea, “Now you see how we feel.”
Nothing really to get excited about, but a nice reminder that for literally thousands of miles of US coast, the only US warships around are Coast Guard cutters, and they are not that well armed.
The New York Times is reporting that, in a Speech today, the President will call for new icebreakers for the Coast Guard including accelerating the one currently planned and for additional icebreakers beyond that.
“The aging Coast Guard fleet is not keeping pace with the challenge, the administration acknowledged, noting that the service has the equivalent of just two “fully functional” heavy icebreakers at its disposal, down from seven during World War II. Russia, by contrast, has 41 of the vessels, with plans for 11 more. China unveiled a refurbished icebreaker in 2012 and is building another.
“Mr. Obama will propose speeding up the acquisition of a replacement icebreaker that had been planned for 2022, setting a new date of 2020, the White House said. He will also propose that planning begin on the construction of new ones, asking Congress to provide “sufficient resources” to fund them.”
Hopefully these WAGBs and the rumored additional National Security will move the perception of what is a normal AC&I budget closer to a realistic level.
MarineLink reports that the wreck of LV-71, a lighthouse that had been sunk by a U-boat during WWI while on watch on Diamond Shoal, is being surveyed. It is a very short read, but an interesting bit of history.
From the German Navy blog “Marine Forum,” 28 August, “VIETNAM, Full-rigged sail training vessel LE QUY DON, built by Polish shipyard Marine Projects for the Vietnamese Navy, is on its transfer voyage from Poland around the Cape of Good Hope to Vietnam … mixed Polish-Vietnamese crew for final trials and crew training enroute.”
Photo: Yilan (CG 128). (Taiwan Coast Guard Administration)
I mentioned this earlier in a comment on an earlier post, but Jane’s has more detail and much better pictures. Back on June 8, Janes 360 reported that Taiwan’s Coast Guard administration has commissioned two new 3,000 ton, 119 meter (390 foot) helo capable cutters, Yilan (CG 128) and Kaohsiung (CG 129), with a speed of 24 knots and a range of up to 10,000 miles.
Taiwan, along with Mainland China, supports the concept of the Nine Dash Line, but they have a particular beef with Japan. regarding the Senkakus Islands as they are known in Japan or the Diaoyutais as they are known in China and Taiwan, about 120 nautical miles (220km) northeast of Taiwan.
The other area where these might be assigned is protection of the area around Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea (at least before the Chinese began reclamation) which the Taiwanese have garrisoned.
Photo: Kaohsiung (CG 129). (Taiwan Coast Guard Administration)
“Since 2008, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration has been engaged in a 37-ship building program totaling 17,000 tons at a cost of approximately NT$ 24 billion ($782 million).”
Earlier, we talked about the fact that a documentary about the Coast Guard’s response to Hurricane Katrina, called Paratus 14:50. You can watch it on-line here.
The Coast Guard Compass is doing a series on Katrina. Its worth a look. These are the posts published so far.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 