Photo credit: Tim1965, View of the west side of the the USS Serpens Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery near Arlington, Virginia, in the United States. The ship exploded on January 29, 1945, while anchored off Laguna Beach at the island of Guadalcanal. 

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the loss of the Blackthorn, today it is the 68th anniversary of the loss of the USS Serpens (AK-97) that resulted in the loss of 196 Coast Guardsmen plus 57 Army stevedores.  This was the largest loss of life in a single incident in the history of the service. The names are here.

Navy recognition is reporting that the Turkish Coast Guard and Navy are also using the CN-235 airframe, on which the HC-144 is based, as a maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Today is the anniversary of the loss of the 180 foot buoy tender Blackthorn which resulted in the death of 23 Coast Guardsmen.

The story is here. There is information about the memorial to the loss here. And there is recognition of the heroism of one of the most junior members of the crew here.

Informationdissemination is reporting that the Navy has tested a surface launched version of a small semi-active laser homing missile, the AGM-176 Griffin, from USS Monsoon (PC-4), a ship very similar in size to the new Fast Response Cutters.

The launcher is relatively small, and appears to impose minimal requirements on the vessel.

This is a very small missile, obviously not a ship killer, in that it did not sink even the small boat used as a target, but with a 13 pound warhead, it does provide hitting power similar to a 76mm round.

The range is not great at about 6,000 yards, but that is beyond the effective range of machineguns, RPGs and even most man-portable anti-tank guided missiles, weapons that might be used by drug smugglers or terrorists. (Since I wrote this the range has increased to 12,000 yards.)

Photo #: NH 74689-U.S. Army Cargo Vessel FP-344 (1944); Fitting out at the Kewaunee Shipbuilding & Engineering Corp. shipyard, Kewaunee, Wisconsin, Circa July 1944. FP-344 was later renamed FS-344. Transferred to the Navy in 1966, she became USS Pueblo (AGER-2). Courtesy of Kewaunee Shipbuilding Corp., 1968. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

I’m sure most of you have heard of the USS Pueblo and know that she was seized by the North Koreans. That happened 44 years ago today. One crewmember was killed and the remaining 82 were held for 11 months. The ship is still held, displayed as a museum at Pyongyang, the North Korean capital city.

You may not know that she was once manned by Coast Guardsmen. Originally she was an Army Transport, the FP(later FS)-344, and from 7 April 1945 to January 1946 she was Coast Guard manned.

She was one of 288 Army vessels manned by the Coast Guard during WWII (along with 351 Navy ships and craft.)

Sources:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-p/ager2.htm

Scheina, Robert L., U. S. Coast Guard Cutters and Craft of World War II, US Naval Institute Press

Defense News is reporting that the Israelis are negotiating an purchase of four Offshore Patrol Vessels from South Korean ships builders Hyundai and/or Daewoo.

“Navy requirements call for the OPVs to weigh 1,200 to 1,400 tons, sail at a top speed of 24 knots and remain at sea without refueling for more than a week.

“Each ship would be fitted to accommodate one helicopter for search, rescue and evacuation missions and a suite of Israeli-developed combat systems, including radar, electronic warfare, command and control, and self-defense capabilities.”

The ships will patrol the Israeli EEZ. The four ship deal is expected to cost approximately $400M.

NavalTechnology.com gives us a quick overview of the status of Naval fleets operating in the Arctic.

The improvements in the Russian icebreaker fleets are very impressive. The Russians have by far the strongest motivation for developing their Arctic coast. Presumably the Russians will be replacing their six remaining long serving Ivan Susanin armed icebreakers (3,400 tons). There is also a new class of smaller ice-stregthened patrol vessels the, Purga class (1066 tons).

I also noted there were some significant omissions.

There was no mention of the Danish fleet who, because Greeenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, are an Arctic power and maintain four ice strengthened frigates of the Thetis class (3,500 tons) and two ice strengthened patrol vessels of the the Knud Rasmussen Class (2,050 tons). These ships perform coast guard functions in the Waters off Greenland.

There was no mention of the fact that the 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters are to be ice strengthened. This will give the Coast Guard an ability to surge a relatively large patrol force into Arctic (or Antarctic) waters.