Warship World - 2022 - 1. January/February issue

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ISSN 1464-0511

IN THIS ISSUE: ARE WE EDGING TOWARDS WAR? AUSTRALIA’S NUCLEAR SUBMARINES HMCS HARRY DEWOLF MODERN EUROPEAN CORVETTES (PART A) WE’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER NAVY HMS FALMOUTH 1966 - 1968 THE SIDON INCIDENT

Volume 17 Number 8

£4.25

January/February 2022

We’re going to need a bigger navy

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During the UK Carrier Strike Group deployment, which included support from guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, an MH-60R from the "Wolf Pack" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 conducts a cross deck operation aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth. HMS Queen Elizabeth is the fleet flagship for the Royal Navy and the recent 7-month deployment highlights the global reach of the UK and US armed forces and their interoperability and enhances both nations' deterrence and defence capabilities. (Photo copyright US Marine Corps/1st Lt Zachary Bodner)

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Copyright US Navy

Volume 17 Number 8 Published by: Publisher: Peter van Schie peter@navybooks.com

Editor: Sheila Moloney warshipworld@navybooks.com

Australian Correspondent: Ross Gillett US Correspondent: Edward Lundquist Political Correspondent: Chris Cope Aviation Correspondent: Patrick Boniface Editorial Contributors: Mike Hood, David Hill, Dimitris Mitsopoulos, Neil McCart, Phillip Parotti, Dimitris Kelepouris, Thomas Francis

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Warship World contains public sector information licensed under the UK Open Government Licence v1.0.

Contents

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Peter van Schie - Publisher

4

Thomas Francis

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World News & Royal Navy News

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Naval Aviation

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Mike Hood

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Chris Cope

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Ross Gillett

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Ian Whitehouse

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Edward Lundquist

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Patrick Boniface

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HMS Queen Elizabeth returning home to Portsmouth

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Special Report: We’re Going to Need a Bigger Navy

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Modern European Corvette Designs 2000 - 2030 (Part A)

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Phillip Parotti

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Our recommendations for your bookshelf

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Patrick Boniface

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Neil McCart

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David Hill

Comment

Viewpoint - Are we edging towards war with Russia?

Patrick Boniface

Refits, Upgrades and Conversions Parliamentary Report Australia’s Nuclear-powered Submarines HMS Courageous could be opened to the public HMCS Harry DeWolf circumnavigates North America UK Carriers may be equipped to serve as base for drones

Dimitris Mitsopoulos and Dimitris Kelepouris

A Recollection of Distant Seas Book Reviews

Operation NOA HMS Falmouth 1966 - 1968 The Sidon Incident

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Crown Copyright/MoD

Comment

O

n the 14th December 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a report entitled, “We’re Going to Need a Bigger Navy”. The findings of the Defence Committee, appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies, makes interesting reading.

In short, over the next five years or so, at least until the new classes of surface escorts come on stream, the Royal Navy will be asked to do even more with even less. According to the report, this is a clear risk, and as we look to the future, the report finds that the Navy’s fleet is too small and too specialised to meet the demands that will be placed on it over the next two decades.

Peter van Schie

somewhat concerning sentences - “Government to be honest about its intentions” and “publish shipbuilding delivery plans.”

In other news, in November 2021, HMS Queen Elizabeth, as part of the UK Carrier Strike Group, arrived in the Mediterranean. After more than seven months at sea and without any reported major accidents, the aircraft carrier was heading back home. Unfortunately, during routine flying operations a British F-35B stealth jet crashed shortly after take-off from the UK’s flagship aircraft carrier, forcing the pilot to eject into the Mediterranean sea. The pilot was safely returned to the ship and the recovery of the wreckage started under the watchful eyes of the Russians, who also sent submarines hunting for the F-35B - as learning anything about these stealth jets would be highly prized intelligence.

Technology is also changing the character of naval warfare. Written evidence notes that new technologies are being adopted by hostile actors across the world, introducing new threats to the fleet. The Society of Maritime Industries told the comittee that examples of technology the Royal Navy is not yet prepared for include hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, electromagnetic rail guns and directed energy weapons, cyber and electromagnetic attack, CBRN threats and asymmetric drone attacks.

Shortly after the accident a video appeared on social media of the jet taking-off and ditching in the sea. It now appears that a crew-member has been arrested for releasing the video made on a mobile phone. An investigation was instigated focusing on potential technical or human error as possible causes of the crash. Some insiders have suggested that a cheap plastic rain cover over the air-intake was left on during take-off and was seen floating after the stealth jet crashed into the sea.

The covers and engine blanks are supposed to be removed before flight.

The responsibility of doing this lies with the ground crew and protocols include multiple visual checks of the actual removal of the air intake covers and safety pins (which are in red colour and have the usual ‘Remove Before Flight’ sign to attract attention and prevent this kind of incident). In addition, it is usual for the pilot to walk round the jet to inspect that all is in order, and it could be argued that he should have spotted the rain cover.

Turn to page 26 to read an un-edited summary of the ‘Conclusions and Recommendations’ section of the report which includes the

If the crash was caused by human error misplacing a plastic rain cover it will be the most expensive rain cover ever - an estimated £100 million.

The escort fleet needs to double in size by acquiring more low-end capability to carry out low end tasks, alongside ships capable of carrying out the Navy’s high-end warfighting commitments. Attack submarine numbers should also grow to reflect the growing importance of the subsurface domain. Funding, personnel and support shipping must grow commensurately.

ON THE FRONT COVER One from our archives!

Launched on 20 June 1982 at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, HMS York was a Batch III Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was accepted into service in March 1985 and was the last of the Type 42 destroyers to be built for the Royal Navy.

HMS York had a maximum speed of 34 knots and was one of the Royal Navy's fastest destroyers. On 20 September 2012, she entered Portsmouth harbour for the final time and was decommissioned on 27 September 2012. In August 2012, the ship was put up for sale and was scrapped in Turkey in 2015.

(Photo copyright NavyBooks)

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VIEWPOINT

Thomas Francis

Are we edging towards war with Russia?

T

he recent build-up of large and unusual concentrations of Russian forces close to Ukraine’s borders, the support given by Russia to Belarus’s tactic of using migrants to destabilise the European Union, and the firing of an anti-satellite weapon in space, has given serious concern to the United States, European Union and NATO. Although the provocation or these aggressive actions by Russia are below the threshold of war, they have forced NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, to caution Moscow against any further actions, following warnings by US officials that Russia could be preparing to a launch a winter offensive in Ukraine - in another attempt to ‘rehash’ their 2014 invasion of the country.

In November 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told the international press that Russia had amassed nearly 100,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s border. Furthermore, videos and satellite images uploaded to social media have shown tanks, artillery and short-range ballistic missiles on the move in the border regions of Ukraine and Belarus since late October 2021. Some of the weaponry was moved to these regions early in 2021 during a large-scale buildup causing alarm bells to ring in the west. But new photos of military hardware being transported by rail have been spotted in southern Russia and from as far away as Russia’s Urals region, as well as on the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

“We have to be clear-eyed,” said Stoltenberg in a press conference held in November 2021.

“We need to be realistic about the challenges we face. And what we see is a significant, large Russian military buildup.”

The Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy.

(Photo Ukrainian Navy)

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Warship World January/February 2022

Some analysts believe that the actions of Moscow are all part of a deliberate and dangerous test of western unity, endorsed or even masterminded,

by Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Stoltenberg said he didn’t want to speculate about the intentions of the Russian president he called the situation “dangerous” and said it would allow Russia to launch offensive operations at short notice.

But the biggest warning about Moscow’s actions came from the outgoing head of the UK’s armed forces, Gen Sir Nick Carter, who said, “that the military will have to be ready for war with Russia after recent tensions in eastern Europe.” Carter gave a series of interviews before his departure as chief of the defence staff at the end of November 2021 (with Adm Sir Tony Radakin taking over as head of the armed forces) in which he said he distinctly hoped there would not be a war with Russia and he did not believe the country wanted a physical war, but NATO “would have to be ready.” This would add to the belief that Moscow already thinks that it is at war with the UK and its allies, according to former MI6 officer Christopher Steele.

So where would the United Kingdom stand in all of this?

First of all, back in 2015, the then UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers, said that the UK would not supply lethal weapons to Ukraine.

France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark and even China confirmed that their countries would not supply lethal weapons to Ukraine after the Russian 2014 attempted invasion, although, at that point, the United States was considering this possibility which raised concerns in Moscow.

Fast forward 6 years and we see the UK Government reversing the decision made in 2015 and is in talks to sell weapons to Ukraine amid fears of the growing threat from Russia.

Having missed out on a contract placed by the Greek Government to the French Naval Group for three frigates (plus an optional fourth), the UK Government is eager to provide the items on Ukraine’s shopping list including two decommissioned Sandown-class minehunters, the joint production of eight new missile ships and a frigate, the development of two naval bases, as well as the supply of surface-to-surface Brimstone missiles that can be used by sea and air forces to hit ‘swarms’ of targets simultaneously (the RAF deployed Brimstone missiles against ISIS, as they can hit small, fast-moving enemies). In order to progress on the efforts to support Ukraine’s naval development the UK government has made available loans worth up to USD 2.29 billion to cover the procurement.

Eager to build a new and enlarged navy fleet over the next 10-15 years, Ukrainian President Zelensky, announced implementation of these plans will be in three stages and will require a huge investment programme for the Ukrainian Navy. “Until 2035 we plan to complete the construction of a large fleet. In reality we will see the first stage being completed in 2024, the second stage until 2030, while the third will be completed by 2035,” said Zelensky.

Although not a NATO member, Ukraine is increasing the presence of its own military fleet and supporting allies from NATO countries in the Black and Azov Seas. “The issue of unblocking the Black Sea and Azov coasts is part of the de-occupation of Crimea,” said Zelensky. “This is not only a question of Sea Breeze exercises; it is also constant work and cooperation with the United States and the countries of the European Union.We also have several agreements with Turkey and the UK.” The annexation of Crimea by Russia led to the loss of most of Ukraine’s military fleet, in particular six corvettes and the only submarine in the Navy. In addition, around 75% of the Ukrainian military who served in Crimea left their posts or joined the Russian military, including the commander of the Navy.At present, the Ukrainian Navy has a lone Soviet-era Krivak III-class frigate, the 3,510 tonnes

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Thomas Francis displacement Hetman Sahaydachniy. This ship serves as the Ukrainian Navy’s flagship, but the core of the country’s naval combat capability comes from 10 patrol boats, across five different classes, all of which have displacements under 300 tonnes and the vast majority of which displace less than 170 tonnes. Six of the 10 patrol boats in the Ukrainian Navy are of the Gurza-Ms Class and are the most numerous combat vessels in service. The main armament on each of these gunboats consists of two BM-5M.01 Katran-M weapon systems, which have a 30mm automatic cannon, anti-tank guided missiles, a 30mm automatic grenade launcher, and a 7.62mm machine gun.

It is obvious that the Ukrainian Navy still lacks the kind of capability to actively deter or challenge the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, which would be its most likely immediate naval opponent. The Black Sea Fleet has some 50 surface vessels, including a cruiser, a destroyer, and a number of frigates, as well as six submarines.

Therefore it is no surprise that Ukraine is fully aware that it will be impossible to build its own fleet able to withstand the Russian Black Sea Fleet within the next decade, but feels a continuous presence at sea “to ensure national interests” is necessary. In order to do this, the Ukrainian Government and the Ministry of Defence started developing shipyards for the construction of warships, along with small submarines, and support ships.

In addition, preparations for the construction of naval bases are ongoing. The first of such a base will be built in the city of Berdyansk, a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Province in south-east Ukraine, which is in the northern extension of the Black Sea. So far, the Ukrainian Government has received guarantees of support for these projects from the UK and the EU.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence is also anticipating the delivery of 16 Mk VI patrol boats, as well as various weapons and associated equipment, in early 2022 by the US Navy.The US State Department signed off on the deal, which is valued at approximately USD 600 million.

The complete package includes 32 MSI Seahawk A2 remote-controlled gun systems, two per boat, as well as a Mk 44 Bushmaster II 30mm automatic cannon for each of those mounts, along with eight spares, for a total of 40 guns. Each Mk VI would also come with an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system, a sensor turret with visible and infrared video cameras, and a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), the latter of which can be used to hail or signal other ships, as well as act as a non-lethal weapon to deter boarders.

These boats are designed to patrol riverine and littoral waters and could be a valuable addition to the relatively small Ukrainian Navy, which is primarily focused on patrolling the country’s coastlines on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

A similar transfer was done in 2019 for a total of five decommisioned US Coast Guard (USCG) Island-class patrol vessels.The first pair, Slavyansk (ex-Drummond) and Starobilsk (ex-Cushing), were commissioned into the Ukrainian Navy in 2019.

They are used for maritime security operations in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. In preparation to operate the vessels, their Ukrainian crew completed six weeks of training by the USCG. Two other vessels, renamed Sumy (ex-Ocracoke) and Fastiv (ex-Washington), were also gifted to Ukraine under Washington’s Excess Defense Articles (EDA) programme.

VIEWPOINT

It was scheduled that at the end of 2021 all five Island-class patrol vessels would be delivered to the Ukrainian Navy.These patrol vessels have an overall length of 33.5m and a 6.4m beam.

They have a fully loaded displacement of 171 tonnes, and a range of 3,928 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 10 knots. According to Ukrainian Defence Minister Andriy Taran, the use of small patrol boats will see the creation of a “mosquito” fleet of small warships in the country, that will be equipped with some modern weapons including anti-ship missiles.

“While Ukraine currently does not have real weapons that can stop the attack from the sea, such a situation may change, as Kiev intends to receive several small ships of the “mosquito” fleet no later than next year (2022),” said Taran.

In the meantime, some naval analysts believe Ukraine may face serious difficulties implementing the plans, as the country does not have the experience and capability needed for the construction of complex warships.

“Kiev has no resources to create a full-fledged fleet, which would see ships of all different ranks and classes, including submarines,” said Ivan Konovalov, a well-known Russian military analyst.

“Ukraine used to have separate Soviet militaryindustrial enterprises, but these are in complete decline. For example, the Black Sea shipyard in Nikolaev was declared bankrupt. Ukraine cannot build ships from scratch by itself.”

Konovalov recalls that the Ukrainian Navy now has the only important warship - the Hetman Sahaydachniy frigate, the modernisation of which is ongoing according an announcement made

by President Zelensky in the autumn of 2021.

In addition, Kiev’s hopes to create a fleet with the help of Western partners are also under question, as most of the weapons and ships which are supplied to the country by the UK and the US are old and are seriously outdated, including the boats of the “mosquito” fleet.

At the time of writing, increased fear of war might be looming for the Ukraine but perhaps the real battle the Ukraine and the rest of Europe will face over the next couple of months is the threat from Russian president Putin to shut down the vital gas supply from Russia.

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WORLD NEWS Peter van Schie

USS Gerald R. Ford sees completion of Advanced Weapons Elevators

Copyright RAN

Early December 2021 saw completion of the 11th and final Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). AWEs on the carrier operate using several advanced technologies including electromagnetic motors versus more labour intensive, hydraulic systems.

The state-of-the-art technology enables fewer sailors to safely move ordnance from weapons magazines to the flight deck with unparalleled speed and agility. “This is a significant milestone for the Navy, ship, and her crew,” said Rear Adm James P Downey, Programme Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers. “With completion of this final AWE, we now have the entire system to operate and train with.” The Navy-Industry AWE team worked both in port and at sea to complete the elevators to ensure the availability of neccesary materials and engineering expertise. Myriad vendors collaborated to provide seamless support to multi-shift, shipboard production efforts. “The Navy-Industry teaming provided the opportunities for hundreds of craftsmen, technicians and engineers, working around the clock - through multiple underway and holiday periods - to get these advanced systems on line and operational,” said Downey. This key milestone was achieved during the carrier’s six-month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) which is due to be complete this coming Spring after which Gerald R. Ford is scheduled for training and deployment.

Loss inspires return to RAN

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Losing everything in the Black Summer bushfires Lieutenant Rick Withers is returning to the RAN after an eight-year break. His wife and children were thankfully evacuated to safety, but Withers watched via satellite as their property was destroyed. Incredibly, the Withers’ chose to accept their circumstances as an opportunity for personal growth. “I always felt I had unfinished business with the Navy. Starting again, we began talking about the possibility of me re-joining.”

Withers said. “As a specialist reservist, I’ve returned with a much broader professional skill set and academic experience.” Repeating an initial training period helped Lieutenant Withers see how far he and the Navy had come since he left.

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Copyright ROKN

Copyright US Navy

Peter van Schie WORLD NEWS South Korea begins construction on 2nd KSS-III Batch-II submarine The boat, built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, will be completed by 2026 and delivered to the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) in 2028 after undergoing sea trials. The KSS-III is the largest class of submarine in the ROKN. According to reports, the steel cutting took place 30th December in Geoje.

Japan approves highest ever defence budget Japan’s Ministry of Defence has announced the outline for the FY2022. The budget will be designed as a 16-month budget, integrating the supplementary budget for FY2021. As such, the outcome is a record defence budget.

Dubbed the “Accelerated Defence Capability Enhancement Package,” it is aimed at accelerating the pace of defence capability enhancement, mainly in response to China’s growing military power. The total budget is 5.8661 trillion yen (around USD51 billion). New items added include VLS for two Mogami-class FFMs and acquisition of three P-1 patrol aircraft.

China’s 2nd Type 075 LHD commissioned with PLAN China’s second Type 075 Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) was commissioned recently with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)’s East Sea Fleet. The first Type 075 LHD, Hainan, was commissioned during a grand ceremony back in April 2021. The vessel was launched in September 2019 and started sea trials in August 2020. The latest vessel, Guangxi, was launched in April 2020 and started its sea trials in December 2020. The third Type 075 was launched in January this year and started sea trials in November. This represents a rate of one LHD launched every 6 months.

US Navy ships seize USD4 million of heroin from fishing vessel

Copyright US Navy

Two US Navy ships seized 385 kilograms of heroin worth around USD4 million from a stateless fishing vessel transiting the Arabian Sea, December 27. The coastal patrol ships were operating as part of an international task force called Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, which has increased regional patrols to locate and disrupt unlawful maritime activity. CTF 150 is one of three task forces under Combined Maritime Forces. US Coast Guard personnel embarked aboard USS Tempest and USS Typhoon discovered the illegal shipment while conducting a flag verification boarding in accordance with customary international law. The confiscated drugs were destroyed at sea by US forces. “This latest seizure is a demonstration that CTF 150 and assigned surface and air assets are ready to conduct interdiction operations 365 days a year,” said Royal New Zealand Navy Capt. Brendon Clark, commander of CTF 150. In 2021, CTF 150 has seized illegal drugs worth more than USD193 million during counter-narcotics operations at sea. This is a higher total value than the amount of drugs the task force interdicted in the previous four years combined. The US Navy released the stateless fishing vessel and its nine crew members, who identified themselves as Iranian nationals, after seizing the drugs.

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All photos Crown Copyright/MoD

RN NEWS

Peter van Schie

HMS Richmond sailors reflect on deployment

Following seven months away with the UK Carrier Strike Group, HMS Richmond recently returned to Devonport. Often at the front of the Group, the ship carried out anti-submarine warfare, provided air defence and conducted a number of defence engagements. Some of her sailors and commanding officer Commander Hugh Botterill have been reflecting on the deployment. “The thing I am most proud of is the extraordinary resilience the ship’s company showed. The ability to take just knock after knock and get on with it and do the job they were tasked to do quietly and confidently makes me very proud. That resilience they demonstrated is only possible because of the support they had back home.

At one stage, we were doing air protective duties while the F-35s were conducting their missions as part of Operation Shader [against Daesh].

The F-35s were able to respond because Richmond was reporting on air activity. We are designed to look for submarines and yet were taking part in an air campaign. I am really proud that we were able to step up and achieve,” stated Botterill. Engineering Technician Chloe Chapman, 23, from Plymouth has been in the Royal Navy for two years and joined Richmond in March. Being her first ship it was a shock to the system.

“It definitely threw me in at the deep end. But you have to get used to it in this environment,” she said. “One of the highlights for me was marching with the Pakistan Navy in Pakistan. We were invited to march up to the Mausoleum - that was an incredible moment.”

Marines musicians help boost vaccine effort Royal Marines musicians are helping Britons by the hundreds as they support the national effort to get people their booster jabs. Bandsmen and women from the Commando Training Centre have been mobilised to work with Army medics to administer third vaccine jabs to the public across the South West.

Captain Victoria Gordon RAMC, from CTCRM, is heading the team - part of 650 military personnel supporting the Covid jab drive across England alone.

“It’s a privilege, it’s exciting to be part of the national effort. I’ve worked in the NHS before. They do a fantastic job and it’s wonderful to be supporting them,” she said. “As part of the military you expect to be part of a mass effort. We’ll be here as long as we’re needed. We’re here, we’re ready.”

Engineers have saved £12m with a simple fix on the Merlin. According to original maintenance guidance, the nose landing gear should be replaced when the aircraft undergoes maintenance after 3,500 hours in the skies. The team at RNAS Culdrose questioned the need to replace the entire section, instead just swapping one single pinion. Chief Petty Officer Jamie Medlen praised contractors Chris Lewis-Brown and Jim Bartholomew who insisted the old undercarriage parts were still perfectly fit for use. Both Chris and Jim are former RN engineers with 45 years’ experience between them and now work for the company Morson at Culdrose.

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Simple solution saves Navy £12m

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Peter van Schie

RN NEWS

Classic fighter joins Yeovilton’s growing historic collection An iconic WW2-era fighter will display in tribute to naval aviators after it was snapped up by guardians of the Fleet Air Arm’s history. Charity Navy Wings has bought a vintage Supermarine Seafire - the naval version of Britain’s most famous aircraft, the Spitfire - so it can appear at air displays as a ‘flying memorial’ to past air and ground crew. Seafire Mk XVII SX336 landed at RNAS Yeovilton where pilots learned to fly the fighters 80 years ago.

Boxing takes top honours at Royal Navy Sports Awards 2021 Royal Marine George Crotty and AB Sophie Colbourn were declared sportsman and sportswoman of the year respectively as a number of trophies were handed out by sports broadcaster John Inverdale. Mne Crotty spent the majority of the last two years representing the GB Boxing Team in the light heavyweight division as they prepared for the 2021 Olympics. He fought in two international tournaments, winning gold in both. AB Colburn has won 13 out of 15 bouts for both RN Boxing and on the National Elite Boxing scene.The all-female RN Equestrian Dressage team won the Team of the Year trophy after a series of Inter-Service and competition victories. Midshipman Theo Dodds was named Young Sportsperson of the Year for his contribution to Royal Navy Target Shooting.

RN looks to drones for supply at sea The Navy’s crucial support arm is looking at using drones to deliver mail drops and other supplies to ships in the middle of the ocean. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is looking into the possibility of crewless aircraft performing some of the more routine, lighter duties. While some loads are too heavy for current small-scale drones to transport, seven out of ten resupply missions involve the transfer of loads up to 100lbs/45kg.

Using drones would save time, money and sailors, and free up helicopters for other duties. Recent trials over the summer period proved successful.

Royal Marines have tested re-supply by drone both on the battlefield and on the beachhead.

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AVIATION

Patrick Boniface

Copyright US Navy/Lt j.g Michael Pahissa

P-8A Poseidon upgrades The US Navy has received most of the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft it has on order, but is eager to keep the earliest models in the fleet relevant and operationally effective. To this end a $13.54million contract has been awarded to Boeing to performed Increment Three Block One retrofit modifications on 24 airframes. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has also ordered an additional 25 retrofit kits for future batches of aircraft retrofits. The work on the initial 24 aircraft will be undertaken at Boeing’s main production plant at Seattle with the work expected to be completed by December 2023. Increment Three comprises four Engineering Change Proposals (ECP); according to the DoD, the final ECP is ‘on track’ to be fielded in FY2025, to provide ‘critical ASW Signals Intelligence (ASW SIGINT), Higher than Secret (HTS) processing, enhanced track management (Minotaur) and an Enhanced Multi-static Active Coherent (MAC-E) ASW capability’.

Crown Copyright /MoD

Wildcat with extra teeth A Royal Navy AW159 Wildcat HMA Mk2 from 815 Naval Air Squadron successfully fired a test Martlet missile on frontline operations for the first time. The aircraft was part of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 21 and was used in a scenario where the helicopter had been called in to defend HMS Queen Elizabeth from a simulated attack by a swarm of small surface vessels.

The lightweight Martlet missile, of which each Wildcat can carry up to twenty, successfully engaged a small inflatable target having flown at a speed of one and a half times the speed of sound.

Copyright US Navy/1st Lt Zachary Bodner

China’s future carrier aircraft make maiden flights Chinese aircraft manufacturer Shenyang Aircraft Corporation saw their latest product, the twin seat WS13E engine powered FC-31/35 stealth fighter, successfully take to the air for the first time. Images seen in the West show the aircraft, painted in turquoise-green primer, fly on 29 October 2021.The progress made by the Chinese aircraft industry is astounding as this aircraft is only the second stealthy carrier-based aircraft in the world, other than the Lockheed Martin F-35C. The photo shows the aircraft fitted with a launch bar for catapult launches, folding wing mechanism and a chin-mounted EO infrared search and tracking sensor.

Also visible in the image were twin canted tailfins, wider wingspan, a bulkier fuselage and redesigned cockpit area for the pilot. It has been surmised that the aircraft, in order to keep its stealthy characteristics intact, has a large internal weapons bay similar to the F-35C. The Chinese Navy is also continuing to develop the J-15T aircraft which is expected to enter service in early 2022 but will probably be known as the J-15B, whilst another ‘D’ variant may be developed to serve in the role of electronic attack aircraft. China is also developing the KJ-600 Airborne Early Warning and reconnaissance platform for operation from the aircraft carriers.

Xain Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAC) is a virtual copy of the Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye and has been seen flying from Xian-Yanliang Air Base in recent months conducting flight trials.

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AVIATION

Copyright Airbus

Patrick Boniface

First H225M in Brazilian Naval Service Airbus Industries celebrated the delivery of the first H225M helicopter into service with the Brazilian Navy in late November. The aircraft will be stationed at the naval base in São Pedro d'Aldeia. The aircraft was developed by the Brazilian subsidiary of Airbus Helicopters, Helibras and features a range of new embedded technologies including the EWS IDAS-3 (countermeasure system), MBDA Exocet AM39 B2M2 missiles, the APS143 tactical radar and the naval mission system N-TDMS (Naval Tactical Data Management System).

More British F-35Bs Having been flown across the North Atlantic from Texas assisted by an RAF Voyager tanker aircraft to RAF Marham, three additional F-35B Lightning II aircraft have brought the United Kingdom’s fleet of the type up to 24 aircraft in 207 Squadron.

The news came as one of the existing aircraft crashed while taking off from the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean prompting an immediate and intense recovery operation involving British, American and Italian ships and equipment, firstly to locate the crashed aircraft, and then to recover it. There was a sense of urgency in the recovery due both to the sensitive nature of the technologies of the F-35B aircraft and the presence nearby in the Mediterranean of Russian naval forces. The MOD has been predictably tight-lipped about the cause and repercussions of the crash which was filmed by a crewmember on the aircraft carrier and leaked onto social media.

The unnamed sailor was subsequently arrested. The Royal Navy crash is only the third F-35B Lightning to be lost during the course of the Joint Strike Fighter programme with the US Marine Corps suffering two incidents, the first in 2018 and the most recent in 2020, when a US Marine F-35B collided with a KC-130 Hercules aircraft during refuelling over California and subsequently crashed.

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DOCKYARD

Mike Hood

RFA Fort Austin.

Refits, upgrades and conversions

Crown Copyright/MoD

BAE Systems retains in-service support contract for RN’s Batch 1 OPVs BAE Systems has retained the in-service support contract for the Royal Navy’s three Batch 1 OPVs - HMS Severn, HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey, until they are decommissioned in April 2028.

The new contract, awarded by the MOD’s Naval Ships Support Team, is worth between £350 million and £400 million. Both Severn and Tyne were decommissioned in 2017 and 2018 respectively, but then returned to the fleet due to increased requirements for such vessels.

The new contract calls for BAE Systems to plan for the execution of global repair and maintenance; engineering support; planned, preventative and corrective maintenance; operational defect rectification; obsolescence management, and post design services. BAE Systems has maintained the three OPVs for a number of years, working in co-operation with A&P Defence, within the A&P Falmouth shipyard in Cornwall, where drydockings are undertaken.

Austal USA wins US$72.5m contract to support LCS vessels in Western Pacific Naval vessel builder Austal USA has secured a US$72.5 million contract from the US Navy to undertake maintenance on Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and the countries and ports in the region. In 2017 Austal established a service centre in Singapore, next door to the Singapore Navy’s Changi Naval Base, to support deployed LCS’s and Austal-built Expeditionary Fast Transports. The contract value could rise to $215.9 million if options for further periods contained in the contract are exercised by the USN.Work on the initial 24 months started in January 2022 and will be complete by December 2026, if all further options are exercised.

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Bechtel to compete to modernise US Navy repair yards The US Navy has selected Bechtel as one of five teams to bid for its SIOP (Shipyard Infrastructure Optimisation Programme) contract. Under the multi-year programme, Bechtel will pursue the construction of new drydocks and infrastructure at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor and Washington State’s Puget Sound Shipyards. Both of these shipyards and their drydocks are over 100 years old. The new graving docks will be designed to maintain existing and future attack-class submarines and aircraft carriers. SIOP, which has a combined value of US$8 billion, and runs until 2029, is a joint effort between Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA), Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NFEC) and Navy Installations Command (NIC) to upgrade four publicly owned naval shipyards to support the combat readiness of the USN.The new Pearl Harbor drydock will be over 198m long, while the new graving dock for Puget Sound will be around 365m in length.

German Navy’s training vessel Gorch Fock returns to service after major refit The German Navy’s classic sail training vessel, the three-masted barque Gorch Fock, finally returned to service in November 2021 following her fraught refit at Elsfleth Werft in Emden. The refit, which initially was expected to take just a matter of weeks, ended up taking years with final costs being way over budget.

Gorch Fock’s refit started in January 2016 and was to have taken just 17 weeks and cost Euro 10 million. However, undetected hull and structural damage to the 1958-built vessel saw costs rocket to over Euro 135 million and the work taking nearly six years to

complete. The vessel is back doing what she does best, training the Germany Navy’s new officer corps. She now features new masts, totally rebuilt mid and upper decks and a new teak deck. Around 80 percent of the vessel’s exterior has been replaced and the 1,499 GT vessel’s service life has now been extended well into the 2040s.

Greece to upgrade Hellenic Navy’s four Hydra-class Meko 200 frigates In a move to improve anti-submarine warfare and expand area air defence capabilities, the Hellenic Navy is to upgrade the combat capabilities of its four Hydra-class Meko 200 frigates - HS Hydra, HS Spetsai, HS Psara and HS Salamis, all commissioned between 1992 and 1998. This move is part of a much wider capabilities increase which includes building and acquiring second-hand vessels to provide an interim frigate capability while the Hydra Class undergo their upgrades.Although the Hydra-class’ hulls are in good condition, the frigates would need upgrades to their diesel-generators and gas turbines for any new combat systems, such as Lockheed Martin’s AEGIS system.

Russian Navy’s aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to resume repairs The much-delayed repairs to the Russian Navy’s aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov have taken another turn. The vessel will enter an upgraded floating dock at the 35th Shipyard in Murmansk in June 2022 to finally complete her upgrade. The 35th Shipyard is an affiliate of the Zvyozdocha Shipyard and work on the aircraft carrier is now expected to be completed in the summer of 2023, with Admiral Kuznetsov being returned to service with the fleet by the end of 2023.

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Mike Hood UK’s MOD looks at retrofitting the fleets of the RN and RFA with hybrid propulsion systems The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) is looking at the possibility of retrofitting the surface fleet of the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) flotilla with hybrid/ electric powertrains (propulsion systems).

The hybridisation of the vessels will help reduce vessel carbon emissions to net zero by no later than 2050. Through prior research it has been found that hybrid engines have the potential to significantly reduce the overall emissions of both RN and RFA vessels. The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), on behalf of the MOD’s Naval Ships Support Central Engineering Team is running a Market Exploration to identify available hybrid powertrain technologies for implementation into service by 2030.This exploration will allow a better understanding of what is currently available for use and what approaches the MOD can take in future steps.

RFA Fort Austin and RFA Fort Rosalie sold to Egyptian Navy In an unexpected development, the UK MOD’s Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) has sold the two oldest vessels in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) for further trading and not for scrap as most people thought.

The two solid store ship RFA Fort Austin and RFA Fort Rosalie, both built in 1978 and 1979, and decommissioned in March 2021, have been bought by the Egyptian Navy. Before sailing for their new life in the Middle East, both vessels will undergo a major refit at a yet to be named UK shipyard. This yard is most likely to be Birkenhead-based Cammell Laird, which has been responsible for the maintenance and support of the two vessels for a number of years, and knows the sisterships inside out.

RFA Fort Austin and RFA Rosalie are currently laid up on the Birkenhead Float and will be replaced by the three new fleet solid support (FSS) vessels, which are soon to be ordered at a cost of £1.5 billion. The new FSS vessels are designed to form a major part of the RN’s Carrier Strike Group. Currently, four consortia are battling it out to win the FSS newbuilding contract, after being awarded Competitive Procurement Phase contracts to enable design to be developed and finalised.

The four consortia have been awarded £5m each to refine their bids for the new solid stores vessels.The newbuilding contract is expected to be awarded in May 2023 with the ships due to be delivered by 2032. The MOD stipulates that the contract will only be awarded to a UK company acting either solely or as part of a consortium.

US$500 million design contract awarded for shipyard upgrades The US Navy has awarded a US$500 million design contract for the modernisation of two of its shipyards in Hawaii and Washington State.

The engineering contract has been awarded to Honolulu-based WSM Pacific SIOP by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems (NAVFAC) and is for structural and waterfront related projects at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Hawaii and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Washington State. The five year contract will mainly support construction, repair and alteration projects at both shipyards as part of the USN’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimisation Programme (SIOP) and will help ensure that both shipyards - originally designed and built in the 19th and 20th centuries - are able to maintain, modernise

DOCKYARD

and repair surface vessels and submarines, and return them to the fleet on time. SIOP is a joint venture between Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and Commander, Navy Installation Command (NIC) to recapitalise and modernise the infrastructure at the USN’s four public shipyards, including repairing and modernising drydocks, restoring shipyard facilities and optimising their replacement of ageing and deteriorating capital equipment.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard completes the DSRA of USS Pasadena The US Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Pasadena has returned to the fleet after completing its drydocking selected restrictive availability (DSRA) at Virginia’s Norfolk Naval Shipyard.The boat, commissioned in 1989, spent just over a year at the shipyard to replace, repair and overhaul components throughout the submarine and was the yard’s first DSRA in 10 years. While USS Pasadena didn’t meet it’s original completion date, improvements to the boat helped deliver the submarine back to the fleet and are being implemented on other US Navy overhauls at Norfolk, which include the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Toledo.

USS Pasadena.

Copyright US Navy/PO1 Benjamin Lewis

The consortia comprises: * India’s Larsen & Toubro, which includes UK company Leidos Innovations * The UK’s Serco Marine Services and Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards * Team Resolute, including UK ship designer BMT and UK shipbuilder Harland & Wolff * Team UK, which includes the two UK warship builders BAE Systems and Babcock and allied to shipbuilder Cammell Laird

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PARLIAMENTARY REPORT UK POLITICS Christopher Cope

Committee of Public Accounts/ Improving the Performance of Major Defence Equipment Contracts/October 2021 There have been numerous reviews of defence procurement over the past 35 years which have provided the MoD with opportunities to learn from experience. However, it was only in December 2020 that the MoD established a central register of Learning From Experience. The Committee is extremely disappointed by the continuing poor track record of the MoD and its suppliers.

Of the 13 major equipment programmes examined by the National Audit Office, the average delay in delivering equipment was 19 months. The MoD is at a double disadvantage because it relies on a limited specialist supplier base and also lacks the in-house skills effectively to manage the performance of suppliers.

The Committee concludes that the MoD’s broken system for acquiring military equipment needs an urgent rethink led by the Treasury and the Cabinet Office.

The recent Integrated Defence Review highlighted growing conflict and instability in the world. During evidence, retired American Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said that he believed that the USA would be at war with China within five years. The MoD said that complexity in programmes was the reason for delays and cost increases. The forecast costs of nine out of 12 programmes increased, of which three increased by more than 50%.

This was a failure by the MoD to control its suppliers.The Committee was deeply concerned about the MoD’s inability or unwillingness to answer basic questions and give a frank assessment of its major programmes.

Crown Copyright/MoD

14 Warship World January/February 2022

Witnesses had been reluctant to attribute problems with the Crowsnest AEW programme to suppliers’ poor performance. The MoD does not make enough demands of its suppliers to share financial risks. Of 20 programmes examined by the NAO, 14 were wholly or partly procured non-competitively. Suppliers know that poor performance will not stop them winning the next contract.

Lack of ambition The Committee was disappointed with the MoD’s lack of ambition in saving money.

The plan is to save £160m over ten years.

However, this represents less than 0.1% of the equipment plan. The MoD continues to suffer from skills shortages in order to control programme management. It relies on expensive contractors. The Committee was surprised that the MoD is so relaxed about losing skilled personnel to the private sector.

Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) must ensure that a programme meets its objectives.

However, an SRO is typically only in post for 22 months, against the average programme length of 77 months. Many SROs felt less competent to manage suppliers. The MoD continues to be unclear about what additional defence capability will be secured from the extra £16.5bn announced by the government.

The Committee believes that the uplift will simply be used to plug financial holes.

There is a £7bn affordability gap in the 2020/2030 equipment plan. The MoD told the Committee that the new money would be used for both new and existing capabilities.

However, witnesses were unable to say what additional capabilities would be delivered through additional funding. With regard to Crowsnest, there is a forecast delay of over two years. This programme is essential to the Navy’s Carrier Strike capability. The MoD conceded that an off-the-shelf acquisition with UK modifications may have been a better purchase.

Fewer frigates The Committee noted that the MoD was procuring fewer Type 26 frigates than it had previously identified. (Comment - It had originally been planned that the 13 Type 23 frigates would be replaced on a one-for-one basis. This was subsequently reduced to eight.) The delays in both the Type 26 and Type 31 frigate programmes mean that existing frigates had to be upgraded.

With regard to the Type 31 programme, the MoD had not finalised weapons systems to be fitted 18 months after awarding the construction contract to Babcock.

Between one sixth and one third of staff working on the Spearfish, Type 31 and Fleet Solid Support programmes are contractors.

The MoD says this is due to several major programmes being launched concurrently.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP suggested that the MoD should be moving towards the American system whereby SROs remain in post throughout the term of a contract and that their promotion is dependent upon a successful delivery.

The MoD was not convinced that that was the way forward.

Committee of Public Accounts/ Optimising the Defence Estate/ September 2021 In 2019/20, the MoD spent £4.6bn on its estate, about twice the annual cost of maintaining the UK’s nuclear deterrent. Retaining a large estate, which the MoD does not need, wastes resources that could develop military capabilities.

The MoD’s estate is valued at £36bn. This includes the built estate with 96,000 buildings covering 75,000 hectares. In addition, there is the rural estate of 158,000 hectares (training/ranges) and 200,000 acres of land overseas.

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Christopher Cope UK POLITICS This totals 433,000 hectares or a million acres of land. Amazingly, reform of the overseas estate remains outside the MoD’s future plans.

The MoD intends to reduce the size of the estate in order to cut running costs. However, progress is slow. This means that the MoD continues to pay for property that it does not need. The Committee is very concerned that the MoD does not have meaningful targets to develop an affordable estate that best supports defence needs The Committee believes that there is a risk that the planned savings of £650m, by 2040, will melt away completely.

National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) The government’s paper has been awaited for some time. However, the Directorate of Defence Communications tells me that the paper will not be published until early 2022.

With regard to the Navy, I believe that during the next ten years, the following orders are likely:Five Type 26 frigates, five Type 32 frigates, two survey ships (to replace Echo and Enterprise which were completed in 2002/03), three Fleet Solid Support Ships, two Littoral Support Ships and one Ocean Surveillance Ship. That would be 18 ships, an average of less than two orders per annum.The Navy is developing autonomous minewarfare craft, which will replace all minehunters. The Belgian, Dutch and French navies are developing similar plans but are building motherships. The UK government has said nothing about acquiring motherships.

The NSS may make a commitment.With regard to the replacement of RFA Argus (hospital / aviation support ship), Admiral Radakin (at the time First Sea Lord) recently told the Defence Committee that the MoD was looking at replicating Argus’ medical facilities on the new FSS. He made no mention of a new build. The aviation support capability of Argus may be lost entirely. The survey ship HMS Scott (decommissioning in 2022) may not be replaced.

Batch 1 OPVs In October, DE&S indicated that the out-of-service date for HMS Severn, Tyne and Mersey has been extended to April 2028.

The Batch 1s were originally due to retire in the early 2020s. There are no replacements on order or planned. Had that retirement date been met, then that would have ended the Navy’s involvement in fishery protection.

The current expectation is that the five Type 31 frigates on order will gradually replace the five Batch 2 OPVs which are presently stationed overseas. With the first Type 31 (HMS Venturer) entering service in about 2027/28, a Batch 2 presently serving overseas will replace one of the fishery protection Batch 1s which will then decommission. The same will occur for the other four. This then avoids the need for new construction.

Interim Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon (ISSGW) In November, Admiral Radakin disclosed to the Defence Committee that it was unlikely that the government would proceed with the acquisition of the ISSGW to replace the Harpoon missile due to leave service in 2023 (only HMS Kent and HMS Montrose presently carry Harpoon). Admiral Radakin said that it would be hard to justify spending £250m on five sets of missiles to equip three ships. He also said that it could be 2027 before ISSGW could have been fitted. However, the original request for proposals from industry called for missile deliveries between 2023 and 2024. Admiral Radakin said that the Navy was more interested in hypersonic missiles with a longer range.

The original plan was that the ISSGW would be fitted to the Type 45 destroyers and Type 26 frigates.

Future Cruise The Navy will now be relying upon the Future Cruise Anti-Shipping Weapon (FCASW), a joint programme with the French scheduled for the early 2030s. Between 2023 and the early 2030s, the Navy will have no ability to sink or damage enemy surface ships, other than by Sea Venom (not yet in service) to be deployed by Wildcat helicopters, the submarine- launched Spearfish torpedo (which has just undergone a £270m refurbishment) or the Spear 3 missile (long-range missile [90 miles]) for the F-35B).

Defence Minister Jeremy Quinn recently said that integrating Spear 3 onto the F-35B has slipped by another four years and will not achieve FOC until 2028. The Navy is in this awkward position due to the failure by the MoD to plan or fund the replacement of Harpoon under SDSR (2010). The Prime Minister’s decision to build a new royal yacht may be the reason why ISSGW has been scrapped.

It will be paid for out of the MoD budget at a cost of £250m. The MoD will not receive additional funds to meet this cost. It is significant that the cost of the two programmes is identical.

Other disclosures Admiral Radakin confirmed that the Type 31 frigates will be fitted for, but not with, the Mark 41 VLS missile system. How many Russian and Chinese warships are fitted ‘for but not with’? Vice-Admiral Gardener said that submarine availability has slightly improved.

However, the refit of HMS Triumph at Devonport is well behind schedule. The major refit of HMS Vanguard has overrun by more than a year.

All six Type 45 destroyers will have undergone modification through the PIP programme by 2028 (13 years after instigation) at a cost of £189m.

That is a further slippage of three years. I was recently informed by Director of Communications (Navy) that the programme would finish by the end of 2025. Autonomous minehunting systems will be deployed in the Gulf from 2023, indicating that the Hunt and Sandown Classes will by then be withdrawn. Admiral Radakin said that the Type 32 could be a Batch 2 Type 31, but with significant technological enhancement.

CSG Fleet Submarine Finally revealed that this was HMS Astute.

HMS Somerset Completed Lifex refit end of 2020. But still no sea trials. WW enquiring.

Spending In the October spending review, the MoD was the only government department to face a cut of 1.4% in its day-to-day spending over the next four years. Military personnel are likely to see a cut in salaries and pensions. John Healey, Shadow Defence Secretary, said, “The Defence Secretary should never have agreed to this.”

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AUSTRALIA

Ross Gillett

Copyright US Navy

Copyright RAN - ABIS Julianne Cropley

Crown Copyright/MoD

AUSTRALIA’S NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINES

HMS Ambush. There will be no need to refuel throughout the life of the boats allowing significant savings to be achieved with this component of the industry ashore, both here and abroad.

Los Angeles-class attack submarine (rear), USS Albuquerque (SSN 706), and HMAS Rankin, off Western Australia on 4 March 2015.

Virginia-class attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782).

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W

ithout any doubt the recent announcement by the Australian Government that the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) would acquire nuclear-powered submarines was a most important national defence decision. Since this broader AUKUS statement was made, the Government has launched the 18-month long process to determine which of two submarine designs, the British Astute Class, or the American Virginia Class of nuclearpowered boats, would be the most suitable for operations in the Indo-Pacific regions. But before that major declaration can be made the possibility that the RAN could lease one or two older nuclear boats needs to be decided.

Australia would need to acquire these older generation boats either as alongside training vessels based at Fleet Base West, and/or for short training cruises in Australia’s southwestern waters to ensure the correct levels of training are undertaken in time for the delivery of the first new-construction nuclear powered boat, scheduled for the late 2030s.

The Royal Navy (RN) still operates a few of their earlier generation Trafalgar Class, which are being progressively replaced by the more capable Astute Class, with seven of the latter planned for commissioning by 2026.

Alternatively, the United States Navy (USN) continues to operate many of its older Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines, as their new fleet of Virginia-class boats continue to enter service. At the time of writing 28 Los Angeles Class remain active, working alongside 19 Virginiaclass boats. Furthermore, two of the former are employed as moored training ships.The RAN has a long history of operating loan submarines.

Between 1949 and 1969 the Royal Navy based varying numbers of its A and T-class boats in Australian waters. Three of the former, and seven of the latter, were in use across those years, operating mainly from Sydney Harbour.

UK vs USA After examining the construction timelines for Britain’s Astute Class and America’s Virginia Class, it is readily apparent that the former takes a great deal longer to build compared with the Virginia Class. Positioning new RAN nuclear submarines into the Virginia-class construction lines would also be much faster, with the UK’s Scottish shipyard having just begun the building of four new Dreadnought-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), as well as finalising the completion of the three remaining Astute-class boats. In addition, the RN only recently announced its plans to begin design work on the follow-on boats to the Astute Class. And like the RN, the USN has also started work on the first of its twelve new-generation Columbia-class SSBNs.

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Ross Gillett Loan boat options So what options could be available to the RAN to secure a nuclear powered submarine earlier?

Option one is a boat from the Royal Navy.

However, with its small submarine force the UK would be unwilling to loan one of the new and highly expensive Astute-class boats, while one of their older Trafalgar-class units would most probably need refuelling again if one such boat could be loaned to the RAN. In the case of the USN, there is no real opportunity for Australia to secure a Virginia-class SSN, all of which are earmarked to replace the older Los Angeles Class. The USN’s remaining Los Angeles-class boats are being progressively retired from the active fleet, and in September 2021 another unit, USS Providence (SSN719), ended her final voyage when she arrived at Bremerton,WA, to begin the inactivation process.

Highlighted across various Government interviews following the initial AUKUS notice was the desire to acquire some second-hand boats as a lead-in to the eventual commissioning of the eight planned new-construction submarines.

Assuming that there will be more possibilities to acquire such a second-hand vessel from the USN than the RN, it is presumed that discussions will take place between the two navies to confirm an opportunity to acquire such a boat for training purposes, and if that vessel has only two years of reactor life remaining, it could then be ‘traded-in’ for another submarine with a similar limited lifespan.

Some critics may claim this to be a messy solution, but the need to start and then maintain the required level of training aboard nuclearpowered boats would at least be up and running.

Other considerations With a significant number of Virginia-class submarines already active in the Pacific Ocean the RAN would be able to secure a larger number of cross-training days with the USN boats, participate in the existing RAN and USN exercises, including RIMPAC, and provide homeport facilities to the American units.

This compares to the occasional deployment of one Astute-class boat to south-east Asia, either alone or part of a larger Royal Navy task group, like the recent HMS Queen Elizabeth deployment to the region.

However, looking at the larger crews required for the Virginia Class compared with the Astute Class, a decision to acquire the USN submarines would significantly increase each of the new boat’s through-life costs. Furthermore, the current submarine force of 900 personnel would need to be increased to about 2300, quite a jump in numbers for any medium sized navy like the RAN. In late 2021 Australia had just a handful of submariners who had experience in nuclear-powered boats.

Building the boats To ensure the RAN can place its first boats into service within a reasonable (and earlier) timeframe, a sensible decision would be to order the first pair from the UK or American yard, this being dependent on whether a suitable slot to start construction could be identified without slowing the host-nation’s own submarine delivery schedule. As these two boats are in the process of building, Australian shipbuilders would work alongside their AUKUS counterparts to prepare the work force to begin local construction in Port Adelaide early in the next decade.

An international navy After many decades operating mainly British designed ships, the Australian Fleet shifted to a number of American classes of warships (DDG and FFGs), then to Sweden for the Collins-class submarines; to Spain for the two Canberra-class amphibious ships and three Hobart-class guided missile destroyers; to Germany for the twelve new Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels; locally for Austal’s six E-Cape-class patrol boats; and back to the United Kingdom for the design of the nine new Hunter-class guided missile frigates to be built in South Australia. So, depending on which nuclear powered submarine design is selected, the Navy will again turn to the USA or UK. Facilities Facilities for the care and maintenance of nuclear submarines would require a huge investment, as would the upgraded security and safety considerations. Would the planned nuclear boats been homeported to just one base, most probably HMAS Stirling (FBW) or would a new purpose-built facility be part of these future plans? Currently in-service routine maintenance for Australian Fleet units is spread across several major locations; Garden Island in Sydney with the Captain Cook Graving Dock, the shiplift at Rockingham in Western Australia, and the upgraded facilities in South Australia.

Nuclear visits Many nuclear-powered submarines have visited various Australian naval bases over almost 60 years. Most of these have been HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, but during the 1950s through to the 1970s, also the ports of Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin and Hobart.

The most recent took place from 29 October when HMS Astute berthed at HMAS Stirling in Rockingham, Western Australia. The submarine has been part of the UK Carrier Strike Group deployment to the Indo-Pacific which had recently exercised with a range of RAN units alongside numerous engagements with regional partners.

AUSTRALIA

Commenting at the arrival of Astute, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said: “I want to pay attribute to the Chief of Navy, Vice-Admiral Mike Noonan, for his work and for his leadership within Navy. As we know, the Government’s made a commitment to at least eight nuclear-powered submarines and that work is being overseen by the Chief of Navy. It is a very significant bolstering of the Collins Class, which is best-in-class at the moment, but we need an additional capability, particularly in 2030s and 2040s, and that will be a nuclear-powered boat because of its stealth capability and because we want to continue that regional superiority which we have with the Collins Class at the moment. We cancelled the (Attack Class) contract because the advice to us was that that boat was not going to be sufficient for our needs to keep our country safe into the 2030s, 2040s and beyond, and when we received that advice, we looked at what options we would have for a nuclear-powered submarine.The technology in this vessel (HMS Astute), for example, means that the reactor can remain on that boat, intact, for 32 years - essentially for the life of the vessel and that was not available from the French.We had, obviously, a tough decision to make, but when it is cast in the terms as it was by the Chief of Navy and others that we needed to have the protection from a nuclear submarine to maintain that superiority in our region, then that became an obvious choice to us.”

To-and-fro In summary, during the four months since the AUKUS announcement to acquire a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines for the RAN, the amount and intensity of discussion surrounding this stunning decision have waivered back and forth, covering such subjects as: - overall, a good or unwise decision, - the cost factor and whether the nation can afford a force of eight nuclear boats, - should the first pair or all eight of the proposed boats be constructed overseas in the UK or USA, - can the required facilities in Port Adelaide be built in time for the keel laying of the lead boat, - should the whole boat be built in South Australia or just the forward half, leaving the nuclear power plant to be built overseas, and joined together locally, - the time delay to acquire and train such a force, considering that the threat to the region is said to currently exist and is growing, - should the Collins-class LOTE continue with the older boats, or should a Collins Mk2 (Son of Collins) be acquired instead as the more cost-effective plan B to operate modern submarines in the years ahead, and - while an older/retiring Royal Navy or US Navy boat may appear to be quick solution for the RAN, the former operator would still need to invest both human and technical resources into a class of boat it had planned to retire as part of its own upgrade programme.

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FEATURE

HMS Courageous

HMS Courageous could be opened to the public as the Cold War centre at Devonport takes shape

HMS Courageous loading weapons.

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former nuclear hunter-killer submarine which is to be the centrepiece of a new Cold War museum in Plymouth could be opened to the public as early as next year - but a visitor centre could take up to a decade to finish. Those were the conclusions from a report into the feasibility of a Cold War centre in Devonport’s South Yard, recently presented to the National Museum Royal Navy (NMRN) Board of Trustees.

The report, funded by around £40,000 in donations, has deemed that HMS Courageous is the most suitable submarine to be considered for long term preservation, while Bonaventure House in South Yard would be the best site for a visitor centre.

The following update is from the Cold War Centre and HMS Courageous November Newsletter...

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In what is the most comprehensive piece of work yet done to examine the issues associated with the long term preservation of a nuclear submarine for display to the public, the study has employed rigorous analysis techniques and been peer reviewed by recognised experts in the field of submarine, nuclear, business and museum disciplines.

Working closely with MoD, Devonport Naval Base and other key stakeholders such as the Courageous Volunteer Group, the study has concluded that the project is both feasible and achievable. By tapping into the 5 million plus visitors to Plymouth each year, the study has demonstrated that a visitor attraction could be sustainable and of interest to a wide cross section of the public.

In particular, a focus on STEM and support to the burgeoning blue-tech industries in Plymouth would give the Centre an important societal role.

In summary, it has concluded that: * HMS Courageous is the most suitable candidate to be considered for long term preservation. * 1 Dock together with Bonaventure House in South Yard, Devonport, would be the optimum location to house the Cold War Centre. * Courageous could be dry docked in a restored 1 Dock within 4-5 years with no alterations required to the boat or dock. * Once renovated, Bonaventure House would host the Devonport Historic Naval Collection alongside the Cold War Centre.

The conclusions were recently presented to the National Museum Royal Navy (NMRN) Board of Trustees. The Board was impressed with the work that had been done and agreed to support the first phase of an implementation programme that aimed to place Courageous in a permanent facility in 1 Dock, South Yard, with a visitor centre located close by in a

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HMS Courageous

FEATURE

Copyright Lucy Duval

Crown Copyright/MoD

At Devonport Naval Base.

Photo copyright NavyBooks

restored Bonaventure House. In essence, this first phase will see Courageous re-open to the public in 3 Basin following her current maintenance period (around Easter 2022) whilst detailed work is undertaken to establish a business case to enable a decision to be made on the future phases. This initial phase which could last up to 5 years will also allow time for funds to be raised (estimated at circa £15m) and detailed infrastructure plans to be agreed.

Assuming a successful outcome to Phase 1, the Cold War Centre (likely under a different name by then) could be fully open within 10 years.

The agreement by NMRN to accept the challenge of placing the UK’s only preserved nuclear submarine on permanent display to the public represents a very significant step forward in the long road towards what many had thought an impossible dream. By addressing the issues such as ownership of the vessel and at what point she may go for eventual disposal,

HMS Courageous at sea.

the Project Team has provided NMRN with the means to mitigate the key risks that have always placed success for this project just out of reach.

Equally, as a respected national organisation, NMRN’s ownership and leadership of this project has been crucial in winning the support of both MoD and Plymouth City Council to preserve Courageous and make the CWC feasible.

However, whilst a credible 10 year plan has been mapped out that everyone agrees is feasible, it would be wrong to think that it will now just happen. NMRN must be comfortable that it can create and sustain a going concern that can form part of its national offering linking digitally with other museums (Chatham, Hartlepool, Portsmouth and Gosport) that it manages whilst also fitting in with the local heritage scene in Plymouth. The City Council has indicated its intent to integrate the CWC into its strategic plan for Plymouth and work closely with NMRN. The next step is to agree a

detailed programme of work with the NMRN Executive Team to cover Phase 1 involving the Courageous Volunteer Group (without which the project would not have been possible), the Naval Base and other local stakeholders to ensure that it is a success. It is expected that NMRN will appoint a senior member of staff to lead the project and to press ahead with the early priorities. These will no doubt include the creation of an improved website, booking arrangements and administration of visitors, closely followed by 3D virtual reality mapping of the interior of the boat and recording of the experiences of Cold War veterans.

Clearly, there is still a lot to do before the dream of permanent display of the UK’s only preserved nuclear submarine becomes a reality.

However, there is now more reason than ever to be optimistic that it will happen.

For further details contact: Commander Ian Whitehouse - ian@fradds.co.uk

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CANADA

Edward Lundquist

HMCS Harry DeWolf circumnavigates North America

Canada’s Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel is at home in both the Arctic AND the tropics

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Labrador was transferred to the Canadian Department of Transportation Coast Guard in 1957, and later to the new Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) in 1962, where it served until 1987. Labrador was the first ship to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage, a feat just equalled by Harry DeWolf.

While the ship is designated an AOPV, the programme is known as the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), which is building eight ships at Irving Shipyard in Halifax as part of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The 103 metre (340 feet), 6,600-tonnes ship has the RCN’s biggest helicopter deck. In addition to her crew of 65, she can embark additional personnel and equipment, such as science teams and containerised payloads.

The ship’s 6,800 nautical mile range and endurance are especially important for sailing in the remote north without support.

Commanding Officer Cmdr Corey Gleason said his ship is suited to Canada’s unique needs, designed for both ice and extreme cold as well as the tropics, and anywhere that Canada needs to send it.While deployed, Harry DeWolf participated in Canada’s annual Op NANOOK exercise in the high north, and Op CARIBBE, which is Canada's contribution to US Enhanced Counter-narcotics operations under US Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS), in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. The 2021 Op Nanook was focused on preparing for a crisis response or any security issue that may arise.

Harry DeWolf conducted surveillance patrols

All Photos copyright RCN

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or newly commissioned warships, the maiden deployment is a big deal.

When your maiden deployment involved a circumnavigation of North America, then that’s a really big deal. For the Royal Canadian Navy’s newest warship, Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), her recently completed fourand-a-half-month deployment included a transit of the Northwest Passage and Panama Canal, and involved operations in the Arctic, Eastern Pacific and Caribbean.

She returned to her homeport of Halifax on December 16, 2021. Commissioned in June 2021, Harry DeWolf is the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) first new warship in 25 years and first ice-capable vessel since HMCS Labrador in 1958.

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Edward Lundquist

CANADA Copyright Royal Canadian Navy

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CANADA

Edward Lundquist

Copyright Royal Canadian Navy

Main photo previous page: HMCS Harry DeWolf departs on its inaugural deployment through Canada’s Arctic and North American waters. Their transit saw the ship circumnavigating North America and participating in Op Nanook and Op Caribbe. Photo 1: The future HMCS Margaret Brook is underway for sea trials. Photo 2: The future HMCS Max Bernays is under construction at Irving Shipyards in Halifax. Photo 3: HMCS Harry DeWolf is designed to conducted extended patrols and scientific support in the Arctic. Crews working out on the ice must be protected from polar bears. Photo 4: HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430). Photo 5: HMCS Harry DeWolf operates in the Arctic during her historic 2021 maiden voyage. Photo 6: HMCS Harry DeWolf leaves Norfolk for the final leg of her maiden deployment. Photo above: The ship’s company from HMCS Harry DeWolf and members of the USCG stand on the ship’s flight deck with seized illegal drugs during Op Caribbe in the East Pacific Ocean on November 11.

Copyright US Coast Guard

have linked up with one of the six districts of the Inuit Nunangat people. For Harry DeWolf, that affiliation is with the Qikiqtani region, which includes Nunavut’s capital city of Iqaluit.

The ship called at communities along the route, which included Pond Inlet, Grise Fjord, Arctic Bay, Cambridge Bay, and Kugluktuk, Nunavut.

USCG Kimball and HMCS Harry DeWolf transit alongside one another off the coast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on September 23, 2021.

and other activities alongside RCN coastal defence ship HMCS Goose Bay as well as US Coast Guard partners, including the icebreaker UCSCG Healy (WAGB 20). In Alaska, the ship participated in a mass casualty drill with the US Coast Guard.The RCN’s body of knowledge about operating in the ice had atrophied.

Gleason spent a lot of time preparing for working in the high north, understanding the environment, and learning how to safely and effectively navigate in ice. He then trained his crew, and then prepared a training

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programme for other officers and crew who will be serving on the other AOPVs. Mariners in the Arctic have to deal with different kinds of ice, from first-year ice to multi-year ice floes that have been blown by the wind and driven by currents into ice jams between the islands of the archipelago. The conditions can vary greatly from one year to the next.

Gleason said his crew was also able to develop a relationship with the remote communities in Nunuvut, Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory. Each of the six AOPS

Gleason said that the navigational charts and depth soundings in the far north lack a lot of detail and need to be updated. But, he said, the locals know their waters very well, and can provide much needed advice. “Our Inuit partners know those bodies of water and they can help us operate much more safely,” he added.“Honing our skills as mariners during Op NANOOK, and also being exposed to history and the beauty and culture of the Arctic, it has been a great experience for all on board,” Gleason said.

Far from the icy Arctic, the crew took part in Op CARIBBE which saw an embarked US Coast Guard law enforcement detachment come aboard in San Diego augmenting the ship’s crew.

Together they contributed to the seizure and offload of approximately 26,250 pounds of cocaine and 3,700 pounds of marijuana worth about $504 million from the USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) in Port Everglades, Florida, on November 22. “I always knew that this ship had an incredible capability anywhere in the world,” Gleason said. “And we demonstrated that tenfold in the four and a half months that were deployed.”

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Patrick Boniface

UK Carriers may be equipped to serve as base for drones

Crown Copyright/MoD

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efence Select Committee evidence released to the public appears to indicate that in the absence of sufficient numbers of F-35B Lightning II aircraft and helicopters, one of the two British aircraft carriers could alternatively be equipped to serve as a base for squadrons of drones.

Such a policy could allow for both Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales to be held at ‘very high-readiness’ at the same time.

Before he assumed the role of Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin addressed the select committee and commented on how he expected the Royal Navy to able to provide mass.

“Are we matching what the Department has always said, which is that the carrier full operating capability matures at the end of 2024 and needs to be able to deploy 24 jets on an aircraft carrier? We are absolutely on track to be able to do that, and I think that has always been a very clear aspiration and it has been laid out.

Within the Navy - so not yet a departmental plan - how might we be able to look to provide a second carrier air wing? In the modern world, does that mean purely more jets, or is it what I think most of us would see as being a hybrid force of both jets and drones?”

Much sharing of information and technology with the Royal Air Force has been undertaken particularly in regard to the development of the RAF’s Mosquito and LANCA ((Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft) programmes for autonomous aerial vehicles.

Admiral Sir Radakin continued: “If you look at what is going on with the Air Force and their Mosquito and LANCA programme, and if you saw what happened in September with HMS Prince of Wales flying the first jet drone, that is the area that we want to pursue.

Then we can start to give Ministers choices around whether or not it might be feasible, but not at the expense of buying lots of expensive aircraft even more quickly. Are there opportunities with the cost of drones? Does it become a better offensive capability to blend drones with crewed jets?

And does that then start to allow you the opportunity for two carrier air wings to marry up with both carriers?”

Whilst there is a great deal of sharing of ideas and technologies between the British Armed Forces, the Royal Navy continues to develop its own ‘Project Vixen’ drones that could be utilised in a wide range of applications from airborne early warning (AEW), aerial refuelling vis a viz American carriers with their Stingray UAVs or even some combat roles.

DRONES

Drone technology is at the forefront of the RN’s Future Maritime Aviation Force that envisages the current helicopter based AEW Crowsnest system on the Merlin HM2 with a fixed-wing UAV, (the Vixen) when that programme reaches maturity estimated to be in the 2030 timeframe.

The first flight of the similar Mosquito UAV is expected to take place in 2023 and is currently supporting more than 100 jobs in Belfast where the aircraft and associated equipment is being developed. Mosquito and stablemate Vixen will be the first uncrewed aerial platforms in the British military to have the capability to target and shoot down enemy aircraft. Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin addressing the Royal United Strategic Institute Combat Air Power conference explained the UK’s position: “The uncrewed combat aircraft will be designed to fly at high-speed alongside fighter jets, armed with missiles, surveillance and electronic warfare technology to provide a battle-winning advantage over hostile forces. Known as a ‘loyal wingman’, these aircraft will be the UK’s first uncrewed platforms able to target and shoot down enemy aircraft and survive against surface to air missiles.”

For the RN what does the introduction of large fixed-wing drones signify? Certainly, it would mean that some kind of catapult launch system would be required for operation aboard the QE aircraft carriers and in 2021 the MOD asked industry to supply information on such systems that will include electromagnetic catapults and modern arrestor wire systems. Such systems will be unlikely powerful enough to launch a fully loaded F-35C Lightning, however any supplier would need to be able to install catapult and recovery systems on suitable ships from 2023.

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ROYAL NAVY HMS Queen Elizabeth

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HMS Queen Elizabeth ROYAL NAVY

On 9 December 2021, HMS Queen Elizabeth returned home to Portsmouth after her maiden operational deployment which took the nation’s flagship to the Indo-Pacific and back. On a landmark seven-month mission the aircraft carrier and her task group of eight supporting ships, a submarine, five air squadrons and more than 3,700 personnel visited more than 40 countries. Her F-35B stealth jets flew more than 4,000, including combat sorties bombing remaining elements of Daesh, while the ship worked with allied and partner nations forging new ties, renewing old friendships and flying the flag for Britain.

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“We’re Going to Need a Bigger Navy” ROYAL NAVY Report

On the 14th December 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a report entitled, “We’re Going to Need a Bigger Navy”. Below is the un-edited summary of The Conclusion and Recommendations Committee.

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n this increasingly insecure security environment, there is a danger the Royal Navy will not be able to cope. The Navy’s capabilities are stretched thin between its current missions: additional tasks or an unexpected crisis could break it. From now until at least 2027, it must take on increased responsibilities in a deteriorating international security environment, relying on a mix of elderly vessels that are often unavailable and new and untested assets and processes, with a tight budget for operations and maintenance.

The Government has impressive ambitions for it after it passes this period of risk, but it can only do so if it succeeds in delivering several highly complicated new platforms and managing the transitions as they come into service.

The Department must help the Navy mitigate these risks by: * ensuring it is being honest with other government departments, international partners and the public with regards to whether the Royal Navy is capable of a meaningful presence in the Indo-Pacific, whilst fulfilling existing obligations to NATO and European partners; * collaborating with the UK shipbuilding sector by providing an assured pipeline of work and actively intervening to support the modernisation of yards, which will support the delivery of new vessels; * addressing issues with availability and maintenance; * doing more at the political level to ensure allies will deliver the capabilities the Navy is relying on; * being honest about both the strengths and weaknesses of our fleet and strategy.

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Parliament will support this with enhanced scrutiny of key programmes, the transition process and progress towards growing the fleet, and management of availability issues.

The Royal Navy’s Role 01. Over the next decade the UK and the Navy will face an increasingly complex international security environment. Russia and China will remain the primary adversaries at sea, with the relative importance of the UK’s response to each likely to shift and potentially interact through the decade. Developments in technology, particularly in hypersonic weapons, are changing the conduct of naval warfare and grey zone operations are becoming increasingly important for the UK’s security in the maritime domain, as they are in others.

02. The Government has ambitious plans for the Royal Navy. The Integrated Review has given the Navy a significantly increased, and potentially the leading, role in the UK’s security posture. It is likely to be the Government’s tool of choice to deliver its strategy of persistent engagement and competition below the threshold of warfare. As a result, the Navy must be able to deliver constabulary and presence operations for peace time maritime security, while still able to perform high-end warfighting functions effectively, including upholding NATO taskings and other international agreements.

03. The Navy cannot fulfil the full ambition of the Integrated Review with its current fleet.

It needs more lower-end, adaptable vessels, like the planned Type 31 frigate, to fulfil the presence operations planned. A large part of the Government’s plan to address this relies on increasing availability, as well as through the Type 32 programme. We are not convinced that increased availability can produce enough vessels to be relied upon in an emergency.

If the Navy intends to deliver all missions, especially the presence the IR specifies, growth of major surface combatants needs to double, with growth from small, adaptable vessels. The resource budget, personnel and the number of auxiliary vessels should grow commensurately. This expansion will require a significant increase in funding.

04. The Ministry of Defence should be honest with the public about the deteriorating international security situation, the capabilities the Navy will need to protect Britain in this environment, and the funding required to deliver those capabilities. We believe that if the public understands the Navy’s requirements, they will support the increase in funding necessary to deliver it.

05. The Indo-Pacific tilt is a significant change in the UK’s defence posture which will increase the demand and risk placed on finite resources.

We will consider the value and effectiveness of the overall tilt policy and greater engagement in the region in future inquiries. Under current plans the naval assets assigned to the Indo-Pacific are only sufficient for the current very limited presence operations in a stable security environment. It is unlikely that they will be able to complete more challenging missions, and may even find themselves in danger, if the UK is drawn more deeply into the region and forced to commit more forces to defend UK interests, or if the local security situation deteriorates. As a result, the increased commitment to the region must be regarded as one of the many risks the Royal Navy faces in a bumpy decade. The Government must be honest with the public with regards to the cost of the Indo-Pacific tilt. The Department should confirm in its response how regular future carrier strike group deployments will be, and whether they will have the same fleet composition, missions and support from allies as the 2021 carrier strike group deployment.

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Report ROYAL NAVY

07. The Department should provide further explanation of what Carrier Enabled Power Projection (CEPP) is intended to deliver. This should include consideration of what innovative capabilities the carriers can provide beyond carrier strike, littoral manoeuvre and humanitarian assistance, and more information on what role the F-35 will play in delivering an offensive air capability after any improvements to its armaments. It should be set out in advance of the aircraft carriers’ next deployment in a published strategy, with a classified annex if necessary.

08. In light of the Department’s own target that the UK’s CEPP capability will reach Full Operating Capacity in 2026, 2025 is too long to wait to know the size of the planned F-35 fleet and how it could be used.The Department must provide clarity on how it intends to operate the F-35 fleet before then. It must specifically address the questions of how many carriers and F-35s will be operated by the Navy and the RAF as part of routine operations and how a surge capacity will be delivered if one is planned. The Department should also be clear about what role uncrewed aircraft will play and when and how that role can be delivered. Until the Department provides clarity on all these points it is impossible for them or us to be reasonably sure of the risks the programme is carrying and how they can be mitigated.

09. It is clear that the budget priorities of successive governments have delivered a fleet of porcupines (well-defended herbivores).

We welcome the promises from the Department that future vessels will carry the offensive missiles they need and in particular that this will restore a land attack capability to the fleet.

The Department must deliver the funding to swiftly end the spectacle of space on highly capable vessels being used to carry nothing but air. This should include consideration of both the threats and the opportunities posed by hypersonic missiles as well as the potential to use common missile silos across classes and to deliver compatibility with different international partners. The Department should confirm in its response that it still intends the FC/ASW to be compatible with the Mark 41 vertical launch system. The Department should also be mindful of previous warnings that procuring a ‘bridging’ system with long post-2030 life expectancy could damage the relationship with France.

10. The delivery of digital and data integration like the Naval Strike Network will be absolutely crucial if the fleet is to be operated effectively.

The Department must ensure that the Naval Strike Network is fully funded and compatible with Defence’s digital backbone.

11. Evidence continues to show that sacrificing the Royal Navy’s amphibious capability would be, in the words of our predecessor Committee, “a short-sighted, militarily illiterate manoeuvre totally at odds with strategic reality.” Against this background we are concerned that the Future Commando Force and the Littoral Response Groups are not properly resourced to continue amphibious operations. The Department must confirm that it remains committed to retaining the Royal Marines’ amphibious capabilities.

12. The underwater domain will become an ever more important part of naval warfare in the future. The Department should explore increasing the size of the attack submarine fleet as part of the Astute successor programme, Submersible Ship Nuclear Replacement (SSNR).

At the very least it must confirm in its response that it will not decrease the number of attack submarines in the fleet below the seven Astute-class submarines it plans to operate.

The Department must also consider whether the SSNR submarine design will include a horizontal launch missile system in line with current UK submarines, or a vertical launch system for systems such as Tomahawk, in line with some of the more modern US Navy submarines. The Department should confirm in its response how it will ensure that current UK attack submarines retain their land attack missile capability, given the US Navy’s transition to vertical launch systems.

13. We are very concerned that the limited resource budget allocated under the Spending Review for the remainder of this Parliament will be insufficient to properly operate and maintain the full fleet. We were not convinced by the Department’s assertion that “the resource budget is adequate to ensure that we maintain the crewing and effectiveness of those additional resources”. If this is not remedied, there will almost certainly have to be a compensating reduction in maintenance of or operations by the aircraft carriers or other vessels. If the Navy attempts to cut the payroll costs element of RDEL by reducing personnel numbers, this could make it even harder to bring in the new classes of vessels in the 2030s as planned. Defence spending must increase to allow the Navy’s resource budget to beat inflation and to accommodate any new cost model for the aircraft carriers.

HMS Kent returning from CSG21

Crown Copyright/MoD

The Current Fleet 06. The Royal Navy should be proud of its position as one of the leading global navies and its ability to deliver and operate two aircraft carriers. The carrier strike group deployment has shown that, when working with allies, the Navy can deliver a task group able to meet the goals of establishing presence, building relationships with partners and supporting trade.

The servicemen and women and civilian staff who worked hard to deliver the deployment should be proud of their achievement. We note that the loss of the F-35 plane, which is still being managed as we write this report, is a significant incident, and we are thankful for the safe recovery of the pilot.

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ROYAL NAVY Report 14. The Navy plans to rely on allies to provide capabilities in almost all military operations and for most major missions working with allies will not be optional. Overall, this way of working is a source of strength for the Navy. However, we do need an honest assessment of the way in which we will integrate in the systems of allies.

The Department must do more at the political level to ensure the Navy can rely on this support when needed, including arranging regular exercises with other navies, and engaging the expanded defence liaison network promised by the DCP. The Department must be clear how far it intends to privilege interchangeability with the US over interoperability with other partners and what the trade-offs involved are.

It must also be honest about the realistic limits on its ability to act alone.

15. Building interoperability with nations in the Indo-Pacific will be vital for delivering any tilt to the region. This must include coordinating with European partners and working to rebuild the military relationship with France. The Navy must continue to regularly exercise with partners in the region after the conclusion of CSG21, which will help to deter adversaries and demonstrate that the UK’s commitment to the region goes beyond rhetoric. This should include regular exercises with European and NATO partners, including consideration of developing a programme of exercises under AUKUS. The Department should develop a strategy for how it will collaborate with both regional partners and NATO allies in the Pacific within the next year. The Department should confirm in its response whether the Royal Navy will continue to contribute to Op ATALANTA.

Crown Copyright/MoD

16. We support the Navy’s plans to retain a sovereign core capability but are concerned that it cannot currently deliver all the elements required to defend and support the task group.

As a result, the Department must take early action on the availability of attack submarines and destroyers, and the lack of Fleet Solid Support shipping. If action is not taken to address this within the next year, we will begin to request updates on progress twice a year.

The Department should explore whether there is an option of upgrading the Type 45 destroyer to deliver ballistic missile defence and what the costs and timelines involved are and provide us with updates on the exploratory work.

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17. We welcome the Secretary of State’s focus on improving vessel availability as it is crucial for the effective operation of the fleet.

We recognise that the Navy has already taken measures to address it but are concerned that any improvements come from increased use of low-end warships, rather than improvements in the availability of Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers. The availability of these vessels will be particularly important in the next decade to ensure the Navy’s ambitious plans for the fleet can be delivered without capability gaps.

However, availability issues are unlikely to improve significantly, and could potentially deteriorate further, until new frigates are introduced, and the Type 45 Power Improvement Project (PIP) is complete. It is only prudent for the Navy, when it is setting strategic and operational goals over the period, to take a more realistically pessimistic view of UK capabilities than is currently the case.

18. Reporting of availability must improve to avoid concealing issues with the availability of specific classes of vessel.The Ministry of Defence should report annually to Parliament in a written statement on the availability of all surface vessels in the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary by class. The answer to PQ 36545 on Type 23 Frigates, dated 26 July 2021, provides a model and demonstrates that the publication of data at this level of specificity does not compromise security. The Ministry of Defence should also make a classified report to this Committee including details of any times in the previous year when surface vessels were unexpectedly unavailable for more than a month and a list of surface vessels that are expected to enter a refit or maintenance for a year or more, or which are being mothballed, during the course of the following year.

19. The low availability of the UK’s Type 45 destroyers and recognised issues in their propulsion systems are a major cause for concern. The destroyers cannot do their job or effectively deter adversaries if only half, and sometimes only one, of the six ships is available for operations at any time. The PIP that is intended to improve this situation is

scheduled for completion in 2028 but there are indications that timelines may be slipping.

We find it extraordinary that the Navy is prepared to wait seven years to fully repair these £1 billion destroyers, which are arguably the most powerful units in the surface fleet after the carriers.

20. The Ministry of Defence should investigate claims that each PIP upgrade could be delivered in less than twelve months and confirm in its response what if any barriers there are to speeding up the programme. The response should also confirm whether an SRO has been appointed for the PIP. If not, one should be appointed and they should be prepared to provide the Committee with an annual report on the programme within six months of appointment, and then annually. If necessary, we will expect the SRO to answer additional questions on their programmes in a public evidence session.

21. The Astute Class represent arguably the best attack submarine in the world, but they cannot effectively deter anyone until they are actually in service; therefore we cannot afford any further delay in the delivery of the remaining Astute boats.We are concerned by reports that submarine availability is weak, and not reassured by learning that the US and Australian submarine fleets are no better. Reported issues with the availability of the Vanguard-class submarines that deliver the nuclear deterrent mean that the Dreadnought successor programme must be brought in on schedule, as further life extensions cannot be relied upon to fill in any gaps. The Ministry of Defence should set out in its response appropriate arrangements it will use to ensure that we are briefed on submarine availability once a year, with due regard to both security and the importance of scrutiny to ensure effective delivery.

Shipbuilding and the Future Fleet 22. The next decade is one of significant risk for the Royal Navy’s fleet. During a period when it is being expected to take on increased responsibilities in a deteriorating international security environment, the Navy will be relying on a mix of elderly vessels (like the Type 23

RFA Tidespring returning from CSG21

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Report ROYAL NAVY frigates) and new and untested assets and processes (like the uncrewed mine countermeasures), while also being constrained by a tight budget for operations and maintenance that will force it to change how it operates.

In addition, crucial programmes like the Crowsnest early warning system, the Type 45 Power Improvement Project and introduction of the Naval Strike Network will not be completed for several years, all of which incurs risk. The Navy will also be forced to carry capability gaps in medical facilities and anti-ship missiles, because of the retirement of RFA Argus and Harpoon, and likely also in its ability to monitor critical national infrastructure and deliver support shipping and logistics, because of the uncertain in-service date of the Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship and delays to the Fleet Solid Support ship programme.

The lack of Fleet Solid Support ships is a particular concern because it threatens the Navy’s ability to deliver a force with a sovereign core that can act independently of allies.

23. Towards the end of this decade the Navy intends to bring in several completely new classes of vessels simultaneously. These plans must be delivered on schedule if the Navy is to avoid capability gaps and end the period of risk it has created through its own planning and procurement decisions.We welcome indications that these programmes are currently on target.

However, past performance is not encouraging, and numerous risks have been identified. The security of the fleet and the UK rely on these projects being delivered on time. Given the challenges associated with the age of the vessels, like the provision of spare parts, we are far from confident that any delays can be effectively managed by extending the life of ageing vessels without additional risk.

24. Proper scrutiny is essential to ensure programmes are delivered on time. In order to allow for proper scrutiny of ongoing programmes, the Ministry of Defence should emulate the US Department of Defense and provide Parliament with an annual shipbuilding plan, including the number of ships planned to enter and leave service each year in the next 30 years.

We ask that the Senior Responsible Owners for the Type 26, Type 31, Astute and Dreadnought programmes provide the Committee with an annual report on each of their programmes within six months of the publication of this report, and then annually. If necessary, we will expect the SROs to answer additional questions on their programmes in a public evidence session.

25. The National Shipbuilding Strategy refresh must finally take on board the consistent recommendations given in successive reports by a range of experts.

This includes providing a steady pipeline of work for British shipyards and working collaboratively with industry. The refresh should: * Ensure warships are built in UK yards and that this designation continues to include the Fleet Solid Support ship contract, as well as future replacements for Tide and Wave-class vessels. * Revisit the principles of the Parker Review and accept that active intervention is required by the government to modernise yards, guarantee an assured pipeline of work for UK yards and protect the skills base. * Prioritise designing vessels for export wherever possible, and consider incorporating adaptability into the design to achieve this; * Give greater weight to social value and needs of UK shipyards when considering competition; * Continue to follow the principles adopted after Sir John Parker’s review, particularly showing agility, pace and grip in procurement, limiting modifications in contract signing and not delaying projects in response to budget pressures; and * Provide an assessment of the skills and professional engineering workforce the UK has and will need in its shipbuilding capability and explain how and on what timescales the Department will develop these.

26. We are not reassured by the Department’s evasiveness around whether the Fleet Solid Support ships will be built in the UK. The Department must ensure the Fleet Solid Support ship contract is built in a UK yard, reflecting its designation as a warship, whilst outlining the Department’s ambition and confidence in UK delivery.

In its response to this report, the Department should confirm how it will restrict the competition to a national build without further delaying the procurement process. It should also confirm whether the programme will follow the other recommendations in Sir Parker’s review, notably pace, grip and designing for export. As the Navy’s only current solid support ship is scheduled to retire in 2028, the new vessels must be delivered as quickly as possible to ensure the Navy can deliver the sovereign core capability it aims for.

27. We welcome the Department’s ambition to bring new technology into the fleet and the opportunities that the large number of planned vessels offer. It provides an early test of the new Integrated Operating Concept. It is essential that NavyX and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) improve their ability to take emerging technology beyond the demonstrator phase and deliver it to the field. Digital systems should be prioritised more highly in procurement, with consideration given to them early in the design and build of new vessels.The Navy should plan as far as possible for them to be fitted flexibly into vessels and regularly upgraded to avoid capabilities becoming out of date. Development stage funding should be increased.We note the importance of space as an enabler for the Navy: the role it plays in delivering military capabilities will be considered as part of our dedicated space inquiry.

28. The Navy is moving towards principles of modularity, autonomy and lethality in vessel design. Modularity is likely to increase vessels’ capabilities and the potential roles they can play. In the future vessels may perform their roles supported by autonomous vessels to which they can act as motherships. The Navy should consider taking a distributed lethality approach to future fleet and vessel design, learning from the US Navy’s development of the concept.

29. The Type 32 frigate programme presents an opportunity to start thinking about how to design vessels for the future. We support the Navy’s proposal for a programme that delivers a less exquisite vessel and increases hull numbers for presence operations in relatively permissive environments and lower-level conflict.We strongly recommend that the Navy look carefully at the possibility of emulating other navies’ successes with heavily armed light frigates/corvettes, and consider delivering a similar vessel fitted with an effective missile capability from the start.

This should be included in any consideration of using common missile silos across vessel classes.

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CORVETTES

Dimitris Mitsopoulos and Dimitris Kelepouris

Modern European corvette designs 2000 - 2030 (Part A)

I

n the recent past, a large number of corvettes were in the inventories of European Navies but currently there are very few, with some being transitioned to offshore patrol vessels (OPV). However, European shipbuilders still build such warships for exports. The current analysis gives an overview of modern European corvette designs, ships that entered service from 2000 or are under construction. Note that there are no internationally recognised standards for the way warships are classified and there is enormous variation in size between vessels that have the same classification, even within NATO.

In this article we consider corvettes as the smallest credible surface combatants, ships bigger and more capable than fast-attack missile craft (FACM) but smaller and cheaper than frigates. They are capable of defending adequately against both surface and air threats, and operate as light frigates and light escorts by being the least capable ocean-going warships.

Nevertheless, modern corvettes are capable of full 4-dimensional warfare and of transoceanic duty. The (numerous) Russian corvette designs are excluded from our analysis.

SPANISH DESIGNS Avante 2200 Patrol, Venezuela The Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has developed the Avante family of ships that includes fast-attack missile craft (FACM), offshore patrol vessels (OPV), corvettes and frigates.

The Venezuelan Navy (Bolivarian Armada of Venezuela) has acquired the Guaiqueri Class,

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a class of four modern OPV featuring stealth technology. The designation is Avante 2200 and often is reported as POVZEE from the Spanish Patrullero Oceánico de Vigilancia de la Zona Económica Exclusiva.

The vessels, Guaiquerí, Warao,Yekuana and Kariña, were built in Navantia shipyard in Cadiz in the period 2008-2010 and commissioned by 2012. They were designed with provision to become corvettes but the installation of their major weapon systems never materialised.

The general characteristics of the class are a displacement of about 2,450t, length of 99m and a speed of 24kt, while the range is 3,500nm at 18kt. The crew totals 60 personnel but the vessel can accommodate a further 32.The ships carry two rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB) and are equipped with a helideck and a hangar to accommodate a medium size (10t) helicopter.

The class is currently armed with the Leonardo OTO Super Rapid (SR) 3in (76.2mm/62cal) gun forward of the bridge.

The armament completes a Rheinmetall Oerlikon MILLENIUM GUN 35mm Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) above the hangar, heavy machine guns and sextuple Mk137 SRBOC decoy launching systems (DLS).

There is provision for future installations of missile systems and torpedo launchers.The ship can receive behind the gun an 8-cell vertical launching system (VLS) for surface-to-air missiles (SAM) such as MBDA VL MICA. Amidships there is space for two quad launchers for surface-to-surface missiles (SSM) such as

MBDA EXOCET. There are also hatches for B515/3 or Mk32 trainable triple torpedo launching systems. The electronic equipment includes Thales SMART-S Mk2 surveillance and target designation 3D radar, Thales STING-EO Mk2 fire control radar (FCR) and electro-optical system (EOS), Thales MIRADOR EOS-FCS,Thales SCOUT Mk2 Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) radar, Thales VIGILE 100 Radar Electronic Support Measures (R-ESM) system and Thales ALTESSE Communications ESM (C-ESM) and Communications Intelligence (COMINT) antenna. The combat management system (CMS) is Thales TACTICOS. On 3 August 2012, Warao grounded on a reef off Fortaleza, Brazil when arriving for the joint exercise “VenBras-2012” with the Brazilian Navy.

Since then, the ship is out of service.

Avante 2200 Combatant, Saudi Arabia In July 2018 it was announced that Navantia had signed an agreement with the Royal Saudi Navy for the construction of five Avante 2200 corvettes in Spain with the last vessel to be delivered to Saudi Arabia by 2024.

The first corvette, Al Jubail, was launched in July 2020. The names of the rest of ships are Al Diriyah, Hail, Jazan and Unaizah. The ships in the Al Jubail Class have a length of 104m, a beam of 14 and will be able to accommodate a total of 102 people including crew and passengers.

The maximum speed is 27kt. A hangar and helicopter flight deck can accommodate a 10tonnes class helicopter such as the MH60R. Each ship carries two RHIB.

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Ada-class corvette TCG Büyükada.

Navantia is incorporating its own products on the designs, such as the CATIZ CMS, the NAVCOMS Integrated Communications Systems (ICS) and HERMESYS full-Internet Protocol (IP) Integrated Communications Control System (ICCS), the DORNA Mod 3A FCR for the gun control, the COMPLEXSIMPLEX Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) and the MINERVA Integrated Navigation and Bridge System (INBS), together with other equipment developed by Navantia under license, such as the MTU Engines and the RENK Reduction Gearboxes. The rest of the electronic equipment includes Hensoldt's TRS-4D MFR, a Thales CAPTAS-2 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS), Indra RIGEL R-ESM/R-ECM electronic warfare (EW) suite, Indra REGULUS C-ESM/COMINT antenna, Hensoldt SHARPEYE navigation/surveillance radars and various EOS. The class is armed with the Leonardo OTO 3in SR naval gun in a stealth cupola forward of the bridge. Behind of it, there is a 16-cell VLS for MBDA VL MICA NG SAM. The rest of the armament includes a Rheinmetall Oerlikon MILLENIUM GUN 35mm CIWS above the hangar, two triple torpedo launching systems, two quad MBDA EXOCET MM40 Block3C SSM launchers, two RWS and DLS. TURKISH DESIGNS Ada Class, Turkey The MILGEM project (Turkish: Milli Gemi, means National Ship), is a Turkish national warship programme with the aim to design and build locally a fleet of modern multipurpose

Copyright Turkish Navy

Dimitris Mitsopoulos and Dimitris Kelepouris

corvettes and frigates. Through this ambitious programme, Turkey seeks replace older classes in service, to improve national military shipbuilding capacity and skills and ultimately to achieve independence from foreign weapon producers, designers and manufacturers.

The lead ship of the Ada-class corvettes, Heybeliada, was launched at the TNFC’s Istanbul Naval Shipyard September 27, 2008.

The ship entered service on September 27, 2011.

The second vessel Büyükada was commissioned in September 2013. The third ship Burgazada joined the Navy November of 2018. The fourth and last ship in the class Kilaniada entered service in September 29, 2019.

The ships displace 2,400 tonnes at full load, have a length of 99.5m, beam of 14.4m, maximum speed of +29kt and a range of 3,500nm at 15kt. The crew is 93 people while there is accommodation for 106 passengers in total. The ships carry one S-70 Seahawk and a UAV in the hangar. Each corvette carries two RHIB; the one with its davit is located at port side of the ship while the second is located over the steering gear room with a boat ramp at the stern.

Each ship is equipped with a Leonardo OTO 76mm/62cal SR gun fitted with a stealth cupola and located on the bow deck and with two Aselsan Stabilized Machine Gun Platforms (STAMP) 12.7mm remote weapon stations (RWS) and the Raytheon RAM Mk31 Guided Missile Weapon System (GMWS) that consists of the missile RIM-116 Rolling Airframe

CORVETTES

Missile (RAM) SAM and the Mk49 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) MK-49 installed atop the helicopter hangar with 21 RAM. Each corvette is armed with eight Boeing RGM-84L HARPOON SSM in two quad launchers amidships. The last corvette in the class is equipped with the indigenous Roketsan ATMACA SSM and perhaps in the future the rest of the ships will be retrofitted with the new missile. For Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) the ships are equipped with two twin Mk32 Mod 9 324mm torpedo launchers in fixed positions for Mk46 or Mk54 lightweight (LWT) torpedoes. The DLS is the BAE Systems Mk36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures (SRBOC). The first two corvettes of the class are equipped with the British Ultra Electronics SEA SENTOR Surface Ship Torpedo Defence (SSTD) system but from the third ship and after, the system is replaced by the indigenous and more advanced Aselsan HIZIR. The electronic equipment includes a SMART-S Mk2 naval 3D multibeam air and surface surveillance radar which is manufactured locally by Aselsan under license and a Thales STING-EO Mk2 FCR. From the third ship and after, the STING has been replaced by the newer STIR 1.2 EO FCR. The corvettes are equipped with two Sperry Marine VISIONMASTER FT navigation radars and an Aselsan ALPER LPI radar. Aselsan provides also the Laser Warning Receiver named LIS, the ARES-2N R-ESM, the SATCOM antennas, the ASELFLIR-300T EOS (first two vessels) and the SeaEye AHTAPOT EOS (last two vessels).

The ships are equipped with the indigenous hull mounted sonar (HMS) TBT-01 Yakamoz and the Yaltes UNIMACS 3000 IPMS. Also, the ships have a nationally developed networkcentric CMS, the GENESIS. The Roketsan- and Havelsan-built ADVENT ship CMS, an upgraded version of GENESIS, equips the last ship in the class, Kinaliada and will be retrofitted also to Burgazada.

Babour Class, Pakistan In July 2018, a contract was signed between Turkey and Pakistan for the construction of four MILGEM-class vessels based on Turkish Ada-class design but much larger. The keel laying for this first corvette, Babur, took place on June 4, 2020 and was launched on August 15, 2021 at Istanbul Naval Shipyard in Turkey.

It is expected to be delivered to Pakistan Navy in 2023. The last ship will be handed over in 2025. The two vessels are being constructed at Istanbul Naval Shipyard whereas the remaining two at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering (KS&EW) in Pakistan. The fourth and vessel was laid down on November 5, 2021 at KS&EW.

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CORVETTES

Dimitris Mitsopoulos and Dimitris Kelepouris

Guaiquerí-class (Avante 2200) OPV.

Copyright Navantia

Copyright US Navy

Indonesian Navy Bung Tomo-class corvette KRI John Lie.

Both ships that were constructed in Turkey will be taken to Pakistan for completion.

The contract has provisions for transfer of design rights and construction know-how from Turkey to Pakistan.With the PN-MILGEM Project, Pakistan will gain the ability to design and build its indigenous warship with the support of Turkish engineers. The new design ships that will be built as a continuation of the PN-MILGEM Project are classified as Jinnah-class frigates. The Jinnah-class frigate, which might be based on Babur Class, will be built locally and will be larger and more capable warships.

The Baburs have a displacement of 3,000 tonnes while the length exceeds the 108m. Their speed will approach the 31kt. It is expected that the Pakistani corvettes will be armed with the MBDA ALBATROS NG Naval Based Air Defence (NBAD) system capable of providing defence against the evolving airborne threats at ranges exceeding 40km. The system uses the Extended Range (ER) variant of Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) SAM. Each ship will carry twelve CAMM according to the graphs released.

The armament includes two triple launchers for HARBAH SSM/LACM or a newer missile under development, Leonardo OTO 76mm SR gun, two twin 324mm torpedo launchers, two Aselsan STOP 25mm RWS, Aselsan

Copyright US Navy

Royal Navy of Oman Khareef-class corvette Al Rasikh.

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GOKDENIZ dual barreled 35mm CIWS, Aselsan HIZIR SSTD and DLS. Aselsan will provide also the majority of the electronic equipment such as radars, ARES-2 and AREAS-2 R-ESM and R-ECM respectively, SATCOM, FCR, EOS, laser warning system and others. The CMS will be the ADVENT. The Platform Data Link Terminal (PDLT) will provide the two-way communication between the ship and the SAM. The ships will be able to accommodate a 10-tonnes helicopter in their hangar and two RHIB in davits.

Not defined yet class, Ukraine Turkey and Ukraine signed military cooperation agreements in 2020 with the aim to boost the bilateral relationship to the strategic partner level. Among others, a memorandum was signed with Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) to produce modified Ada-class corvettes for the Ukrainian Navy. The vessels will be built for the Ukrainian Navy using Turkish technologies at the Okean shipyard in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. The construction of the first ship began in April 2021. Turkey’s RMK Marine Shipyard laid the keel of first corvette in Istanbul on September 7, 2021.

The ship will be delivered to Ukraine by the end of 2023 for fitting out and it is expected to become fully operational in 2025.

The corvettes will be outfitted with Boeing RGM-84 HARPOON SSM, eight MBDA VL MICA NG SAM, a Leonardo OTO 76mm SR gun, two twin 324 mm torpedo launchers, a Rheinmetall Oerlikon MILLENIUM GUN 35mm or Aselsan Gökdeniz (naval version of Korkut-D) dual barreled 35mm will be the CIWS, and Asesan STAMP 12.7 mm RWS. The CMS and IPMS will be supplied by the Turkish Havelsan and Yaltes. Similarly to Babur Class, Aselsan will provide the majority of the electronic equipment such as the SMART-S Mk2 radar, R-ESM and R-ECM which will be ARES-2N v.2 and AREAS-2NC respectively, SATCOM, FCR, EOS, laser warning system and others.

BRITISH DESIGNS Bung Tomo Class, Indonesia Before the export success of Type 26 frigate, British shipbuilding sector mainly focused at modernising ex-Royal Navy’s units sold abroad and the promotion of different corvette designs to various countries, especially in Middle East and South East Asia. Indonesia currently operates three British-built Bung Tomo-class corvettes originally ordered by Brunei. The ships were launched in 2001 and 2002 by BAE Systems, but Brunei refused to accept them. The ships were finally handed over to Brunei in 2007 which looked to sell them. Indonesia expressed interest in 2012 and they were commissioned with the Indonesian Navy in 2014.

The general characteristics of Bung Tomo, John Lie and Usman Harun, are a displacement of 1,940t, length of 90m, beam of 12.8m, draught of 3.6m, maximum speed of 30kt and range of 5,000nm at 12kt. They have a crew of 79 and there is room for another 24 people. The ships have flight deck but no hangar and carry a Eurocopter AS565 Panther helicopter. The electronic equipment includes Ultra Electronics/Radamec 2500 EOS, Thales TMS 4130C1 HMS, BAE Systems AWS-9 3D air and surface surveillance radar, two BAE Systems 1802SW FCR, Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation radar, Thales SCOUT LPI radar, Thales CUTLASS 242 R-ESM, Thales SCORPION R-ECM and C-ESM/COMINT antenna on the main mast.

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Dimitris Mitsopoulos and Dimitris Kelepouris

CORVETTES

Copyright STM

Al Jubail Avante 2200 corvette of the Royal Saudi Navy.

The ships are armed with a Leonardo OTO 76mm gun and eight MBDA EXOCET MM40 Block II SSM. Until 2019 they had space for 16 MBDA GWS-26 Sea Wolf SAM, but it was decided to replace them with VL MICA. Further, there are two MSI-Defence DS30B REMSIG 30mm RWS, two Mk32 triple torpedo launchers for LWT ASW torpedoes and two Wallop/Esterline SUPER BARRICADE DLS. In March 2020, Indonesia launched the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the ships in collaboration with PT Len and Thales.

The programme includes Thales TACTICOS CMS, SMART-S Mk2 3D radar, STIR 1.2 EO Mk2 FCR, VIGILE Mk2 R-ESM and new tactical data links (TDL). Existing weaponry will also be fully integrated and as mentioned earlier VL MICA SAM launchers will be installed.

Khareef Class, Oman The Royal Navy of Oman has in service five British-made multirole corvettes, two Qahir Class and three Khareef Class, which were commissioned in 1996-97 and 2013-14 respectively. The three Khareef-class corvettes, Al-Shamikh, Al-Rahmani and Al-Rasikh, were built by BAE Systems and their main characteristics are a displacement of 2,660t, length of 99m, beam of 14.6m, draught of 4.1m, speed over 25kt and range of 4,500nm at cruising speed. The ship has a crew of 100 officers and sailors, while the flight deck can support a medium sized helicopter such as Westland Super Lynx Mk.120. Each vessel carries two RHIB. The ships are armed with the Leonardo OTO 76mm gun and four MBDA EXOCET MM40 Block III SSM. Moreover, they have 12 VL MICA VL SAM, two MSI-Defence DS30M 30mm RWS and two Rheinmetall Multi Ammunition Softkill System (MASS) DLS. The electronic equipment includes the Thales TACTICOS CMS, Thales SMART-S Mk2 3D radar and STIR 1.2 EO Mk2 FCR, Vigile 400 R-ESM, two Chess Dynamics SEA EAGLE EOS, navigation radars and various TDLs.

HTMS Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand Royal Thai Navy commissioned HTMS Prachuap Khiri Khan in 2019, a modified River-class OPV, the second in service with the Navy but different than the older vessel HTMS Krabi, as it is equipped with heavier armament and more advanced electronics, and has the potential to become an actual corvette. It is armed with a Leonardo OTO 76mm gun, four Boeing RGM-84 HARPOON SSM, two MSI-Defence DS30M 30mm RWS and SRBOC DLS. The ship has a displacement of 2,000t, length of 90.5m, beam of 13.5m, draught of 3.5m, speed of 25kn and a range of 3.500nm at 15kt.The crew consists of 39 officers and sailors. The ship has flight deck for a helicopter and carries two RHIB.The electronic equipment includes Thales VARIANT air and surface surveillance radar with integrated SCOUT LPI radar, SHARPEYE navigation radars and Thales STING FCR. SWEDISH DESIGNS Visby Class, Sweden The Swedish Navy possesses five Visby-class corvettes, Visby, Helsingborg, Härnösand, Nyköping and Karlstand, commissioned between 2002 and 2015. The option on a sixth vessel, Uddevalla, was cancelled. These all-composite carbon-fibre hull and superstructure hi-tech ships are able to cover a wide range of roles and are well-known for their stealth design.

The majority of the weapons and sensors are mounted internally, are hoistable or retractable, or are hidden behind hatches. The use of Genuine Holistic Stealth (GHOST) technology minimises significantly the optical and infrared

signature, above water acoustic and hydroacoustic signature, underwater electrical potential and magnetic signature, pressure signature, radar cross section and actively emitted signals.

The general characteristics of the class are a displacement of 650t at full load, length of 72.7m, beam of 10.4m, draught of 2.4m, speed at full displacement +35kt and range of about 2,500nm at 15kt. The ships have a crew of 43 officers and sailors while there is a flight deck for an AgustaWestland A109M helicopter and/or UAV. They are equipped with a dual role Bofors 57mm/70cal Mk3 naval gun in a specially designed stealthy cupola, machine guns and eight Saab RBS15 Mk2 (Mk4 in the future) SSM while they have four single torpedoes tubes for Saab LWT torpedoes. Furthermore, they carry mines and depth charges.Visby vessels were not initially fitted with a VLS for SAM, despite the provision for it, but could later be equipped on.

They can also carry various remotely operated vehicles (ROV) for mine hunting and disposal.

The electronic equipment includes Saab 9LV Mk3E CETRIS CMS, Saab SEA GIRAFFE AMB 3D surveillance radar, Saab CEROS 200 FCR, L3Harris CS-3701 R-ESM, navigation radar and a fully integrated HYDRA sonar suite.

The HYDRA consists of a Hydroscience Technologies passive towed array sonar (TAS), a C-Tech CVDS-26 VDS and a C-Tech CHMS-90 HMS. In January 2021 Saab and the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) signed two agreements for an MLU of the Visbys as well as the product definition phase for the next generation Visby Generation II corvettes.

Visby-class corvette.

Copyright SAAB

Copyright Navantia

Ada-class corvette TCG Kinaliada.

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FEATURE

Phillip Parotti

W

ith no disrespect intended and regardless of the fact that I grew up in the heart of America’s “Old West,” my heroes have never been cowboys. Instead, both during and after World War II, I spent my youth surrounded by active duty servicemen and veterans, and on the school grounds, my generation spent more time talking about armored vehicles, warships, and aircraft than any of us ever spent talking about baseball.

Measured beside the immensity of WWII and the Korean Conflict which followed, we knew what had to be taken seriously and what did not, and that probably explains why, in the late 1950s, feeling a sense of obligation to “The Greatest Generation” for what they had done to make the world safe for us, I set my sights on being accepted into the United States Naval Academy so that I could try to pay back some of what I thought I owed.

When I swore my oath at Annapolis in the summer of 1959, I suddenly faced any number of surprises. Rather than join a group of Midshipmen who were all my same age, I found that I had joined a collection of young men which included veterans of every service, many of them wearing campaign ribbons from Korea and the Formosan Patrol, men who had already been through one, two, three, or even four previous years of college as well as former civilians from everywhere in the country.

Academics, physical training, and required sports proved rigorous, and as I recall we virtually ran everywhere knowing that if we were as much as ten seconds late for any evolution, we would be put on report and assigned punishment tours. Like everyone else, after a period of adjustment, I settled in, committed myself to the programme, and, after a fashion, thrived amidst the fierce competition with the result that in June 1963 I somehow graduated in the upper half of my class and received my commission along with a set of orders that sent me to San Diego, California for destroyer duty aboard a relatively new guided missile frigate, the USS Preble (DLG-15).

USS Preble underway at sea, probably when first completed, circa 1960.

Note her ASROC launcher has not yet been installed. In June 1963, Parotti graduated and received his commission along with a set of orders that sent him for destroyer duty aboard Preble.

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Life as a regular officer in the Navy and aboard a serving ship turned out to be a great deal different from from the four years I’d spent at Annapolis. In the first place, without a car or connections on the beach, I lived aboard, sharing a stateroom with a much older, highly experienced Mustang, a former Chief Petty Officer who had come up through the ranks and who taught me more about the Navy than I could ever have imagined. And put bluntly, he wasn’t the only one.

During my first meeting with the ship’s executive officer, something which took place within ten minutes of my reporting aboard, he quickly handed me a ship’s instruction to revise, a directive. At the time, I didn’t even know what an instruction was; we had never seen one at Annapolis. I revised it, returned it only to find the red ink corrections he appended went beyond anything any English teacher had ever made on one of my student papers, and then spent the remainder of my first day revising it several more times until I brought the document up to his standards.

That was my introduction to what we called paperwork in the Navy, and it came as a shock.

And, as I swiftly learned, everything we did aboard the Preble had to come up to the same high standards.

Very swiftly, after the captain’s return to the ship, I found myself assigned to be the Assistant Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer and served in that capacity for the remainder of my time aboard. Although the ship sometimes spent weekends in port, we spent considerable time at sea training for our deployment to the Western Pacific which happened to be scheduled for the late fall.

In addition, we spent several weeks in the yards in Long Beach and came out in time to go through the exhausting evolution known as “Refresher Training,” four weeks of day and night exercises in which we honed every wartime skill that could be imagined and slept very little, inspectors sometimes coming aboard as early as 0400 in the morning before leaving as late as midnight, and in the midst of that, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and both San Diego and the world shut down for an entire week.

During that time I ran the ship’s liberty boat through dense fog and without a compass for six straight days, steering by the sound of fog horns and buoy bells. A week or two later, an engineering casualty sent us back to the yards and caused us, in December of that year, to miss steaming for the Western Pacific with the remainder of our squadron, so when we finally departed for Japan, we did so alone and only after the New Year had been celebrated.

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FEATURE All photos copyright US Navy - Naval History and Heritage Command

Phillip Parotti

A Recollection of Distant Seas Phillip Parotti grew up in New Mexico, graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1963, and served four years at sea on destroyers, before exchanging his regular commission for a commission in the US Naval Reserve. In addition to a number of short stories, essays, and poems, Parotti has published three well-received novels. His latest work of fiction ‘Splinter in the Tide’ is a page-turning historical portrayal of war, hardship and discovery of the true cost for sailors’ survival.

Here we present memories and stories, as he recollects his time in service.

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FEATURE

Phillip Parotti USS Bronstein off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, on 28 August 1972.

Once back in Yokosuka Parotti received orders transferring him to Bronstein.

USS Joseph K. Taussig underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 16 September 1970. Without prior warning, Parotti received a set of orders directing him to report to Newport, Rhode Island where he would take over as the Weapons Department Head on the vessel.

The Preble’s voyage to Yokosuka in 1964 turned out to be a gruelling experience.

Given the vagaries of the weather in those winter seas, our captain caught cold on the way to Pearl Harbor, and then, steaming independently, by the time we pulled out of our fuelling stop at Midway Island, his cold had degenerated into a case of the flu.

Directed to proceed at once by 7th Fleet, within six hours of leaving Midway, we found ourselves riding the edge of a truly dangerous typhoon. Never before or since have I seen seas of such immensity. Across the seven or eight days that followed, with green water crashing all the way back over the flying bridge, our aluminium superstructure cracked in more than 150 places flooding every topside space with four to six inches of water. Fortunately, our steel hull remained intact, but about four days from Japan, we were forced to shut down one propellor shaft owing to a hot bearing, and had the other shaft failed, we would have rolled over and gone down in less than a minute.

And by that time, our captain’s flu had also devolved into pneumonia owing to the sleepless strain he’d been under. Throughout that entire voyage, he never once left his place on the bridge.

“At what point,” I remember foolishly asking my roommate, “does the old man turn it over to the exec so that the corpsman can give him the medical attention he needs.”

“When the captain dies,” he laughed at me, “the exec will take over.” It was the best lesson I ever learned about the final responsibility of command. Somehow, we survived the typhoon

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and made it to Yokosuka where, while the ship underwent repairs in the yards, the captain was taken to the hospital. After three weeks, he recovered but came back gaunt and drawn, looking like a spectre.

Subsequently, the Preble steamed through the remainder of the winter and spring, operating with the 7th Fleet, but with a week spent in Yokosuka here, a week in Sasebo there, and a glorious week of R & R in Hong Kong, enough play came with our work so that all of us received an enduring taste of the Far East.

And then, in June, as we steamed out of Tokyo Wan expecting to turn east and head for home where I intended to be married, we turned west and headed for the Tonkin Gulf and Vietnam, and there, for nearly four weeks, we acted as plane guard for the USS Kitty Hawk as she launched air strikes over the Plain of Jars.

For twelve hours each day, broiling beneath a blistering sun, I stood my watches as the gun director officer, and when we were finally relieved by the Maddox and the Turner Joy which soon became famous for the Tonkin Gulf Incident, I heaved a sigh of relief and hoped my intended would forgive me for missing our wedding.To my shock, no sooner did the ship put back into Yokosuka than I received a set of urgent orders transferring me to the USS Bronstein (DE-1037) home-ported in San Diego, so after a quick turnover to my successor, a wrenching departure from the ship which had become my home, and a long plane flight, I landed in San Francisco, called my future wife, and managed to reset the day of our wedding.

The Bronstein (when I reported aboard as her Gunnery Assistant in charge of ASROC, her 3”/50 guns, and her anti-submarine torpedoes), was barely a year old, new, and clean, and attractive, and the roommate I immediately acquired became a lifelong friend. Owing to my previous watch standing experience, not many weeks went by before the captain qualified me as an Officer of the Deck for Independent Steaming, and then, very swiftly, I found myself also qualified as an OOD for Fleet Steaming, so from that time forward and with a spot promotion to LT (j.g.), I began running my own watch sections while performing nearly every evolution that a ship could entertain from refuelling at sea to docking in port.

In the fall of that year, because the Bronstein carried the most advanced sonar then deployed by the navy, we found ourselves engaged in testing her equipment all over the eastern Pacific and subsequently spent two months in Hawaii running tests around the islands, gathering data for refinement of the sound device. Settled in San Diego that year, my new bride and I eventually welcomed the arrival of our first daughter, and two months after her birth and once again with a winter ship movement, the Bronstein departed for a long deployment to WESTPAC. Falling right in line with my previous experience, all the way from Midway to Yokosuka, we endured a storm so heavy that every man not on watch had no choice but to keep to his bunk, but while horrendous, that storm never reached the proportions of the typhoon the Preble had experienced and the ship did

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Phillip Parotti not have to go in for repairs when we reached Japan. But once there, with only a few days in port for rest and upkeep, we steamed straight to Vietnam where, with no missiles to provide air cover for a carrier and with insufficient flank speed to keep up with one, we found ourselves steaming in squares at 3 knots, five miles on a side, 50 miles south of Red China’s Hainan Island, acting as a radar picket for a seemingly interminable period that lasted nearly 50 straight days.

That duty proved more than miserable, and I doubt that one could find a man on board who hadn’t been seriously infected with debilitating heat rash. In truth, we never closed to within fifty miles of Vietnam proper, never interdicted any North Vietnamese junks or sampans attempting to carry supplies south, and never heard a shot fired in anger, and when our ordeal finally came to an end, we were granted a week’s R & R in Manila before departing on a SEATO exercise in company with ships from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Thailand. That exercise, by everyone’s admission, approached more closely to what we imagined convoy duty during the Second World War to have been like than anything we’d ever experienced as mock air and submarine attacks came at us from every direction on a daily basis.

In the weeks and months which followed, we did additional short periods of radar picket duty off the coast of Vietnam, rode out a typhoon in Subic Bay in the Philippines, ran more exercises with the 7th Fleet, spent a month on the Formosan patrol going in and out of Kaohsiung, and enjoyed an additional week of R & R in Hong Kong before, finally, returning to Yokosuka from whence we steamed for the United States. At home and reunited with our families, rather than enjoy time off and a gradual slowdown from what had turned out to be a long deployment, the navy immediately hit us with such an array of administrative, material, and weapons inspections that we felt ourselves worked to the bone, and in the midst of that, without prior warning, I received a set of orders directing me to report to Newport, Rhode Island where I would take over as the Weapons Department Head on the USS Joseph K. Taussig (DE-1030).

Reaching Newport on 6 November 1966, my wife, small daughter, and I arrived just in time for the first snow, and indeed, from the time we arrived until the moment we departed in June of 1967, we never found ourselves without snow or ice somewhere, even if only still wedged into the crevices of the stone walls surrounding our house. By that time, relying on the accepted word, word that the US “had seen light at the end of the tunnel,”

everyone I knew or came in contact with thought that the war in Vietnam was winding down, that it had been won and would soon be ended, so by that time, implicitly believing the accepted wisdom and, seeing no particular need for my wartime skills after my transfer to the East Coast, I’d made my decision to resign my regular commission, take a commission in the reserves, and enroll for graduate school.

But first, I had to complete my four year obligation as a regular, and regular duty in Newport proved a wholly new experience.

The two coldest days I’ve ever lived through, days in which I still don’t know how I emerged without frostbite, were both afforded me by the navy.The first occurred when we Midshipmen were bused down to Washington DC to march in John F. Kennedy’s inaugural parade and stood on solid ice for several hours before marching off, and the second came when the Taussig ventured into the North Atlantic for what was supposed to have been a winter gunnery practice in 1967.

There, the plane assigned to tow a target sleeve for the shoot could not fly owing to the intense cold, and after waiting for hours beside an open gun director and without regard to the layers of arctic clothing I had worn, I still don’t know how I was able to climb down after the shoot had been cancelled. All I can remember is feeling frozen to the bone.

In what to me has always seemed like a unique experience, not a month after I joined the ship, the executive officer, in response to a family emergency, took a six month leave of absence from the navy, and to my shock, in the moment he left the ship, I learned that my duties were to be increased. Not only would I continue to serve as the ship’s Weapons Officer, I would also take over as the Executive Officer during the period that the real exec remained away.

And then, when the captain was called to a conference in Norfolk, Virginia a few weeks later, I suddenly found myself signing for the ship as Officer in Charge to act as the ship’s temporary captain while he was gone.Two nights later, as a hurricane blew rapidly up the coast, I spent all night on the bridge with steam up, waiting for the order to sortie, but blissfully, the hurricane missed Newport, struck Long Island like a cue ball, and bounced directly east into the mid-Atlantic without ever forcing me to take the ship to sea.

In order to train in the winter, Taussig was then dispatched to Puerto Rico for a six week period of exercises, but two days before we returned to Newport, not an hour after I had come off the mid-watch and retired to my bunk, an electrical connection in the wardroom directly overhead shorted and set the wardroom on fire with the result that my roommate and I had to crack the hatch over

FEATURE

our heads and race up two long ladders and onto the bridge, holding our breath in order to avoid inhaling the acrid smoke. And then, one night later, as we prepared to enter port on the following morning, I stepped onto the bridge at 0400, a cup of wake-up coffee still in my hand, to find myself immersed in total darkness. No matter, I knew my way around the bridge in the dark, found my binoculars in their case, and began trying to adjust my night vision.

But after ten minutes of fruitless effort, I finally heard the captain who I had not imagined to be sitting in his chair tell me to crack the hatch and see if things were any better when seen from the bridge wing.

By that time, hearing a titter here and there, I had finally tipped to the joke, cracked the hatch, found the bridge instantly flooded with moonlight and stepped out to the sound of laughter behind me to find that I’d been trying to look through nearly three inches of solid ice.

Indeed, the entire ship was so encased with ice that the captain had become concerned about stability and been on the bridge for at least an hour, and when we finally steamed into Narragansett Bay but before we could make up to the pier, we had to stop the ship in order to clear away enough of the ice so that we could handle lines.

With regard to paying the debt that I thought and still think is owed to “The Greatest Generation” . . . ,well, I don’t suppose that is a debt that can ever be paid, but for the fact that it stimulated me to serve my years in the regular navy and in the reserves, I will always be grateful. While, in the end, I did not elect to make the navy my career, my time in service nevertheless gave me the firmest of foundations for my life.

At the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, young Ensign Ash Miller takes command of a new submarine chaser, brings together the untried crew, and leads them in the desperate fight against the German U-boats.

During rare breaks in operations, provided for upkeep and overhaul, Ash enters a developing relationship with the spirited Claire Morris who, as he learns, embodies the peaceful ideal for which he has been fighting. Splinter on the Tide is the engaging story of a young American naval officer undertaking his first command, in the middle of WWII. A vividly imagined and beautifully drawn depiction of life aboard a USN submarine hunter. £17.99 p/b Available at www.navybooks.com

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BOOKSHELF

New Titles

Book reviews Images of War - Essex Class Aircraft Carriers 1943-1991 Leo Marriott £15.99 Paperback When you think of the space race of the early 1960s you might recall images of astronauts having achieved amazing feats in space being plucked from the ocean by US Navy helicopters and landing on the decks of aircraft carriers in triumph. It is more than an average chance that those ships belonged to the Essex Class built in large numbers during World War Two, to take the war across the Pacific and right on into the Japanese home islands. Something I learnt from reading this book by respected naval historian and writer Leo Marriott, was that in the 1960s the Essex Class could possibly have played an even bigger and more significant role in the conquest off space, as mobile ship based launching sites for rockets.

One proposal from 1961 called for an Essex-class aircraft carrier to be converted with the removal of the aft part of its flight deck and the erection of a launch gantry in its place to launch Atlas rockets into space.

The logic of the suggestion was many fold, most of the best launch positions to achieve a stable orbit in space are not to be found on land and there were still plenty of unused Essex-class ships held in reserve around the United States in 1961. Sadly, this project never materialised. It is fair to say that without aircraft carriers, and in particular the Essex Class, the United States Navy could not have won the Pacific War of 1941-1945.Their contribution to the fight was immense, as was their sacrifice. Their service, however, continued into the Korean and Vietnam conflicts and their contribution to the US Navy only ceased as recently as 1991 when the last of the class, USS Lexington, for nearly four decades in service as a training carrier, came to an end.

Leo Marriott has numerous naval books to his credit and this new one follows the tried and tested pattern for this series of books with a wealth of rare photographs culled from a variety of national archives and each given a full description. The author’s extensive knowledge of the subject is displayed in the text with full descriptions of the development, construction and deployment of the Essex-class vessels.

Today dotted around the United States are four survivors of the class now serving as museum ships: USS Lexington at Corpus Christi in Texas, USS Hornet at Alameda in California, USS Intrepid in the heart of the bustling metropolis of New York and USS Yorktown in Charleston in South Carolina. This is an excellent well produced book and one that despite the well-trod nature of the subject matter has something new to give to both new and older readers.

Reviewed by Patrick Boniface

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Images of War - United States Navy Destroyers Michael Green £15.99 Paperback What links the United States Navy’s first torpedo boat destroyer USS Bainbridge, commissioned in 1902, with the latest American destroyer, the futuristic looking USS Zumwalt? Both were initially heavily criticised for design faults and cost overruns, the latter so serious that the planned class of 32 vessels has since been pruned to just three. The Bainbridge Class, on the other hand, faired a lot better in the long run. The author states clearly at the beginning of his book that it is ‘not a comprehensive history’ of the subject but rather ‘a broad overview’. This is certainly true and neither does Michael Green make any assumptions of prior knowledge making sure, to give just one example of many, that the correct US Navy nomenclature for ‘turrets’ and ‘enclosed mounts’ is properly explained.

He also makes quite extensive use of quotations and illustrations from historic copies of official US Navy manuals in order to ease the uninitiated reader through what might otherwise be a perplexing series of technical explanations. The book is divided into five, chronologically arranged chapters which chart the story of United States destroyers from the earliest torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers, through the two world wars and then successively the Cold War and postCold War periods. We become familiar with terms such as ‘flivers’, ‘flush-deckers’ and ‘broken-deckers’ as well some famous names such as the eponymous Fletcher, Gearing and Spruance Classes which have marked the irresistible progress of the United States Navy from its humble, coastal defence origins to its current status as the most powerful naval force in the world over the past three-quarter century.

Each chapter falls into two sections. Firstly some text which chiefly covers ship design matters, propulsion, equipment and armament and then an equal number of pages of annotated photographs. This is no panegyric: Green is ever ready to point to equipment or design failure which brought an abrupt termination to a particular item or even class of ship as he is to praise and to demonstrate the reasons for success.

Although it is readily appreciated that publishers exist to sell copies of their books, the title of this one is somewhat misleading with its over-emphasis on ‘War’. Green’s book covers the entire destroyer story in both peace and war and although a proportion of the photographs are indeed taken from ‘wartime archives’ some of the most interesting rarities are the onboard close-ups or ones taken from an overhead crane while the ship was alongside. United States Navy Destroyers is part of an extensive ‘Images of War’ series and Michael Green is an experienced author who has produced an excellent distillation of a weighty subject written in a very accessible form.

Reviewed by Jon Wise

Shop our latest titles online www.navybooks.com

Order your books today online at www.navybooks.com or by phone on 01628 947 740

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New Titles Mediterranean Naval Battles that Changed the World Quentin Russell £25.00 Hardback The Mediterranean to modern day man is a sea of wonderful holiday destinations in the sun, but it has also always been a maritime highway for trade, colonialism, conquest and war. The sea, until the opening of the Suez Canal in the 19th century, had just one small opening at the Straits of Gibraltar, which have been hotly contested for millennia by countless factions and tribes. With the acquisition of power, land and commerce routes comes the prospect of war, and this excellent new book by Quentin Russell sets out to highlight six of the most important naval battles played out upon the waters of the Mediterranean. The six battles cross the centuries with the defeat of the Persians and the dawning of the Golden Age of Athens at the Battle of Salamis in 480BC, and the victory of Augustus Caesar over Mark Antony at Actium in 31 that led to the fall of the Republic and the foundation of Imperial Rome.

Leaping forward to the year 1571, the author analyses in minute detail the events that led to the battle of Lepanto and the defeat of the Ottoman fleet by an alliance of Catholic forces that directly led to the end of Turkish domination of the Mediterranean Sea. Clearly, at least one of Admiral Horatio Nelson’s famed victories in the Mediterranean warrants analysis and the author has chosen to consider the strategic impact of the Battle of Aboukir Bay in 1798. The final gasp of Turkish dominance in the eastern Mediterranean was blunted at the Battle of Navarino in 1827 when a European coalition of forces united behind the cause of Greek liberty and set in motion the creation of the modern day state of Greece. The final battle Quentin Russell looks at in depth is the struggle for naval supremacy in 1940-42 with the Battle of Matapan and the Battle for Malta that saved the British 8th Army during the North African campaign. The author’s in depth research is astonishing, at times it’s like reading a PhD research paper, but if you want to know every aspect of a battle or campaign and not just the edited highlights, then this excellent book is well worth your time and investment.

Reviewed by Patrick Boniface SBS Silent Warriors Saul David £25.00 Hardback With a subtitle stating that this is the authorised wartime history of the SBS from their archives, this is clearly more than just a few tales about the SBS. In his foreword Admiral Lord Boyce emphasises the strong relationship between the SBS and the Submarine Service and the book tells of the extraordinary feats achieved by this partnership during WWII. It is difficult to review this book without over using the word “extraordinary” and yet the brave exploits in the book were not carried out by superheroes but by people, many of whom had very ordinary backgrounds.

Roger Courtney, acknowledged as the “father of the SBS”, recruited his small teams to carry out beach reconnaissance and raids using folding canoes that could be loaded onto submarines - folboats. Part of the selection process included a session in the pub to find out about the real person! Early operations in the Mediterranean included raids on

BOOKSHELF

the Italian coastal railway from submarines, and beach reconnaissance for the Torch landings; not so successful was an abortive attempt to capture Rommel, and attacks on shipping in Italian ports. One of the submarines used was the Torbay commanded by Lt Cdr Miers, and there is an illuminating slant by one of Courtney’s men on the notorious incident off Crete when German troops were machine gunned in the water.

Op Frankton (led by Blondie Haslar) on shipping in Boulogne has been immortalised as the Cockleshell Heroes, but militarily the raid on Leros (Op Sunbeam) was more spectacular. Lessons learnt from the Torch landings resulted in the setting up of specialist beach survey units (Combined Ops Pilotage parties - COPP) by Lt Cdr Willmott, which were to prove invaluable in operations in both the Far East and Europe.

The COPP manned X craft positioned off the Sword and Juno beaches on D-Day ensured that the landings reached the right place; sadly the US refusal to use X craft was one of the contributory factors to the problems on Omaha beach. Far East operations were to be particularly hazardous with tragic loss of teams. Initially the SBS was a “small inexperienced outfit” fuelled by “raw courage and boyish enthusiasm”. Courtney said he wasn’t looking for tough nuts but “brains not brawn” - I think selfless courage was also a pre-requisite. The many reports on team members are fascinating - “will keep going when bigger and tougher men drop out”, “a professional Shakespeare actor” and a citation that read “high degree of courage, resolution and indifference to danger” illustrate the character of the SBS men. The evolution of their small teams is the basis of today’s special forces - “we prefer the twilight, darkness is our friend”. A compelling read of amazing courage and that makes one glad they were on our side.

Reviewed by Peter Wykeham-Martin U-Boat Enigmas Anthony Babb BEM £12.00 Paperback Whenever I, as a journalist, have the pleasure of interviewing novelists I am left in awe at the level, depth and complexity of their research. This research colours and directs the storyline of the subsequent novels and sometimes it leads the novelists to discover hitherto unknown facts and incidents that bring a spark of inspiration to their characters and situations. This book is another time when I have been left almost breathless with the nature and depth of the research undertaken by the writer. This book is described as a ‘novel and reference book’ and in many ways it fills this billing with an extensive appendices section at the rear. The book is the result of family history with the discovery of a small collection of naval photographs from WW1 held together in a precious old ‘Paxo Stuffing’ box. The collection was of the author’s father in law’s wartime service with the Royal Navy Salvage Service. He was one of the first members of the service that salvaged both Royal Navy and commercial vessels in the hope of restoring them for further service after battle damage had left them crippled.

The author correctly states in his narrative that with the German U-boat campaign almost tipping Great Britain over the edge of starvation with vital cargoes of food and war supplies being lost to mines and torpedoes, that all ships that could be salvaged, even if just for parts, was a crucial role in the war effort. Instead of writing a book simply focused on facts the author has chosen to take incidents such as the Battle of Jutland, the submarine C16 and U-44 together with merchant ships such as the SS Antwerpen, SS Armenia, SS Admiral Cochrane and SS Comrie Castle and blend these real life events into the narrative structure of an adventurous novel.

Towards the end of the 281 pages are those precious WW1 photos that were kept so diligently in the old ‘Paxo Stuffing box’ that inspired this book.

Reviewed by Patrick Boniface

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HISTORY

Patrick Boniface

OPERATION NOA

I

n 1967 the Middle East was a cauldron of hate, mistrust and politics and it was about to boil over into the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. But even after the war ended simmering tensions remained and Israel, always on the defensive, established their famed intelligence organisation Mossad, one of the world’s most feared yet almost paradoxically admired secret service agencies.

In December 1969 Mossad was responsible for one of the most audacious missions of the 1960s - Operation Noa, named after the daughter of Captain Binyamin “Bini” Telem.

Five of the patrol boats had already been handed over and a sixth slipped out of Cherbourg as soon as the embargo had been announced, with the seventh successfully sailing from France three days after the sixth.

Five unfinished patrol boats were left locked inside the shipyard, and following the embarrassment of the sixth and seventh vessels departure an armed guard was placed on them. President de Gaulle, in one of his usual vitriol filled speeches, declared that under no circumstances were the five boats ever to reach Israel.

In the 1960s the Israeli Navy was comparatively weak when positioned against the likes of Jordan and Egypt. Measures had been taken to build up the naval strength including placing orders with French shipbuilders CMN for the construction of Sa’ar 3-class patrol boats.

Work on the vessels progressed speedily and it was anticipated that their handing over to the Israeli Navy would be a formality. That was until 1968 when Israel launched a reprisal attack on Beirut Airport after PLO terrorist attacks in Israel. This move by Israel angered French President Charles de Gaulle who subsequently imposed a complete ban on all military sales to Israel.

De Gaulle had not counted on the skill and guile of General Yariv, the head of Military Intelligence, and Admiral Mordechai Limon, who headed the Israeli purchasing mission in France. These two men started work on what would become ‘Operation Noah’s Ark’, the extraction and delivery to Israel of the five remaining boats held at Cherbourg.

The five vessels INS Sufa (Storm), INS Ga’ash (Volcano), INS Herev (Sword), INS Hanit (Spear), INS Hetz (Arrow) languished at the shipyard for several months, and this time-frame coincided with President Charles de Gaulle leaving office to be replaced by his successor Georges Pompidou.

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Any hopes that the Israeli’s had that a new President would view the arms embargo in a different light were soon dashed. They devised a plot whereby the French authorities were to be lulled into believing that the Israeli’s had accepted that the five patrol boats were out of reach and that the Israeli government instead demanded compensation for their cost.

At the same time, they secretly arranged for the five boats to be sold to a Panama registered purportedly Norwegian company called Starboat that was, in fact, a front for Mossad.

Starboat signalled to the French authorities that the five Israeli boats, suitably modified, would be ideal for the companies oil exploration work. The terms of the deal were that the five vessels were to be transferred to the ownership of ‘Starboat’ but would be crewed by personnel from the Israeli Navy experienced in their operation for their transfer journey to an unspecified Norwegian port for refitting.

French Defence Minister Michel Debré approved the scheme, probably feeling content that he had settled the matter of the five incomplete vessels.

While the front was wafer thin and would scarcely stand up to scrutiny, it proved sufficient for the French authorities to allow the boats to sail to their new ‘Norwegian’ owners. However, the boats lacked certain items off equipment that was needed for the safe 3,000 mile passage to Israel, so the two Israeli men scoured Europe in search of the missing pieces of kit.

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Patrick Boniface

HISTORY

Their task was made harder because of France’s military arms embargo against Israel.

Food had to be collected in small but regular quantities so as not to raise suspicion, and quietly loaded on each of the five patrol boats.

The problem of loading the five vessels with sufficient diesel fuel to get them to a refuelling ship positioned in Gibraltar was another masterstroke of subterfuge. Loading all at one time with a quarter of a million litres of fuel would have alerted the authorities, so instead each boat was gradually filled using a small 5-tonnes tank truck.

The escape plan called for the boats to leave under cover of darkness but their twenty powerful Mayback main engines would be extremely noisy and hard to disguise. To solve this problem a scheme was devised by the operation’s commander, Captain Hadar Kimhi, who ordered that every night for a few days before departure the engines would be switched on causing Cherbourg residents to become accustomed to the noise. When French police received complaints about the running of the engines late at night, the Israelis protested that the power supply from ashore was insufficient and that the engines provided the extra power needed.

Even with initial full fuel tanks the five patrol boats would still need more fuel to get to Israel.

MV Lea was positioned to provide fuel at Gibraltar and MV Nahariya as a backup in the Bay of Biscay. The MV Lea had her ballast tanks hurriedly converted to carry 200,000 litres of light diesel fuel. Another tanker (Dan) was positioned near Lampedusa.

The plot to free the five Israeli patrol boats set the date of Christmas Eve 1969 as the day for the escape attempt. It was carefully chosen as most French people would be enjoying Christmas dinners and partying with families and friends and crucially their guard would be down. On the morning of December 24, 1969, Admiral Limon arrived at Cherbourg from Paris. He booked a table at a local restaurant for a party of revellers to further throw off any French intelligence operations who might have been suspicious.

All the while Limon and his assembled crews would gather at Cherbourg port with the aim to leave at 2030 hours.

Nature played a cruel trick on the plans that evening as gale force winds from the southwest made any attempt to extract the vessels suicidal. Limon and his men had to wait until the storm blew itself out. Four hours waiting was enough as at 0200 hours on Christmas Day the craft’s engines were fired up and lines were cut as the Israeli’s took back their property.

Once outside the harbour, course was set that would take the boats westwards for the Bay of Biscay. It didn’t take long for the French authorities and the CMN shipyard to discover they had been duped by the Israelis.

As the five boats passed Gibraltar a British monitoring station flashed a signal asking them to identify themselves. No reply was given.

The British station personnel, aware of the departure of the boats, instead correctly guessed who they were and flashed the signal ‘non voyage’. Soon after entering the Mediterranean the world’s news media frantically searched for the missing boats, eventually finding them heading towards Israel and hugging the North African coastline as far from France as they could possibly position themselves.

This was just as well as disgraced and embarrassed French Defence Minister Michel Debré ordered an air strike to sink the boats.

The French Chief of Staff refused to obey and replied he would resign rather than obey the order. The order was countermanded by Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, who

Main photo: Preparation on 24th December at Cherbourg port.

Images copyright Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa.

prevented any further escalation. Although the French government was furious, it realised that there was little that could be done, since the boats were already on the high seas when the ruse was uncovered. French Foreign Minister Maurice Schumann warned that if the boats appeared in Israel, “the consequences will be very grave indeed”.

All the boats safely reached Haifa on 31 December much to the chagrin of a shamed President George Pompidou. They were, however, unarmed, but in the coming months each was armed with Gabriel anti-ship missiles plus electronic warfare and electronic counter measures equipment. The embarrassed French authorities, who had been caught napping, subsequently expelled Rear Admiral Mordechai Limon from France.

It was said that the French president stated: “I do not like tea with Lemon and Mokka coffee”.

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HMS Falmouth 1966-1968 HISTORY

Neil McCart

Copyright Author’s collection

Author Neil McCart seen aft on the quarter deck on 6 April 1967 as Falmouth steams through the Inland Sea of Japan, between Beppu and Matsuyama.

O

n 20 May 1961, in No 4 basin at Devonport Dockyard, the Rothesay-class frigate HMS Falmouth was recommissioned by Commander Ian A. Wright for her third commission since leaving the builder’s yard some five years earlier.

Originally it had been intended that Falmouth would be one of the first ships of the Royal Navy to be armed with a Seacat surface-to-air missile launcher, but in 1961 the system was

still being developed and so in its place she was armed with a 40mm anti-aircraft gun, which complemented the ship’s twin 4.5-inch (114mm) dual purpose guns and twin Limbo Mk 10 anti-submarine mortars. Three days after recommissioning, Falmouth left Devonport to carry out post-refit trials, which included a courtesy visit to her namesake town in Cornwall, and in June she began her work-up at Portland which took her through to early October.

No sooner had she successfully concluded her work-up than Falmouth left Devonport bound for Gibraltar and the Far East Station at Singapore.

During the afternoon of 24 October she cleared the Suez Canal and, after refuelling briefly at Aden, she steamed south to Mombasa, from where she began her first Beira Patrol.

In late 1966 the United Nations’ oil embargo against the illegal regime in what was then Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) had been in force for some eight months, and the rivalry between ships on the patrol in the Mozambique Channel was not as well organised as it would become over the years.

In the event, for those on board Falmouth there were shipboard activities ranging from fishing to beard-growing competitions to fill the long, often monotonous, hours patrolling the waters off the city port of Beira. On 15 November, however, she handed over the patrol to Caprice and returned to Mombasa to undergo a maintenance period alongside the repair ship Triumph.

During the weeks which followed, in conjunction with Zulu and Diana, Falmouth carried out further patrols off Beira, and on 21 December she intercepted the Panamanian oil tanker MV Almak, which was held for most of the forenoon, until clearance was given for her to proceed.This patrol ended during the afternoon of 31 December 1966 when, after being relieved by Diana, she returned to Mombasa.

Seaboat transfer of mail to pa liner SS Kenya during Beira Pa

Inset photos copyright Author’s collection

28 January 1968 - Falmouth secures stern first to the pier at Soufrière, St Lucia.She is welcomed by local people and a steel drum band.

2021 22 42 Warship World January/February 2022

An elderly visitor in traditional Korean dress on Falmouth’s boat deck.

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Neil McCart In the event she carried out one more patrol off Beira, before setting course for Singapore, sailing by way of Diego Suarez and what was then the RAF base at Gan on Addu Atoll.

On arrival at Singapore’s naval base she once again secured alongside Triumph for a threeweek maintenance period. Falmouth’s arrival on the Far East Station coincided with the easing of the Confrontation with Indonesia, and it would not be long before the Singapore garrison, which had doubled in size over three years, could be reduced. This meant that when Falmouth was ready for sea once again she could visit various countries in South-East Asia.

HISTORY

Initially, however, she joined Victorious, Kent, Arethusa, Brighton, Londonderry, Blackpool and HMAS Vampire for exercises in the South China Sea, which continued with the US Navy off their Phillipines base at Subic Bay. On completion of the exercises Falmouth set course for Japan, where she visited the ports of Beppu and Matsuyama, after which she spent two days at the South Korean port of Pusan.

On 18 April Falmouth arrived alongside Hong Kong Dockyard’s North Wall, where a change of command took place, with Commander Wright being relieved by Commander David W. Brown RN (Later Admiral Sir David W. Brown).

In May 1967 Falmouth underwent a docking and maintenance period in the Admiralty Floating Dock (AFD 10), but this was cut short when, on 20 May, she was ordered back to Hong Kong to stand by when civil disorder once again threatened the colony; but this time her stay was limited to just five days before she returned once again to Singapore.

It was the last day of May 1967 when she arrived back at Singapore, but just as she prepared to complete her maintenance period, on 5 June, the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel broke out and with it serious riots in what was then still the British colony of Aden.

The ship’s arrival at Hong Kong came at a time of great tension in the colony, where only weeks previously there had been serious riots in the Kowloon area, the worst the colony had known since 1956, and some 8,000 police and 800 British troops had been mobilised. On board Falmouth the ship’s company were formed into landing parties and placed on stand-by to assist the civil authorities. Fortunately their assistance was not required and on 29 April, in company with Brighton, she left for Singapore.

That same day Falmouth was ordered to proceed with dispatch to Aden where, for five days she stood by off the Outer Harbour of the colony, where British troops were coming under fire from ever more bold nationalist guerrillas.

On 11 June, however, she was ordered south to Mombasa, but next day a member of the ship’s Communications Department was taken ill with appendicitis and there was an attempt to land him at Mogadishu, Somalia, for admission to hospital. However, with no diplomatic relations with Somalia, signals requesting permission to land never reached the shore authorities and there was a diplomatic protest from Somalia alleging, ‘flagrant violation of international norms and Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial waters.’

HMS Falmouth in Sydney. l to passenger/cargo eira Patrol.

Copyright NavyBooks

8 February 1968 - Falmouth at La Guira, Venezuela.

Astern of her is destroyer HMS London and submarine HMS Walrus.

‘Open to Visitors’ at Pusan, 14 April 1967.

A group of South Korean Naval Cadets inspect the main armament and f ’csle.

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HISTORY

Neil McCart

In the event, however, heavy surf prevented boat traffic in the harbour and so the Squadron Surgeon was transferred from RFA Fort Dunvegan. He removed the offending appendix at sea and the rating made a full recovery.

No sooner had Falmouth arrived at Mombasa than she was once again ordered south to the Mozambique Channel for what was to prove her final patrol off the port of Beira, and after 16 days she returned to Mombasa’s Kilindini Harbour where she secured to a buoy at 0817 on 13 July 1967.

Just under 18 hours later, at 0200 on 14 July, a serious fire broke out in the forward diesel generator compartment, which was fuelled by a diesel oil leak. The fire burned for an hour and at one point a Harbour Board fire boat secured alongside and prepared to take over the fire fighting duty, but at 0300 the ship’s own fire fighting parties managed to control and extinguish the blaze. Six days later, with temporary repairs having been made, Falmouth left Kilindini Harbour.

Copyright NavyBooks

With the Suez Canal now closed following the Six Day War, the nearest dockyard where more permanent repairs could be carried out was the South African Naval Base at Simonstown, some 28 miles north of Cape Town. This marked the end of Falmouth’s Far East deployment and on 5 August she left Simonstown Dockyard to set course for home, pausing briefly at Freetown and Gibraltar to refuel, before arriving in Plymouth Sound on 24 August. Ahead lay a five-week docking and maintenance period.

It was early October 1967 before Falmouth was once again ready for sea, and for the second leg of the commission she was bound for the Mediterranean, leaving Devonport on 3 October.

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For much of this deployment Falmouth remained in and around Malta, but in mid-November she joined Defender, Duncan, Puma and Keppel for ‘Exercise Midwinter’, an air defence exercise which took the ships into the Atlantic, west of Ireland, and on 19 November Falmouth anchored in Ireland’s picturesque Bantry Bay. During the days which followed the ships were ‘attacked’ relentlessly by Buccaneer aircraft, before heading for the Clyde, where the exercise ended.

It was 3 January 1968 when Falmouth left Devonport to join London, Aisne, Juno, Decoy, the submarine Walrus and RFA Orangeleaf, to form the 1st Western Fleet Division for a deployment to the Caribbean area. However, soon after sailing for Ponta Delgada, where she would refuel, Falmouth was ordered to go to the assistance of the newly built Polaris submarine Resolution, which was on her final sea trials in the Atlantic before carrying out missile firing on the US Navy’s missile ranges off the Florida coast. However, when she was some 300 miles west of Ushant the submarine had suffered a fault in an electrical generator and she was unable to dive. It was initially thought that Falmouth would have to tow the submarine, but in the event she escorted Resolution to the southern end of the Irish Sea, where two Clyde-based tugs took over escort duties.

On 23 January 1968 Falmouth arrived at her first Caribbean port, Roseau, the capital of the island of Dominica, and this was followed

by Castries, the capital of St Lucia, where an intrepid exped party from the ship left to climb the thick jungle-clad volcanic plug of Petit Piton located near to Soufrière, which was Falmouth’s next port of call. One member of the exped team remembers: ‘The last 1,000ft faced us with a 70-degree gradient. When we finally emerged from the cliffs and jungle onto the narrow platform that was the summit, a breathless view opened in all directions - to Grenada, to Martinique and almost to Barbados. In the distance a tiny grey funnelled ship was rounding a headland as it approached Soufrière.’

Falmouth arrived at Soufrière during the forenoon of 29 January, to be greeted by a good turnout of local people and a steel drum band played as the frigate secured to the pier.

There were visits to Kingstown, St Vincent, and Georgetown, Guyana, and these were followed by a major exercise which included vessels from the US, Netherlands and Venezuela.

For Falmouth, London, Juno and Walrus, the exercise was followed by a visit to La Guira.

Upon leaving Venezuelan waters Falmouth visited Belize, the Mexican port of Vera Cruz, and Freeport, Grand Bahamas, before sailing to the Ireland Island Naval Base at Bermuda to undergo a two-week self-maintenance period before returning to Devonport 29 March 1968.

Just over three weeks later Falmouth sailed for the final leg of the commission, which took her to Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, where she joined the NATO exercise ‘Dawn Patrol’ where she acted as planeguard to USS Shangri-La. There were visits to Istanbul, Heraklion and Samos, but by mid-June the commission was drawing to a close and after a final weekend at Malta Falmouth steamed west via Gibraltar to Devonport, where she arrived on 23 June.

Falmouth was to undergo a major refit at Portsmouth, and for the eight-hour passage up-Channel Commander Brown had invited the all-girl singing group the ‘Paper Dolls’ on board for the day, but in the event, at 0900 on 27 June when Falmouth sailed, the showbiz passengers were stuck in traffic outside Plymouth. At 1700 the same day Falmouth arrived alongside Portsmouth Dockyard’s South Railway Jetty.

Falmouth’s two-year General Service Commission was over.

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After the ship was shifted to Fountain Lake Jetty, her ship’s company was reduced, leaving only a handful to prepare the ship for her 29-month modernisation refit. During the commission she had steamed some 107,000 miles and spent 362 days at sea. Finally, at 0730 on 2 August 1968, Falmouth was paid off into dockyard control. During her months in dockyard hands the ship’s 40mm Bofors gun was at last replaced by the Seacat missile system, and the forward set of Limbo mortars was replaced with a flight deck and hangar, enabling the ship to operate a Westland Wasp helicopter.

It would be 1971 before she sailed once again, and by then her appearance had changed drastically.

HISTORY

All photos copyright Author’s collection

Neil McCart

HMS Falmouth Principal Particulars (As Built) Laid Down: 23 November 1957 Launched: 15 December 1959 First Commissioned: 25 July 1961 Pennant No: F113 Length OA: 370ft (112.7m) Beam: 41ft (12.5m) Draught: 17ft - 4in (5.3m) Armament: Two 4.5-inch (114m) dual purpose guns in twin mounting forward.

One 40mm Bofors gun. Twin Mk10 Limbo anti-submarine mortars.

Propulsion: Twin screw, two sets of English Electric geared steam turbines.

Steam provided by two oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox superheat boilers. 30,000SHP. Complement: 200 officers and ratings.

Main bottom left: HMS Falmouth.

Bottom right: Falmouth leaving the Japanese port of Beppu on 6 April 1967, as she sets course through the Inland Sea for Matsuyama.

Middle right: ‘Open to Visitors’ Pusan, South Korea - looking aft over the 40mm Bofors gun and the Limbo anti-submarine mortars. A US Navy auxiliary is secured aft of Falmouth.

Inset left: A dramatic aerial view of HMS Falmouth in the mid-1960s.

Inset right: HMS Falmouth manoeuvring alongside at Devonport in the mid-1960s.

Top right: HMS Falmouth at sea.

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HISTORY

David Hill

The Sidon Incident

HMS Sidon portside in 1952.

HMS Sidon shortly after the explosion.

D

uring the latter stages of the Second World War German naval engineers, under the guidance of Dr Helmut Walther, developed a revolutionary new propulsion system for their submarines.

The system incorporated a fuel called High Test Peroxide and it enabled a submarine to travel underwater at high speed and independent of an external air supply. The system worked so several experimental U-boats were constructed using this new form of underwater propulsion.

However, the fuel was extremely volatile which resulted in numerous accidents and was not liked by the crews of the submarines.

It also came too late in the war to give the Germans any tactical advantage. Furthermore, the technology fell into the hands of the Allies as the German naval construction yards were overrun in the advance on Berlin.

46 Warship World January/February 2022

HMS Sidon after being salvaged.

After the war the Royal Navy launched two submarines, HMS Explorer and HMS Excalibur both of which used High Test Peroxide as their main power source, but with the advent of nuclear propulsion the technology was abandoned. However, what is not well known is that the Royal Navy in the 1950s experimented with High Test Peroxide engines to power some of their experimental torpedos.

Explosion on Sidon On June 16th 1955 five submarines moored alongside the Depot Ship HMS Maidstone in Portland harbour. One of the vessels was HMS Sidon, an S-class submarine built by Camell Laird and launched in September 1944.

HMS Sidon was originally completed with a 4” gun forward of the conning tower and a 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft mounting aft.

Her gun armament had been removed after the war and like the other vessels in the group,

Copyright Submarine Museum

Copyright Submarine Museum

Copyright NavyBooks

the superstructure and casing had been modified giving her a more streamlined appearance.

At 0820 several of the submarines, including HMS Sidon prepared to cast off and head out to sea for a torpedo firing exercise.

The torpedos onboard the Sidon that day were Mk 12s - these were converted Mk 8s fitted with High Test Peroxide motors. After the war, the Royal Navy had been impressed with the performance of the experimental German torpedos, and it was these torpedos that were being tested that day. HMS Springer, a sister ship of the Sidon cast off and got underway.

HMS Sidon would be the next to depart but five minutes later the sound of a muffled thud was heard by the crew of HMS Maidstone followed almost immediately by the shrill sound of alarm bells. It very quickly became apparent that an explosion had occurred onboard the Sidon.

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David Hill

Leech managed to escape and was able to cross over the gangway onto another submarine that was lying alongside. Another crew member, Petty Officer William Day, was also in the control room just beneath the conning tower hatch when he heard a dull bang and then the blast lifted him off his feet. The next thing that he knew was waking up in hospital.

In the meantime Surgeon-Lieutenant Rhodes had put on breathing apparatus and leapt down onto the deck of the Sidon. Witnesses saw him go down into the submarine in a cloud of smoke, emerging a few minutes later carrying an injured seaman. He then went back into the submarine, repeating the operation three more times to bring out more of Sidon’s injured.

HMS Sidon portside at speed in 1952.

Sidon’s captain, Lieutenant Commander H T Verry was on the bridge when the explosion occurred along with engineer officer Roy Hawkins.

Hawkins had just reported that the engines were ready for sea when they heard the explosion followed by a rush of air through the conning tower hatch. Some of the crew emerged immediately after, shocked and dazed, both men then went below down to the control room. Although the lights were on they could hardly see anything. Hawkins found one of the other officers in the engine room and they managed to get the ventilation blower working to clear the smoke, but as the after hatch was open it had little effect.

After putting on breathing apparatus they went forward to see if they could get any of the men out but the passage way was blocked by smashed bunks and debris which left them no choice but to leave the submarine.

The Sidon had now dipped noticeably by the bow and although not immediately noticeable to those still inside the submarine, the Sidon was now beginning to sink. The visiting Swedish submarine Saelen, which was on Sidon’s port side, was towed away to safety.

“I went into the submarine to help,” he later said.

“And through the smoke I heard someone gasping. I could see Lieutenant Rhodes laying at the bottom of the conning tower. He was struggling with his breathing apparatus. Just then someone shouted that the submarine was sinking and I got clear just in time.”

At 0845, with all of the internal watertight doors open, HMS Sidon sank by the bows, settling on the bottom at a depth of thirty-six feet, listing twenty-five degrees to starboard.

On the other side of the harbour the mooring vessel Moordale immediately went to Sidon’s aid and managed to secure a mooring wire around the submarine’s stern, but the flooding submarine proved to be too heavy for the Moordale and the submarine sank, taking the cable down with her.

HMS Sidon in 1955.

Copyright Real Photos

One of the crew, ERA Peter Leech, who was in the control room at the time of the explosion, reported hearing a large thud followed by a sheet of orange flame. He was thrown back ten feet into the radio room. The explosion had come from the forward section of the submarine.

Immediately after the blast, the instruction “Everybody out of the boat!” was given.

When he went down for the fifth time the submarine was already beginning to sink, and by this time Lieutenant Rhodes appeared to be gasping and struggling with his breathing apparatus. He was not seen again.

HMS Sidon in June 1953.

Copyright Wright & Logan

Surgeon-Lieutenant Charles Rhodes heard the sound of the explosion as he sat down to start his breakfast onboard HMS Maidstone.

His immediate reaction was to leave the wardroom and rush up onto the deck where he saw smoke rising from Sidon’s conning tower.

The time was now 0825. Witnesses saw sheets of flame shooting up from the conning tower followed by bits of debris and equipment rising into the air from the interior of the submarine.

Clearly, something had gone dramatically wrong inside the submarine.

HISTORY

When the order to abandon ship was called, men emerged from the submarine blackened with smoke and soot. One of the last to leave was Jack Gill, a twenty-three year old engineer from the Maidstone.

Copyright NavyBooks

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HISTORY

David Hill

Copyright NavyBooks

Frogmen from HMS Maidstone clambered into launches and then into the water.

Working in pairs they worked their way along the side of Sidon’s hull, tapping our messages in morse code to any crewmen that might still be trapped inside her, but there was no reply. At the bow, a torpedo was seen sticking out of one of the torpedo tubes and by the early afternoon there was little hope that any of the crew still inside the submarine would be alive. What was also worrying was that now, two patches of air bubbles were rising from the stricken submarine.

Two days after the accident work began to raise the Sidon. The salvage vessels, Kinbrace and Swin were sent from Dover along with the Portsmouth-based Barcross. Four large buoyancy cylinders, known as camels, were brought to the scene of the sinking, and after two of the camels had been secured she was raised slightly enough to enable wires to be passed under the submarine and secured on either side of the hull. After this was completed, the salvage operation began and the Sidon’s stern rose above the surface.

The conning tower came into view just below the surface, and after further hoisting on the wires, the conning tower hatch was finally above the waterline. However, the Sidon had a strong list to port so further raising was halted. It was decided to lower the submarine again in an effort to correct the list as the salvage team wanted to bring the submarine to the surface on an even keel.

This was successfully achieved and in the early hours of 23rd June HMS Sidon was brought to the surface. She was finally secured at 0430.

HMS Sidon at sea including a close up of crew in the conning tower (bottom photo).

The following day at noon, the submarine was towed by two fishing vessels a mile away to a causeway off Chesil beach, an area of shallow water not far from the main Weymouth to Portland Road. The bodies were removed, and on 28th June were buried in the small naval cemetery on the cliff edge at Portland.

Two years later on 14th June 1957, Sidon was towed from Portland and sunk for use by the Royal Navy as an anti-submarine target.

After the incident, the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, Admiral Sir John Cressy commended both Sidon’s Captain Lieutenant Commander Verry and Lieutenant Commander CF Allington from HMS Maidstone for their bravery for removing a torpedo in darkness from the stricken submarine. Commissioned engineer Hawkins was also commended for his bravery along with ERA Pearson and Chief Ordnance Artificer JW Ward. Surgeon Lieutenant Rhodes was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal.

Today the Sidon lies in thirtyfour metres of water off Weymouth. The wreck has been acquired by a Dorset-based marine salvage company whose intention is to make the wreck available for other salvage equipment manufacturers to test their knowledge and equipment in respect of any future salvage attempt.

Ironically, the submarine world had not finished with High Test Peroxide and forty three years later in August 2000 the Russian submarine Kursk was lost as the result of an explosion in the forward torpedo room. It was later revealed that the cause of the explosion was a fault in one of the Kursk’s torpedoes which was powered by High Test Peroxide.

HMS Sidon portside in 1952.

48 Warship World January/February 2022

Copyright NavyBooks

After the accident the Board of enquiry determined that the likely cause of the disaster was the accidental starting of one of the torpedos when a stop valve was being opened. A safety valve had failed to function and this caused a build up of pressure which burst a fuel line spraying High Test Peroxide inside the torpedo.The resulting explosion blew the torpedo tubes doors open. Fortunately the torpedo was not fitted with a live warhead otherwise the explosion would have been even greater. Both the bow cap and inner door of the torpedo tube were blown open allowing the sea to flood into the submarine.

Copyright NavyBooks

Three Officers and ten ratings had been lost when the Sidon exploded, including Lieutenant Charles Rhodes. So what had gone wrong?

An aerial view of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG 106) during a bilateral training exercise with the Royal Australian Navy. Stockdale was built by Bath Iron Works, delivered to the United States Navy on 30 September 2008 and commissioned on 18 April 2009 at Port Hueneme. She is the 56th destroyer in her class and the third US Navy ship of that name. (Photo copyright US Navy/MCS1 Tyler R Fraser)

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