Leyte News

One of Hollywood's biggest stars recently paid a visit to U.S. Navy sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77).Top Gun: Maverick producer and star Tom Cruise was joined by writer and producer Christopher McQuarrie, and editor Eddie Hamilton, along with Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, for the stop. The team led a Top Gun: Maverick viewing in the ship’s hangar bay and took time to visit with sailors aboard the ship, which has been deployed since departing Naval Station Norfolk in August 2022.“I know our sailors will never forget that night in the hangar bay…

US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) deployed as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG) from Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Aug. 6.According to the U.S. Navy, this is a routine deployment for Farragut and the first after a dry-dock maintenance period in 2021.Farragut returned to operational capability in the summer of 2021 and has completed a rigorous training cycle, including a visit from the Congressional Board of Inspection and Survey…

A privately funded mission has found, surveyed and filmed the USS Johnston, the world’s deepest known shipwreck, offshore Samar Island in the Philippines Sea.The expedition was backed by Victor Vescovo, is an entrepreneur, explorer and retired U.S. Navy Commander who personally piloted his submersible DSV Limiting Factor down to the wreck during two separate, eight-hour dives 21,180 feet (6,456 meters) below the ocean's surface. These constituted the deepest wreck dives, manned or unmanned…

All 45 passengers and crew members have been rescued from a ferry that caught fire roughly 5.5 nautical miles east off Binongkalan Point, Cebu Thursday night.The Philippine-registered RoRo / passenger ship MV Filipinas Dinagat owned by Cokaliong Shipping Lines was traveling from Cebu City for Palompon, Leyte when the fire erupted on board.By the time the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) arrived on scene to conduct rescue operations, the stricken vessel had become totally engulfed in flames.Immediately…

No personnel were injured when a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser and dry cargo ship made contact during an underway replenishment off the southeastern coast of the United States, Feb. 5.USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) and USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) were able to safely operate after the incident. Damage will be assessed when the ships pull into port.The ships had been conducting a replenishment-at-sea when the sterns touched at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern Standard time.U.S. Fleet…

The Navy will commission its newest amphibious transport dock, the future USS Portland (LPD 27), during a 10 a.m. PDT ceremony Saturday, April 21, at the Port of Portland, Marine Terminal 2 in Portland, Oregon. Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Bonnie Amos, wife of the 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps, retired Gen. James F. Amos, serves as the ship's sponsor. "USS Portland enters service in a period of dynamic security challenges, and I am confident this ship and crew will conquer these and future challenges because of the strength and talent of the Sailors and Marines who will serve aboard this ship," said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer.

The U.S. Navy warship that famously fired the first American shot in World War II has been found resting on the seabed in Ormoc Bay near Ponson Island in the Philippines. The historic vessel USS Ward was discovered and documented by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen's expedition crew aboard Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel, who has now released video images just prior to the anniversary of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. At 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 7…

Sunk by Japanese torpedoes near the end of World War II, heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis disappeared to the darkest depths of the Philippine Sea, where it remained undiscovered for more than 70 years. Recently a team of civilian researchers led by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen set out equipped with an arsenal of high-tech search equipment on a mission to locate the historic vessel last seen on July 30, 1945. The story of the USS Indianapolis is one of military might, heroism, tragedy, controversy and mystery.

Australian Navy submarine HMAS Dechaineux, has recently joined four Japanese submarines and United States Navy Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Key West in a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force trilateral exercise in waters south of Japan. The Submarine Competition (known as SUBCOMP) aims to further the anti-submarine warfare integration of the three navies, stressing each crew’s responses and tactics. The top performer is recognised with the Japanese Battle Efficiency Award. Commander Grady Hill, Key West’s Commanding Officer thought his crew performed well. “The crew found this exercise to be an excellent opportunity to plan, train and execute tactics while in a deployed environment,” he said.

The U.S. Navy has a balanced fleet, but it wants to grow bigger and better. Will the budget allow both? Maritime Reporter's March 2017 cover story on the U.S. Navy was all about the numbers. There exists several plans to grow the fleet beyond the current number of 308 ships, the Mitre recommendation of 414 ships, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment 340-ship proposal, and the Navy’s decision to grow the fleet to 355 ships, and the Trump administration’s 350. With so many numbers being bandied about, there are even more suggestions on how to get there.

The Navy will commission the destroyer Zumwalt (DDG 1000), Saturday, Oct. 15, during a 5 p.m. EDT ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland. The ship is named in honor of Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., former chief of naval operations (CNO) from 1970 to 1974. A veteran of World War II and the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, Adm. Zumwalt exemplified honor, courage and commitment during 32 years of dedicated naval service, earning a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 79. During his time as CNO, Adm. Zumwalt embraced technological innovation and advocated a number of successful programs including the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate…

To mark this year’s Interferry Conference in Manila, the Philippines, Damen Shipyards Group has teamed up with Netherlands Shipping Training Centre (NSTC), Managed by the international maritime education and training organisation STC-Group. Damen and NSTC have developed a training course for the Philippines-based ferry crew. The training package will feature a number of elements, including rules and regulations (ISM code), crew and crisis management and – important in public transportation – cross cultural differences. Damen has worked with STC-Groupfor many years in the provision of seafarers’ training, as Martijn Voorham, General Manager NSTC,based in Palompon, Leyte explains: “Damen and STC-Group have travelled the world together.

The U.S. Navy's newest warship, the future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), has left Naval Station Norfolk for Baltimore, Md., where it will be commissioned into active service on October 15 during Fleet Week Maryland. Originally slated to sail from Norfolk on October 9, the one-day transit was moved up to October 7 due to the approach of Hurricane Matthew. The Navy's most technologically advanced surface ship, Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power.

The Navy will christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Wichita (LCS 13), during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony Saturday, Sept. 17 in Marinette, Wisconsin. Wichita, designated LCS 13, honors the city of Wichita, Kansas. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the junior senator from Wisconsin, will serve as the principal speaker. Novelist and editor Kate Lehrer, the wife of former PBS news anchor and Wichita native Jim Lehrer, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony will be highlighted by Lehrer breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to formally christen the ship, a time-honored Navy tradition. “The christening of the future USS Wichita brings this warship one step closer to joining our nation's growing fleet,” said the Honorable Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy.

The U.S. Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced surface ship, future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), pulled into Naval Station Norfolk Wednesday for another port visit as part of its three-month journey to its new homeport in San Diego. Crewed by 147 Sailors, Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power. They are capable of performing critical maritime missions and enhance the Navy's ability to provide deterrence, power projection and sea control.

1923 - USS Colorado (BB 45) is commissioned. Notable during her pre-World War II service, she helps in the search for missing aviator, Amelia Earhart, in 1937. During WWII, USS Colorado serves in the Pacific during World War II and is hit by kamikazes at Leyte in November 1944. 1929 - At New London, Conn., 26 officers and men test the Momsen lung to exit an intentionally-bottomed submarine. The device was created by Lt. C.B. Momsen following the failure to save surviving crew members trapped in USS S-4 (SS 109) that sank after a collision with Coast Guard cutter USS Paulding in 1927.

A Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) historian has recently uncovered information that sheds new light on the loss of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35). In the final days of the war, Indianapolis completed a top secret mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima to U.S. forces in theater. After dropping those components off at Tinian in the Marianas Islands, Indianapolis headed to Leyte, an island in the Philippines, when it was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine just after midnight July 30, 1945.

1780 - The city of Charleston, S.C., falls to the British when Continental Gen. Benjamin Lincoln surrenders during the American Revolution. Three Continental Navy frigates (Boston, Providence, and Ranger) are captured; and one American frigate (Queen of France) is sunk to prevent capture. 1938 - USS Enterprise (CV 6) is commissioned. Notable service during WWII include the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal Campaign, Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the Battle of the Philippine Sea…

Hundreds of boat passengers bound for Leyte, Bohol and other parts of the Visayas got stranded  in the different ports of Cebu as the Cebu Coast Guard barred small vessels from traveling, say local media. This is due to a gale warning raised by the state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in the Visayas. The authority has issues the order to disallow vessels weighing 250 gross tons or lower not to sail. Pagasa – Mactan Chief Alfredo Quiblat Jr. said intermittent rains will continue to take place as he urged the public to stay indoors. According to a report in Cebu Daily News…

A passenger ship, owned by Roble Shipping, carrying more than 500 passengers caught fire at Ormoc port in Leyte, Phillipines early Saturday (August 15). Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Commander Armand Balilo said 3 crewmembers of the M/V Wonderful Stars of Roble Shipping Line sustained minor injuries. Local authorities are now uncertain about what caused the fire aboard the ferry. According to the ship captain, the fire started at the vessel’s cargo hold and quickly spread. Balilo said all of the passengers – numbering 544, according to the manifest – safely disembarked from the ship but 3 crewmembers of the ferry suffered minor injuries when they tried to put out the fire. The ferry reached Ormoc before the fire broke out, but most of the passengers stayed and waited for daybreak.

Divers will search waters in the central Philippines on Friday for 15 people still missing after a ferry carrying 187 passengers and crew sank a day earlier, killing 38 people, the coast guard said. There were 134 survivors after the MBCA Kim-Nirvana, a motorised outrigger, capsized minutes after leaving the port of Ormoc City. The number on board was revised down on Friday after it was found two crew members did not board the ferry. Search and rescue operations continued through the night, with coast guard personnel reinforced by a Philippine navy ship and two air force planes. A formal marine casualty investigation into the cause of the sinking will begin on Friday, Philippine coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo told local radio.

Bluefin Robotics underwater robot helps locate historic sunken Japanese battleship Musashi; located by philanthropist and entrepreneur Paul G. Bluefin Robotics underwater autonomous vehicles (AUV) scour the ocean floors around the world looking for items critical to the defense industry, oceanographic researchers and the oil and gas industry. Most recently, a Bluefin vehicle was used by Paul G. Allen and his team of researchers in their search for the sunken Japanese battleship Musashi, the largest battleship in naval history.

Seventy years after the conclusion of World War II, philanthropist and entrepreneur Paul G. Allen has located the Musashi, one of the two largest and most technologically advanced battleships in naval history. Allen and his team of researchers began their search for the Musashi more than eight years ago. Using historical records from four countries, detailed undersea topographical data and advanced technology aboard his yacht, M/Y Octopus, Allen and his team located the battleship in the Sibuyan Sea on March 1, 2015.