Leyte Gulf 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…

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.

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…

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.

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…

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.

Today in U.S. 1812 - USS United States (Capt. Stephen Decatur) captures HMS Macedonian. 1924 - Airship, USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), completes round trip transcontinental cruise that began on October 7. 1944 - During Battle of Leyte Gulf in Battle of Surigao Straits, U.S. battleships execute the maneuver of "crossing the tee" of the Japanese forces. In Battle Off Samar, escort carriers, destroyers and destroyer escorts heroically resist attacks of Japanese Center Force. In Battle Off Cape Engano, 3rd Fleet carriers attack Japanese Northern Force sinking several small carriers.

Today in U.S. Naval History - October 23 1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf, a series of separate battles, begins with attacks on Japanese ships. 1983 - A suicide truck bomber attacks the Marine barracks at Beirut airport, Lebanon killing 241 (220 Marines, 18 Sailors and three soldiers) 1983 - Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada, West Indies) begins. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

Today in U.S. 1922 - LCDR Virgil C. Griffin in Vought VE-7SF makes first takeoff from U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1) anchored in York River, Virginia. 1941 - U-568 torpedoes and damages USS Kearny (DD-432) near Iceland, resulting in 11 killed and 22 injured. 1944 - Naval Forces land Army rangers on islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf in preparation for landings. 1989 - Following San Francisco earthquake, 24 Navy and Military Sealift Command ships rendered assistance.

Sunday, July 14 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gerald R. Ford, 38th president of the United States. This was an important historical milestone for the country because of President Ford’s exceptional legacy of service, but also an important historical milestone for the Navy as we fittingly get ready to christen and launch the first of our next generation of aircraft carriers, the Gerald R. Ford class with the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Former President Ford was born in 1913, around the time of Eugene Ely’s pioneering flights aboard USS Birmingham and USS Pennsylvania.

1797 - Launching of USS Constitution at the Hartts Boston shipyard, Boston, Massachusetts. The ship is now the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. 1942 - British submarine lands CAPT Jerauld Wright, USN and four Army officers at Cherchel, French North Africa, to meet with a French military delegation to learn the French attitude toward future Allied landings. 1944 - Leyte Landings continue. 1846 - Miss Lavinia Fanning Watson of Philadelphia christens the sloop-of-war Germantown, the first U.S. Navy ship sponsored by a woman. 1951 - First of seven detonations, Operation Buster-Jangle nuclear test. 1962 - President John F. Kennedy orders surface blockade (quarantine) of Cuba to prevent Soviet offensive weapons from reaching Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

U.S. Naval forces disrupted a pirate attack on M/V Falcon Trader II, a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel, after it reported it had been attacked by pirates March 24. All 20 Filipino crew members of the Falcon Trader II are safe and in control of the vessel. At approximately 10:30 a.m. (local), aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), conducting operations supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, responded to a distress call from the M/V Falcon Trader II reporting that suspected pirates in a small skiff were attempting to board the vessel.

Four pirates are dead and 15 are in custody, but not before they killed four Americans in the bloodiest piracy incident in recent history, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command told reporters in a conference call. Navy Vice Adm. Mark I. Fox, who also commands the Navy’s 5th Fleet, said the pirates shot Scott and Jean Adams of California and Phyllis Mackay and Bob Riggle of Washington state. The surface vessel Quest was sailing around the world when the Somalis hijacked it off the coast of Oman. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One that President Barack Obama authorized the use of force if there was an imminent threat to the hostages. He said the president was informed of their deaths at 4:42 this morning.

At approximately 1 a.m. EST Feb. 22, while negotiations were ongoing to secure the release of four American hostages, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the pirated vessel (S/V) Quest. As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds. "We express our deepest condolences for the innocent lives callously lost aboard the Quest," said Gen James N. Mattis, U.S. Central Command Commander.

1921 - In first successful test, a compressed air, turntable catapult, launches an N-9 seaplane. 1922 - LCDR Godfrey deC. Chevalier makes first landing aboard a carrier (USS Langley) while underway off Cape Henry, Virginia. 1942 - Battle of the Santa Cruz Island. USS Hornet (CV-8) was lost and USS Enterprise (CV-6) was badly damaged during the battle. 1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with Navy carrier and USAAF aircraft attacks on the retreating Japanese ships. U.S. forces sink many Japanese ships including 4 carriers, 3 battleships, 10 cruisers, and 9 destroyers, for a total of 26 capital ships. Afterwards Japanese fleet ceases to exist as an organized fighting fleet.