Scott Swift News

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…

The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) strike groups will commence a three-carrier strike force exercise in the Western Pacific, Nov. 11-14. Units assigned to the strike force will conduct coordinated operations in international waters in order to demonstrate the U.S. Navy's unique capability to operate multiple carrier strike groups as a coordinated strike force effort. "It is a rare opportunity to train with two aircraft carriers together, and even rarer to be able to train with three," said U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander, Adm. Scott Swift. "Multiple carrier strike force operations are very complex, and this exercise in the Western Pacific is a strong testament to the U.S.

The search for missing Sailors assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) continues in the South China Sea and within the ship itself. On Aug. 22, Adm. Scott Swift, commander, Pacific Fleet, announced that the remains of a number of the 10 missing John S. McCain Sailors were discovered within the ship. On Aug. 23, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers continue to search the ship, seeking to locate more of the missing Sailors. In addition, they are conducting inspections of the damage to inform repair plans. More divers will join the effort Aug. 24. At sea, search efforts are focused on an area east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore where John S. McCain was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC Aug. 21.

The U.S. Navy on Wednesday said it had removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin after a series of collisions involving its warships in Asia as the search goes on for 10 sailors missing since the latest mishap. Aucoin's removal comes after a pre-dawn collision between a guided-missile destroyer and a merchant vessel east of Singapore and Malaysia on Monday, the fourth major incident in the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year. "Admiral Scott Swift, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, today relieved the commander of Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command," the U.S. Navy said in a press release.

U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift on Tuesday said divers have found human remains inside the USS John S. McCain, which collided with a merchant vessel this week. "The divers were able to locate some remains in those sealed compartments during their search today," Swift told reporters at Singapore's Changi Naval Base, where the damaged vessel is docked. Swift also said the U.S. Navy was working to identify a body found by the Malaysian navy to see if it was one of 10 missing U.S. sailors in the accident. The USS John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided on Monday while the U.S. ship was nearing Singapore on a routine port call. The impact tore a hole in the warship's port side at the waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area.

U.S. Navy ships are on track to spend more time in the South China Sea this year, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said on Thursday in China, where a U.S. warship was making a port call. The visit by the USS Sterett guided-missile destroyer to Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, the first U.S. warship to visit China since President Donald Trump took office, comes amid tension in the disputed South China Sea, where Washington has criticised Beijing for building artificial islands. U.S.

There has been no policy change with regard to U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operations under the administration of President Donald Trump, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said on Monday. Under the previous administration, the U.S. navy conducted such voyages through the South China Sea - most of which is claimed by China - angering Beijing. But none has been conducted in the region under the Trump administration. The New York Times reported last week that a U.S. Pacific Command request in March to sail near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing ground that China seized in 2012, was rejected by top Pentagon officials. Two other requests by the Navy in February were also turned down, it said.

The U.S. Navy destroyer that sailed near Chinese-claimed islands in the South China Sea last week was under orders from the Third Fleet headquarters in San Diego, a first aimed at bolstering U.S. maritime power in the region, two sources said. The USS Decatur on Friday challenged China's "excessive maritime claims" near the Paracel Islands, part of a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which Beijing has territorial disputes with its neighbours. It was the first time such a freedom of navigation operation has been conducted without the Japan-based Seventh Fleet in command and was a test of changes aimed to allow the U.S. Navy to conduct maritime operations on two fronts in Asia at the same time, two sources told Reuters. The sources spoke on condition that they were not identified.

Japan summons China envoy twice in five days; rising number of Chinese ships sailing near disputed islands. Japan warned China on Tuesday that ties were deteriorating over disputed East China Sea islets, and China's envoy in Tokyo reiterated Beijing's stance that the specks of land were its territory and called for talks to resolve the dispute. The diplomatic tussle comes amid simmering tension as China builds on outposts in the contested South China Sea, including what appear to be reinforced aircraft hangars, according to new satellite images. Ties between Asia's two largest economies have been strained in recent days since Japan saw a growing number of Chinese coastguard and other government ships sailing near the East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson met with his South Korean (ROK) counterpart, Adm. Jung Ho-sub at the Pentagon August 4 for a discussion focused on the strengthening partnerships and ways to work together to increase maritime security throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific. “It's extremely important as we work together – as our two navies work together – that you and I have a personal relationship, that we can call one another up as brothers to work for better ways to collaborate,” said Richardson.

China's growing military presence in the South China Sea has drawn warnings from the United States that Beijing is seeking to exert control over one of the world's most important sea lanes, but so far the shipping industry seems less concerned. Beijing has been increasingly assertive in staking its claim to almost the whole of the sea, though which trillions of dollars of trade passes each year. This month China landed its first test flights on a new 3,000 metre (10,000 ft) runway it has built on a reef in the Spratly Islands, drawing protests from Vietnam and the Philippines which have overlapping claims in the area. Despite the diplomatic tensions, merchant shipping says operations are, as yet, unaffected.

U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander, Admiral Scott Swift questioned the motive behind China deploying submarines for anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean, reports PTI. The comments come in the backdrop of India’s growing concerns over rapid expansion of Chinese maritime capabilities and creation of facilities in the Indian Ocean region to support its forces. “It’s hard for me as a maritime commander to understand how can a submarine support anti-piracy operations?”, he said. Admitting that a raising power like China would secure its assets and resources, he noted with concern that the issue was the "lack of transparency and intent" on the part of the China.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander has warned of a possible arms race in the disputed South China Sea which could engulf the region, as nations become increasingly tempted to use military force to settle territorial spats instead of international law. Commander Admiral Scott Swift urged nations, like China, to seek arbitration to settle maritime disputes. "My concern is that after many decades of peace and prosperity, we may be seeing the leading edge of a return of "might makes it right" to the region," Swift said on Monday in a speech in Hawaii, according to a copy seen by Reuters. "Claimants and non-claimants alike are transferring larger shares of national wealth to develop more capable naval forces beyond what is needed merely for self defence," Swift said.

China's top admiral said his forces have shown "enormous restraint" in the face of U.S. provocations in the South China Sea, while warning they stand ready to respond to repeated breaches of Chinese sovereignty. Beijing, which claims almost the entire energy-rich South China Sea through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes yearly, has stepped up a programme of land reclamation and construction in disputed islands and reefs there that has sparked concern in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States has called for a halt to China's artificial island building, and in recent weeks has tried to signal its determination to challenge Beijing over the disputed sea by sending military ships and planes near the islands.

China has shown "great restraint" in the South China Sea by not seizing islands occupied by other countries even though it could have, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday ahead of two regional summits where the disputed waterway is likely to be a hot topic. Beijing has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Reclamation work and the building of three airfields and other facilities on some of China's artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago have alarmed the region and raised concern in Washington that China is extending its military reach deep into maritime Southeast Asia.

US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift  has fired a broadside at China and other regional nations who are flouting international law in the South China Sea. Admiral Scott has warned that if bullying behaviour at sea of the kind shown by China is not confronted, it will spread to land and become a "friction point" there. His remarks are part of an escalating US campaign directed against Chinese land reclamation on reefs under Beijing’s administration. Swift’s speech came just a day after the Obama administration finalised the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a trade and investment bloc aimed at strengthening US economic dominance in Asia and undermining China’s economic clout.

China's Defence Ministry on Thursday accused the United States of "militarising" the South China Sea by staging patrols and joint military drills there, ramping up the rhetoric ahead of a key regional security meeting in Malaysia next week. China has repeatedly urged Washington not to take sides in the escalating maritime dispute over the area, where the Asian giant last year stepped up its creation of artificial islands, alarming neighbours and provoking U.S. criticism. Washington has demanded China halt land reclamation and militarisation of the disputed area and pursue a peaceful resolution according to international law. China has been angered by U.S. navy and air force forays through waters it claims as its own, especially this month, when U.S.

The Chinese navy has announced 10 days of military training in the waters near eastern Hainan Island in the South China Sea starting on Wednesday, amid heightened tensions in the region. Playing down the significance of the exercises, the Chinese military said the drills, started yesterday in the east of Hainan Province, are not directed against neighbours. "The drills are regular military exercises scheduled in the annual plan, without targeting any other country," the Ministry of National Defence said. During the training, 'no vessel is allowed to enter the designated maritime areas', according to China's Maritime Safety Administration, which released the drill plan on Monday.

The U.S. 7th Fleet Commander expressed regret over the grounding of 'USS Guardian' on Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea. "As a protector of the sea and a sailor myself, I greatly regret any damage this incident has caused to the Tubbataha Reef," said Vice Adm. Scott Swift. "We know the significance of the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and its importance as a World Heritage Site. Swift also announced that Rear Adm. Thomas Carney, Commander of Logistics Group Western Pacific, will take over on Jan. 21 as the on-scene commander to oversee the Guardian recovery operations.

All 79 crew members have been taken off the mine countermeasures ship, grounded onTubbataha Reef, off Subic Bay, Philippines. Crew members have been temporarily removed and safely transferred by small boat to the nearby support vessels USNS Bowditch (T-AGS 62) and MSV C-Champion. After the Sasebo-based Guardian ran aground Jan. 17, initial efforts to free the ship on high tide were not successful. The ship remains stuck on the reef, approximately 80 miles east-southeast of Palawan Island.

The U.S. Navy offered Australia assistance retrieving four bombsthat were mistakenly dropped inside the Great Barrier Reef marine park last week, Reuters reported. Civilian boats were allegedly spotted near their original target causing U.S. Navy Harrier fighter jets to drop the bombs, two inert and two carrying explosives but not armed. Commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet Vice Admiral Scott Swift said the decision on whether to leave the bombs or retrieve them was up to the Australian government. The bombs were lying in 50 to 60 meters of water, posed little risk to the reef or shipping and could easily be picked up by Navy divers, the Navy said. The aircraft were participating in Operation Talisman Saber, a joint exercise sponsored by U.S.

Vice Adm. D. C. Curtis, Commander, Naval Surface Forces and Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, kicked off the 10th annual Surface Navy Association (SNA) West Coast 2008 Symposium Aug. 28 at Naval Base San Diego. 'Executing the Maritime Strategy' was the theme of this year's symposium for which Curtis provided opening remarks. The event provided members of the surface warfare community an opportunity to discuss maritime strategy issues critical to the future success of the Navy. Some topics of discussion at the day-long symposium included international programs in support of Maritime Strategy, Maritime Strategy in Africa, Maritime Strategy in the Pacific, Maritime Strategy in the and Resourcing the Maritime Strategy.