Farragut 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…

U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) conducted a bilateral naval anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise with the U.K., above the Arctic Circle, May 1, 2020.Four ships from two nations, a U.S. submarine, and a U.S. P8-A worked together, in the Norwegian Sea, to conduct training in the challenging conditions in the Arctic.For the exercise, Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and USS Porter (DDG 78), and fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE 6), were joined by the Royal Navy's HMS Kent (F 78). Additionally, a U.S.

A Russian navy ship "aggressively approached" a U.S. Navy destroyer in the North Arabian Sea on Thursday, the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said in a statement on Friday.The Fifth Fleet said the U.S. destroyer USS Farragut sounded five short blasts and requested the Russian ship alter course."The Russian ship initially refused but ultimately altered course and the two ships opened distance from one another," the statement said. (Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous; Writing by Tuqa Khalid; Editing by Catherine Evans)

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) entered the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations April 18, 2018 as part of a routine deployment in support of NATO allies, European and African partner nations, coalition partners, and U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. The presence of the HSTCSG demonstrates the multi-mission capability of the U.S. Navy’s globally deployed force and is part of an ongoing rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.

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.

1814 - A squadron from the schooner USS Carolina attacks and raids the base of the pirate Jean Lafitte, at Barataria, La., capturing six schooners and other small craft while the pirates flee the attack. 1823 - Samuel Southard becomes the seventh Secretary of the Navy, serving until March 3, 1829. During his tenure, he enlarges the Navy, improves administration, purchases land for the first Naval Hospitals, begins construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertakes surveying U.S. coastal waters and promotes exploration in the Pacific Ocean. 1854 - Mare Island, Calif. becomes the first permanent U.S. naval installation on the west coast, with Cmdr. David G. Farragut as its first base commander. 1922 - Cmdr.

1832 - USS Potomac, becomes the first U.S. Navy ship to entertain royalty, King and Queen of Sandwich Islands. 1858 - The last bit of cable is laid by USS Niagara and British ship Agamemnon to complete the first trans-Atlantic cable. Niagara's boats carried the end of the cable ashore at Brills Mouth Island, Newfoundland, and the same day Agamemnon landed her end of the cable at England. The first message flashed across August 16 when Queen Victoria sent a cable to President James Buchanan. 1864 - Rear Adm. David G. Farragut successfully navigates through a deadly torpedo field Confederates lay in order to block the channel into Mobile Bay. During the battle, Farragut gives his famous quote, Damn the Torpedoes, Full speed ahead!

1854 - The first formal graduation exercises are held at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Previous classes graduated without a ceremony. Rear Adm. Thomas O. Selfridge and Rear Adm. Joseph N. Miller are two of the six graduates that year. 1896 - Authorization is given for the first experimental ship model basin, which was under the supervision of Chief Constructor of the Navy, Capt. David W. Taylor. The basin, in Building 70 at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is used by the Navy to monitor new hull designs.

BAE Systems has been awarded contracts from the U.S. Navy for the repair and maintenance of two ships based in Jacksonville, Fla. The contracts come within days of one another and have a combined value of $61.7 million and a cumulative value of $68.6 million if all options are exercised. BAE Systems received a $32.5 million contract from the Navy on May 10 for the docking selected restricted availability of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99). The company will drydock the 509.5-foot-long destroyer this summer and will perform structural and tank repairs…

Now in its 28th year, New York Fleet Week has commenced, with ships from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy sailing into New York Harbor. The weeklong Fleet Week celebration has been held nearly every year since 1984, providing an opportunity for New Yorkers to witness firsthand the capabilities of today’s maritime services, as well as meet sailors, marines and coastguardsmen.

Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command Adm. Phil Davidson announced the 2015 USFFC Fleet Sea and Shore Sailors of the Year during a ceremony hosted by the Hampton Roads Navy League at the Sheraton Waterside in Norfolk, March 24. Aviation Boatswain's Mate 1st Class (AW/SW) Tinisha Franklin, a native of Brooklyn, New York, stationed aboard aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) was announced as the 2015 Sea Sailor of the Year and Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 1st Class (AW/SW) Brian McGarrigle, a native of Clearwater, Florida, stationed at Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 40 (HSM-40) as the Shore Sailor of the Year. "For the Shore Sailors of the Year standing behind me…

1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and establishes the boundaries between the two republics. 1862 - Capt. David G. Farragut, commander of his flagship, the screw sloop of war Hartford, departs Hampton Roads for Ship Island, Miss., where Farragut takes command of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron in preparation for the assault on New Orleans. 1938 - While piloting a PBY-2 aircraft in a tactical exercise off California, Lt. Carlton B. Hutchins collides with another VP-11 PBY-2.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus hosted a ship-naming ceremony today to announce that SSN 799, a Virginia-class attack submarine, will bear the name USS Idaho. The submarine will be named to honor the history its namesake state has with the Navy. Idaho is home to the former Farragut Naval Training Station, which was the second largest training facility in the world during World War II. From the early 1950s to the mid-1990s, the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) located within the Idaho National Laboratory, trained nearly 40,000 Navy personnel in surface and submarine nuclear power plant operations with three nuclear propulsion prototypes including the first nuclear-powered submarine prototype, S1W.

Ships from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain have begun accompanying U.S.-flagged maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Department officials said. Sufficient U.S. naval forces are assigned to the command to meet the requirements of the accompanying mission, officials said, adding that Navcent will coordinate with shipping-industry representatives to ensure the operations go smoothly and efficiently. The mission was prompted by two incidents this week in the Strait of Hormuz in which Iranian navy patrol vessels harassed commercial motor vessels traversing the strait. On April 24, four Iranian patrol boats approached the U.S.-flagged merchant ship Maersk Kensington, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said during an April 29 briefing.

Officials from the United States and the Marshall Islands are discussing "the way ahead" after Iranian patrol boats forcibly diverted a cargo ship flying a Marshall Islands flag into an anchorage in Iranian waters, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. A U.S. Navy destroyer, the Farragut, and three coastal patrol ships, the Thunderbolt, Firebolt and Typhoon, were operating in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz conducting maritime security operations following the detention of the cargo ship, the MV Maersk Tigris, the Pentagon said. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. forces also had reconnaissance aircraft in the area to monitor developments with the Maersk Tigris…

Iran seized a Western commercial cargo ship in the Persian Gulf early Tuesday and ordered it to sail into Iranian territorial waters. Pentagon says MV Maersk Tigris, which was thought to have entered Iranian waters, was intercepted by Iranian vessel – but did not belong to US. Warning shots were fired but no injuries were reported, a shipping agency said. Thirty-four crew members were reported aboard. There are no Americans in the crew of more than 30 aboard the container ship Maersk Tigris, defense officials said, and the vessel is registered in the Marshall Islands. The Iranian navy seized the ship at the request of the Iran Ports Authority under a court order, according to the English service of Iran's Fars News Agency.

Oil prices rallied briefly on Tuesday after reports that Iran had seized a cargo vessel, described initially by Iranian and Saudi media as a U.S. ship, raised geopolitical tensions and concerns about the security of Middle East crude shipments. A weaker dollar was also supportive to the oil market which was down sharply earlier on expectations that industry data due later in the day would show U.S. crude stockpiles at record highs for the 16th consecutive week. Futures of Brent, the more widely-used global oil benchmark, were up 12 cents at $64.95 a barrel by 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT) after rallying to as high as $65.49. U.S. crude futures were down 10 cents at $56.88 a barrel, after soaring to $57.83 earlier.

Iranian forces boarded a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf on Tuesday after patrol boats fired warning shots across its bow and ordered it deeper into Iranian waters as it was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon said.   The ship, the MV Maersk Tigris, initially ignored Iranian patrol boats that ordered it deeper into Iranian territorial waters but complied after the vessels fired several warning shots, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren said.   U.S. forces in the region responded to distress calls from the Maersk Tigris, sending the destroyer USS Farragut to monitor the situation along with reconnaissance aircraft. No U.S. citizens were aboard the cargo ship, Warren said.     (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Susan Heavey)

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) departed its homeport in Norfolk for an around-the-world deployment, March 11. TR and its Sailors will conduct operations in the U.S. Navy's 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility during the deployment. "The crew has done an absolutely stellar job getting TR ready for deployment," said Capt. Daniel C. Grieco, TR's commanding officer. The deployment is part of an ongoing rotation of U.S. forces supporting maritime security operations in international waters around the world. "This is a unique deployment that will actually encompass three different areas of responsibility or AORs," said Grieco.

Today in U.S. Naval History - September 17 1861 - Union landing party from USS Massachusetts takes possession of Ship Island, Mississippi. This was the headquarters for Adm. David Farragut's Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron. 1944 - Navy Task Force lands Army troops on Angaur, Palau Islands supported by Navy carrier aircraft and shore bombardment For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.

Today in U.S. 1854 - Cdr. David G. Farragut takes possession of Mare Island, the first U.S. Navy Yard on the Pacific. 1922 - Cdr. Halsey Powell in USS Edsall became the senior officer directing the evacuation of 250,000 Greek refugees from Turkey after war between Greece and Turkey. 1940 - President Roosevelt signs Selective Training and Service Act, the first peacetime draft. 1958 - USS Grayback fires first operational launch of Regulus II surface to surface guided missile off Calif. coast; Missile carries first U.S. mail sent by guided missile.

Today in U.S. 1832 - Frigate Potomac is first U.S. 1864 - R.Adm. 1882 - Authorizing of first steel warships, beginning of the modern Navy. 1915 - First air spotting for shore batteries at Fort Monroe, Va. 1921 - Yangtze River Patrol Force established as command under Asiatic Fleet. 1990 - Navy and Marine Task Force (USS Saipan, USS Ponce, and USS Sumter) begin evacuation of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals from Liberia during civil war. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.