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Us Naval Base News

21 Sep 2023

U.S. Revives Cold War Submarine Spy Program to Counter China

Credit: noraismail/AdobeStock

On a windswept island 50 miles north of Seattle sits a U.S. Navy monitoring station. For years, it was kept busy tracking whale movements and measuring rising sea temperatures. Last October, the Navy gave the unit a new name that better reflects its current mission: Theater Undersea Surveillance Command.The renaming of the spy station at the Whidbey Island naval base is a nod to a much larger U.S. military project, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plans:…

07 Jul 2023

Inside the Subsea Cable Firm Secretly Helping America Take on China

On Feb. 10 last year, the cable ship CS Dependable appeared off the coast of the island of Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean atoll that’s home to a discreet U.S. naval base.Over the next month, the ship’s crew covertly laid an underwater fiber-optic cable to the military base, an operation code-named “Big Wave,” according to four people with direct knowledge of the mission, as well as a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery and ship tracking data.The new super-fast internet link to Diego Garcia, which has not previously been reported, will boost U.S. military readiness in the Indian Ocean, a region where China has expanded its naval influence over the last decade.The CS Dependable is owned by SubCom…

05 Jun 2023

UAE Stops Taking Part in US-led Gulf Maritime Coalition

© mrnai / Adobe Stock

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it was no longer taking part in operations by a U.S.-led task force protecting Gulf shipping, which has been subjected to renewed tanker seizures by Iranian naval forces in recent weeks.The UAE was responding to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday which, citing U.S. and Gulf sources, said the Gulf state was frustrated by the lack of U.S. response to recent tanker seizures by Iran.This was a "mischaracterisation" of conversations between the two countries…

02 Oct 2022

US Sailor Acquitted of Setting Fire to USS Bonhomme Richard

The USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) burns while moored at Naval Base San Diego on July 12, 2020. Photo: John J. Mike / (U.S. Navy)

A U.S. Navy sailor was found not guilty on Friday of starting a fire that destroyed the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard in San Diego in 2020.Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays was acquitted of charges of arson and the willful hazarding of a ship, Commander Sean Robertson, a spokesman for the U.S. 3rd Fleet, said in a statement.The decision followed a two-week court-martial in which Navy prosecutors argued that Mays, who was 19 at the time of the blaze, started the fire due to disgruntlement with his work.

06 May 2022

US Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk Decommissioned

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter CuttyHunk (WPB 1322) (File photo: Eli J. Medellin / U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk (WPB 1322) was decommissioned Thursday during a ceremony held at Air Station Port Angeles that was presided over by Capt. Mark McDonnell, 13th Coast Guard District Chief of Response.Cuttyhunk was one of the Coast Guard's 37 remaining 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. The fleet of Island-class cutters is being replaced by 154-foot Sentinel-class cutters built by Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards.Built by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La.

10 Nov 2021

Austal USA Expands West Coast Repair Operations

(Photo: Woody S. Paschall / U.S. Navy)

Shipbuilder Austal USA said it received approval from the San Diego Port of Commissioners to assume the lease of Marine Group Boat Works in the Port of San Diego. Austal USA and Marine Group Boat Works are entering a 45-day exclusive period to close the agreement.Austal USA will use the 15-acre site to focus on ship repair for U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command and U.S. Coast Guard ships, establishing a full service ship repair capability providing maintenance and modernization for small surface combatants, autonomous vehicles and other vessels. The site, immediately adjacent to U.S.

20 Oct 2021

Series of Failures After Fire Led to Destruction of USS Bonhomme Richard

A fire broke out on board USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego, in July 2020. (Photo: Austin Haist / U.S. Navy)

A U.S. Navy investigation released on Wednesday found that a fire aboard a warship last year, which was caused by arson, was preventable and that a series of failures after it started led to the destruction of the ship.More than 60 people, including about 40 sailors, were treated for minor injuries during several days of fighting flames on the 844-foot-long (257-meter) amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, which was docked for maintenance at its home port at U.S. Naval Base San Diego.A U.S.

02 Aug 2021

US Navy Sailor Charged in Fire Aboard USS Bonhomme Richard

On the morning of July 12, a fire was called away aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) while it was moored pierside at Naval Base San Diego while the warship was going through a maintenance availability, which began in 2018. (Photo: Christina Ross / U.S. Navy)

A U.S. Navy sailor was charged on Thursday with starting a fire last year that burned for four days on the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, injuring more than 60 people and destroying the vessel.The sailor, who was not identified by name, was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and could face court martial, Navy Commander Sean Robertson, a spokesman for the U.S. 3rd Fleet, said in a statement."The Sailor was a member of Bonhomme Richard's crew at the time and is accused of starting the fire…

16 Jul 2020

Firefighters Evacuated from Listing USS Bonhomme Richard

A helicopter combats a fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). (U.S. Navy photo by Christina Ross)

The U.S. Navy said it has cleared the burning USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and its adjacent San Diego pier of all personnel due to a shift in the vessel's list. The warship has been ablaze since Sunday morning."Out of an abundance of caution the pier and ship were cleared of personnel due to an initial shift in the ship’s list. Personnel are now pier side. We will continue to monitor as the ship settles." the Navy said in a statement at 2:30 a.m. Thursday.The fire, accompanied by at least one large explosion…

14 Jul 2020

Video: USS Bonhomme Richard Blaze Continues

A helicopter provides aerial firefighting support alongside sailors and civilian fire crews on the ground to fight the fire aboard amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). (U.S. Navy photo by Mar'Queon A. D. Tramble)

Hundreds of firefighters battled through a second day from the air, land and water on Monday to save a U.S. war vessel swept by flames while moored at a San Diego shipyard, as the number of sailors and civilians injured in the blaze rose to nearly 60.The USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship whose size ranks second in the U.S. Navy fleet to that of an aircraft carrier, remained largely shrouded in thick, acrid smoke on Monday as the vessel began listing to its starboard side.The fire…

06 Apr 2020

US Defense Chief Backs Navy Ouster Amid Report Captain has Coronavirus

File photo: Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper briefs the media about the department's COVID-19 response, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., March 17, 2020. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended the Navy’s controversial decision to remove the commander of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, who was reported on Sunday to have tested positive for COVID-19 as the number of its sailors with the highly-contagious disease also grew.Captain Brett Crozier started showing symptoms of the virus before he was relieved of his command of the Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday and has tested positive, the New York Times said, citing two Naval…

02 Apr 2020

US Navy Relieves Commander of USS Theodore Roosevelt

Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) (U.S. Navy photo by Brandon Richardson)

The U.S. Navy on Thursday relieved the commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote a scathing letter that leaked to the public asking the Navy for stronger measures to control a coronavirus outbreak onboard the ship.The removal of Captain Brett Crozier from the command of the 5,000-person vessel, which was first reported by Reuters, was announced by acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who said the commander exercised poor judgment.Modly said the letter…

20 Aug 2019

Wallem Bulker Rescues Indonesian Fishermen

Rescued fishermen and ISL Star crew (Photo: Wallem)

ISL Star, a bulk carrier managed by Wallem Group, together with the U.S. Coast Guard successfully retrieved a crew of eight Indonesian fishermen adrift for over a week after their boat lost power in the middle of the western Pacific.The Hallelujar, a 60ft Indonesian-flagged fishing vessel of wooden construction, had been adrift for 10 days when on August 13th the AMVER vessel ISL Star received a message from the U.S. Coast Guard that the crew on board was seeking immediate assistance.

04 Jan 2019

HMS Argyll Hunts Submarines in the Philippine Sea

208 Flight load a TVT (dummy) onto a Wildcat HMA Mk2 (Photo: Royal Navy)

HMS Argyll has hunted down submarines in the Philippine Sea during exercises with allied navies from Japan and the United States.This was the first time these navies have combined like this as they tested their specialist anti-submarine warfare skills.Japan’s helicopter destroyer JS Izumo worked with the Plymouth-based frigate to hunt down a US Navy Submarine, which was playing the part of the enemy during two days of training.Argyll has already worked alongside the Japanese navy…

25 Aug 2016

Iran Vessels Make 'High Speed Intercept' of US Ship

USS Nitze (U.S. Navy photo by Steve Smith)

Four of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels "harassed" a U.S. warship on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. defense official said, amid Washington's concerns about Iran's posture in the Gulf and in the Syrian civil war. The vessels harassed the destroyer by "conducting a high speed intercept and closing within a short distance of Nitze, despite repeated warnings," the official said. IRGC, the Islamic Republic's praetorian guard, is suspicious of U.S.

26 May 2016

Aquino: China Breaks South China Sea Deal

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday accused China of breaking a U.S.-brokered deal between the two nations on the Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim the waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne goods pass every year. Beijing seized control of Scarborough Shoal, near the main Philippine island of Luzon, in June 2012, following a three-month standoff after a Philippine Navy vessel tried to arrest Chinese fishermen found illegally hauling giant clams there.

04 Apr 2016

Japanese War Subs Dock in the Philippines

Two Japanese destroyers and a submarine  have arrived to the major Philippine port of Subic, , the first in 15 years, to uphold “peace and stability” in the region, the Philippine Navy have said. The port of Subic is located in the vicinity of the disputed South China Sea water routes. The training submarine Oyashio, accompanied by the destroyers Ariake and Setogiri, made the  port call at Subic Bay, home of a former U.S. naval base, ahead of planned open sea drills. Manila is seeking to strengthen ties with Tokyo as tensions mount over the disputed waterway, almost all of which is claimed by China. Some 500 Japanese personnel, including 55 officer candidates, are taking part in the confidence-building exercise.

13 Jan 2016

Iran Releases US Sailors after Brief Detention

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Torrey W. Lee/Released

Iran released 10 U.S. sailors on Wednesday after holding them overnight, bringing a swift end to an incident that had rattled nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had freed the sailors after determining they had entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake. The sailors had been detained aboard two U.S. Navy patrol boats in the Gulf on Tuesday. "Our technical investigations showed the two U.S.

04 Mar 2016

Philippines Bars North Korean Cargo Ship

The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program, reports AP. The 6,830 dwt general cargo ship Jin Teng is among 31 vessels that could be forced to stop trading after being included in an asset freeze against a North Korean shipping company under the tightened sanctions passed unanimously by the Security Council. The registered owner is Golden Soar Development, which has an address in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district, according to the Equasis shipping database hosted by the French transport ministry, although there was no telephone listing for the company.

18 Mar 2016

U.S.: New Chinese Activity at South China Sea Shoal

The United States has seen Chinese activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy chief said on Thursday. The head of U.S. naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could be a trigger for Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in the busy trade route. Richardson told Reuters the United States was weighing responses to such a move. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year.

23 Mar 2016

USS Ohio Arrives in Subic

The United States’ Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN-726) arrived in Subic Bay on Tuesday, March 22, as part of its deployment to the Western Pacific. Ohio is the second submarine to dock in Subic, a former American naval base, and the sixth US warship to visit the country this month. With its 150 crew and officers, Ohio will conduct missions and showcase the latest capabilities of the US Navy’s submarine fleet. Measuring 560 feet long and displacing more than 18,000 tons of water when submerged, Ohio is one of the largest and most versatile submarines in the world. “Our presence in the region provides a stabilizing force and through engagements with our partners, such as this port visit to Subic Bay, we aid in maintaining that stability,” said Capt.

16 Jul 2015

Philippines' Warship Repair Angers China

China warned it can take "further actions" after the Philippines confirmed it is fortifying the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded ship on Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the South China Sea. Beijing has hit out at Manila for repairing a crumbling ship serving as its outpost in the disputed South China Sea, branding the Philippines as a "hypocritical troublemaker and rule breaker". The Philippines said Tuesday it would repair the Sierra Madre which is at a shoal also claimed by China. A Reuters report said the Philippines also plans to revive a former US naval base in Subic Bay. The Philippines officially announced that it was repairing a crumbling ship serving as its lonely outpost in the disputed South China Sea as China deploys more vessels and builds new islands nearby.

14 Aug 2015

Japan Joins U.S.-Philippine Naval Drills; Tensions Rise

Japan has joined U.S.-led maritime humanitarian exercises off the Philippines for the first time, as concerns mount among the three allies about China's growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea. A Japanese navy replenishment ship was in Subic Bay, a former U.S. naval base, to refuel a U.S. Navy floating hospital en route to Vietnam for the seven-nation humanitarian mission. It was the first time a Japanese navy ship has taken part in the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief drills although a flotilla of Japanese training vessels, including a submarine, makes annual port calls in Manila. Rear Admiral Charles Williams, commander of U.S.