Navy welcomes public to tour an active warship

Navy welcomes public to tour an active warship

  
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Rod Matthews reacts to the wind blowing up his uniform collar during tours of the guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson on Saturday in Seal Beach. The vessel recently returned from a six month deployment to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. Free tours for the public continue Sunday.
ANA VENEGAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SEAL BEACH – It’s not every day Orange County residents get to tour a Navy warship.

Lucky for Orange County residents, they do once a year, and it’s this weekend.

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Go and do

What: Tour the guided missile destroyer USS Sampson

When: 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: The Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. The public must enter at the base’s Wharf Gate, off of Seal Beach Boulevard just south of Pacific Coast Highway.

Cost: Free

Extra info: Cameras are allowed and walking shoes are encouraged. No bags or backpacks will be allowed on the ship. The ship is not handicapped accessible.

The Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station opened to thousands Saturday so the public could tour the guided missile destroyer USS Sampson.

The open house continues Sunday, and the weekend events have been known to draw anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 people, Navy officials said.

Hundreds waited in line Saturday morning as guided tours of groups with 25 people walked the ship’s deck, got a first-hand look at the control room and learned about the weapons on board.

“It’s good from both points of view; for the public and the Navy,” said Placentia resident Selwyn Ramsay, 82.

Ramsay served on the aircraft carrier USS Randolph, built during WWII. He served as the aircraft maintenance officer on that ship from 1954 to 55 and stayed in the Navy until 1991, he said.

Ramsay moved easily through the narrow corridors and up and down the steep stairways, while others who weren’t used to the inner workings of a destroyer navigated with a little more hesitation and caution.

“This is how we get new sailors,” Ramsay said of the tour. “For us old sailors, we get to see how the Navy works now.”

The USS Sampson, featured in the movie “Battleship,” can handle a crew of up to 360 people, said LT LeeAnn Darland, Information Warfare Officer

The destroyer was commissioned in 2007 and recently returned from a six-month deployment in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

The ship docked in Seal Beach on Friday to unload some of its Tomahawk missiles, Darland said.

“Seal Beach is primarily (about) ammo,” she said

Darland said the duties of the USS Sampson vary.

Its main mission is to support an aircraft carrier strike group, but the ship has also carried out counter-piracy missions and recently was deployed in the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman off the coast or Iran to keep it open and safe for sea travel, Darland said.

While the tours are a huge draw for locals, military members and Navy enthusiasts from across Southern California made the trip for Saturday’s open house.

Department of Defense Engineer David Gonzalez, 51, brought his three daughters from Riverside to tour the destroyer. His middle child, Jatha, was celebrating her 11th birthday.

“We’re here because it’s my daughter’s birthday weekend, but since I’m in the Navy, we’re also here to show a little pride and patriotism,” Gonzalez said.

Jatha, wearing a blue Navy cap, said after taking the tour, that she might become a sailor.

“It was awesome, I liked the guns,” she said. “I want to be in the Navy.”

The USS Sampson will be open for free tours again from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7953 or jfletcher@ocregister.com

Ashes to be spread off Newfoundland coast where ferry was torpedoed in 1942

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ashes to be spread off Newfoundland coast where ferry was torpedoed in 1942

 
 
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS OCTOBER 13, 2012 
 
 

PORT AUX BASQUES, N.L. – Dozens of innocent people caught up in one of Canada’s worst wartime disasters are to be remembered Sunday with a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the passenger ferry Caribou.

Members of the Royal Canadian Navy were planning to spread the ashes of two people with links to the tragedy into the icy waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence where the civilian vessel was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1942.

Of the 237 people aboard the Caribou, which was sailing on its regular route from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, 136 died in the frigid waters.

“It was warfare, and the U-boats were determined to shut down the trade between North America and Europe because they understood that (it) was going to tip the balance in who won the war,” said Royal Canadian Navy Commander Larry Trim from Sydney, N.S., on Saturday.

“It was one of the most tragic events during the Second World War. It was an immense tragedy that is still felt today.”

Members of the Canadian navy and Marine Atlantic officials were to hold a ceremony during a ferry crossing from Port aux Basques, N.L., to North Sydney, N.S, to mark the sinking seven decades ago.

Wreaths were to be tossed into the waters over the same spot where the Marine Atlantic vessel sank after the attack by the submarine U-69.

The ashes of Eric Andrews are to be spread into the waters during the ceremony, which was expected to take place Sunday afternoon. Trim said Andrews not only survived the sinking of the Caribou, but six other submarine attacks on ships during the Second World War.

“His story is amazing. He was torpedoed seven times… and the S.S. Caribou was the seventh,” said Trim. “He said it was the worst experience he went through, was the sinking of the S.S. Caribou, because there was so many men, women and children and so much confusion.

“He said the screaming of the women and children was awful.”

The ashes of Robert Cutler will also be spread at sea during the ceremony. Cutler’s father, Howard Cutler, was the mail room clerk aboard the Caribou and was among the 31 of 46 crew members who died during the attack, he said.

Both Cutler and Andrews had requested that their ashes be spread at the site.

Historical accounts say the Caribou was hit around 3:20 a.m. on Oct. 14, about 37 kilometres off the shores of Newfoundland in the Cabot Strait during its crossing from North Sydney, N.S.

Within five minutes, the ferry had sunk. Only one rescue boat carrying about 20 people made it into the water. Other survivors were left bobbing in the frigid Atlantic, clinging to debris and overturned life boats.

A warship that was escorting the ferry, HMCS Grandmere, had to hunt the U-boat before attempting to rescue survivors. The Grandmere located and attacked the sub, but it escaped.

Some historians have said the Caribou’s sinking was Canada’s worst naval disaster of the Second World War for Canada.

The tragic event instilled panic across Eastern Canada about whether it was safe for ships to sail in coastal waters.

Paul Griffin, president and CEO of Marine Atlantic, said it was an event that brought a war largely fought overseas to Canada’s doorstep.

“This and a number of other events were close to home,” said Griffin from St. John’s, N.L., on Saturday. “The fact that it happened so close to our shores really impacted people at the time.”

The ceremony was expected to take place during the ferry’s noon crossing, but poor weather could postpone the vessel’s departure, said Griffin.

— By Aly Thomson in Halifax

 

Read more:http://www.theprovince.com/news/Ashes+spread+Newfoundland+coast+where+ferry+torpedoed+1942/7387192/story.html#ixzz29Gp2NJdn

Australian Navy’s Canberra-class LHD programme moves ahead

Australian Navy’s Canberra-class LHD programme moves ahead

12 October 2012


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BAE_Australian Navy_LHD

The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) first of two Canberra-class landing helicopter docks (LHD), HMAS Canberra (LHD 01), will soon receive its Navantia-built hull at BAE Systems Williamstown shipyard, defence materiel minister Jason Clare has revealed.

“The LHDs are the largest ships ever built for the Royal Australian Navy and will provide the Australian Defence Force with one of the most capable and sophisticated amphibious ships in the world,” Clare said.

BAE Systems maritime director Bill Saltzer said that preparation works were completed and the Australian team would begin next phase of the LHD construction programme following the hull’s arrival, expected in a few weeks.

“We will need to wait for exactly the right conditions before we proceed to ensure that the operation is done in a safe and controlled manner,” Saltzer said.

“The LHDs are the largest ships ever built for the Royal Australian Navy and will provide the Australian Defence Force with one of the most capable and sophisticated amphibious ships in the world.”

As part of ADF’s broader amphibious deployment and sustainment system, RAN had awarded a contract to BAE Systems for construction of the two amphibious ships.

The vessel’s four sections are currently at different stages of construction, outfitting and consolidation, including mast modules fabrication, at the Williamstown yard in Western Australia.

“BAE is Australia’s largest defence contractor and will play a key role in the consolidation and fitout of the LHD once it arrives,” Clare added.

The LHD is expected to enter service with RAN in 2014, while HMAS Adelaide, the second ship is scheduled to be commissioned in June 2015.

It will be used to transport military equipment and aviation units as well as support humanitarian missions for RAN.

Image: The LHD is being built for the Royal Australian Navy. Photo: courtesy of BAE Systems.

 

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US navy cruiser and submarine collide

5:55 PM Sunday Oct 14, 2012

US submarine USS Olympia, which is similar to USS Montpelier, the sub involved in the collision. Photo / AFP

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US submarine USS Olympia, which is similar to USS Montpelier, the sub involved in the collision. Photo / AFP

The Pentagon said late on Saturday (local time) that it is investigating why a Navy submarine collided with an Aegis cruiser during routine operations at an undisclosed location.

The US Fleet Forces Command said in a news release that the submarine USS Montpelier and the Aegis cruiser USS San Jacinto collided at about 3:30pm (local time). No one was injured, and the extent of any damage to the vessels was not clear Saturday evening, said Lt. Commander Brian Badura of the Fleet Forces Command.

“We have had circumstances where Navy vessels have collided at sea in the past, but they’re fairly rare as to how often they do take place,” Badura said.

Navy officials said the collision was under investigation, but declined to offer specifics on what happens next or on where the incident took place.

“If we do have an incident that does take place, there are folks that swing into action… to help us make a better, more conclusive explanation of exactly what happened,” Badura said.

The news release says “overall damage to both ships is being evaluated,” and that the sub’s propulsion plant was “unaffected by the collision.”

Both Navy ships are based at Norfolk, Virginia and are operating on their own power, the news release says.

-AP

US Navy cruiser collides with nuclear submarine

US Navy cruiser collides with nuclear submarine

Published: 3:25PM Sunday October 14, 2012 Source: Reuters

  • US Navy cruiser collides with nuclear submarine

A US Navy Aegis cruiser has collided with a nuclear-powered submarine during exercises off the East Cost, collapsing the sonar dome on the cruiser and possibly causing other damage, but no injuries, US Navy officials said.

The collision between the USS San Jacinto and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Montpelier occurred about 3:30pm local time, the Navy said in a statement. The Navy declined to say where off the East Coast the accident occurred.

A Navy official said the watch team aboard the San Jacinto saw a periscope rise from the water about 100 – 200metres ahead of the vessel during the exercise. The cruiser ordered “all back”, but the San Jacinto still collided with the submarine.

The collision caused the collapse of the cruiser’s sonar dome – a bulbous-shaped device on the bow of the ship beneath the water line – the Navy official said on condition of anonymity.

The rubber dome houses some of the vessel’s electronic navigation, detection and ranging equipment.

The Navy said no personnel were injured during the incident and there was no damage to the submarine’s nuclear-powered propulsion plant. Both vessels were operating under their own power.

The ships were part of a strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman. The Truman was in the area and providing support to the vessels.

The incident is being investigated, the Navy said, and overall damage to both ships is still being evaluated.

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