Category Archives: US Navy

Eye in the Sky

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Some 80 years ago this month, a USN PB4Y-1 (B-24) Liberator on an anti-submarine operational flight, 22 May 1944, out of Naval Air Field, Port Lyautey, French Morocco. Note the Portuguese-flagged coaster, navio-motor Costeiro Terceiro (66,96m/ 1.212,87gt/ 9,5 knots; 09/1941) below.

U.S. Navy Photo, via the National Archives. 80-G-227968

As far as I can tell, the above aircraft is likely Consolidated B-24J-20-CO, BuNo 32192 (USAAF 42-73170), of the “Night Owls” of VB-114, one of the 46 Block 20 B-24Js (42-73165 through 42-73214) handed over to the Navy, which represent just a fragment of the more than 900 PB4Y-1 Liberators and PB4Y-2 Privateers that were sent to the blue side during WWII.

PB4Y-1 Liberator from US Navy Patrol Squadron VP-114 on the ramp at Norfolk, Virginia, United States, circa Aug 1943.

As detailed by the Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons, VB-114 was established on 26 August 1943 and was redesignated VPB-114 in October 1944.

80-G-44506: U.S. Navy Aircraft: PB4Y-1. Navy Patrol Bomber, PB4Y-1, Liberator. Photograph received July 1944. U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2014/6/5).

VB-114’s first overseas deployment was to NAF Port Lyautey (“Craw Field”) which was an improved 6,000-foot strip taken over in January 1944 from the French military. Operating beside assorted PBY-5 squadrons, VB-114 arrived starting in mid-February 1944, with their heavy equipment arriving later the next month aboard the Barnegat-class small seaplane tender USS Rockaway (AVP 29).

Operating under the control of FAW-15, the squadron suffered from a lack of targets, and, by June 1944, a detachment of six 50 million candle-watt searchlight-equipped birds (the squadron was the only American night-time patrol bomber unit in the Atlantic at the time), was deployed to RAF Dunkeswell, England “to provide low altitude ASW and anti-surface conduct in advance of and during the Normandy Invasion.”

They joined three other Navy Liberator squadrons (VB-103, VB-105, and VB-110) in roaming the Bay of Biscay, with the others roaming during the day and the Owls at night. 

U.S. Navy Aircraft: PB4Y-1. Consolidated PB4Y-1 “Liberator” Patrol Bomber in flight circa 1943-45. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Accession #: 80-G-K-5175

By mid-July 1944, the elements of VB-114 left in Morocco were shifted to Lagens Field, Terceira Island, Azores, where they were painted in British markings as the Portuguese had agreed to fly RAF aircraft out of the islands, not American.

VPB-114 PB4Y-1 with US and British markings at Lajes Field in 1944

Post-war, VPB-114 shifted operations to Florida and became one of the first hurricane hunter weather squadrons, redesignated VP-HL-6. This endured until 1948 when they went back to being a full-time patrol squadron and were redesignated a final time to become the “Tridents” of VP-26.

Since then, they have flown P-2Vs, assorted P-3B/C Orion, and now P-8 Poseidon.

Rising Sun Updates

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In Japan, the country’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is stretching its legs.

The 4,000-ton training frigate JS Kashima (TV-3508), accompanied by the 6,000-ton Hatakaze-class guided missile destroyer JS Shimakaze (DDG-172/TV-3521), departed for an overseas training cruise.

What makes this interesting, besides the fact that both units will travel together and conduct a rare circumnavigation of the globe, is that it also marks the first time in 50 years that they will pass by the Cape of Good Hope off the coast of Africa.

You can expect the pair to conduct lots of exercises with allies, such as this underway replenishment with the USNS Pecos (T-AO-197).

In terms of growth, the JMSD just celebrated the commissioning ceremony for the newest Mogami-class frigate at Nagasaki Shipyard, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., which saw JS Yahagi (FFM-5) join the fleet. The 5th Mogami will be deployed to Maizuru Naval Base, Kyoto, as part of Escort Division 14.

The very advanced CODAG-powered 5,000-ton “stealth” frigate includes a 5-inch gun, 16 cell VLS, eight anti-ship missiles, minelaying (and MCM) equipment, ASW torpedoes, a SeaRAM CIWS, and a hangar for an embarked SH-60 series helicopter–all with just a 90 man crew.

Top speed, “over 30 knots” is rumored to be closer to 40 in a sprint.

If only the LCS could have been something more like the Mogamis.

China’s PLAN looking bigger, better, and more professional than ever

 
Since you came this far, this excellent 45-minute USNI podcast in which retired Navy Captain Jim Fanell—noted expert on the Chinese Navy, former Director of Intelligence for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and frequent Proceedings contributor—provides an update on the PLA Navy and their operations. 
 
He notes that the JMSDF is engaged in keeping tabs on the PLAN daily. 
 

 

Wreck of ‘Hit em Harder’ confirmed

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One of the 52 WWII American submarines considered on Eternal Patrol, the resting place of the Gato-class fleet boat USS Harder (SS 257), which received six battle stars for her wartime service, has been confirmed.

Laid down at EB in Groton a week before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Harder was commissioned on 2 December 1942 and earned the Presidential Unit Citation through five wildly successful wartime patrols.

The recently commissioned Harder (SS-257) steaming on the surface of Narragansett Bay, 20 January 1943.

Harder, accompanied by sisters Hake (SS-256) and Haddo (SS-255) departed Fremantle on 5 August 1944 for her sixth war patrol, assigned to haunt the South China Sea off Luzon. Two weeks later the American wolf pack splashed four Japanese cargo ships while Harder and Haddo attacked and destroyed the escort ships Matsuwa and Hiburi on 22 August.

By 24 August, with the out-of-torpedo Haddo returned to base, Harder and Hake had one final joint engagement, one that Harder would not survive.

As noted by DANFS:

Before dawn on 24 August 1944, Hake sighted the escort ship CD-22 and Patrol Boat No. 102 (ex-Stewart, DD-224.)  As Hake closed to attack, the patrol boat turned away toward Dasol Bay. Hake broke off her approach, turned northward, sighting Harder’s periscope 600 to 700 yards dead ahead. Swinging southward, Hake sighted CD-22 about 2,000 yards off her port quarter. To escape, Hake went deep and rigged for silent running. At 0728 Hake’s crew reported hearing 15 rapid depth charges explode in the distance astern. Hake continued evasive action, returning to the attack area shortly after noon to sweep the area at periscope depth – only finding a ring of marker buoys covering a radius of one-half mile. Japanese records later revealed that Harder fired three torpedoes at CD-22 in a “down-the-throat” shot, which the enemy vessel successfully evaded. At 0728, she launched the first of several depth charges, which sunk the American submarine.  

The Navy declared Harder presumed lost on 2 January 1945. Her name was stricken from the Navy Register on 20 January.

She is in remarkable condition after sitting on the floor for almost 80 years, sitting upright under the crush of more than 3,000 meters of sea.

4D photogrammetry model of USS Harder (SS 257) wreck site by The Lost 52. The Lost 52 Project scanned the entire boat and stitched all the images together in a multi-dimensional model used to study and explore the site. Tim Taylor and The Lost 52 Project grants the US Navy permission to use their image for press release of the discovery of the USS Harder with photo credit given to Tim Taylor and the Lost 52 Project.

And so we remember Harder and her 80 souls. 
 
There are no roses on sailors’ graves,
Nor wreaths upon the storm-tossed waves,
No last post from the King’s band,
So far away from their native land,
No heartbroken words carved on stone,
Just shipmates’ bodies there alone,
The only tributes are the seagulls sweep,
And the teardrop when a loved one weeps.
 

(Photo: Chris Eger)

Confusing Frigate Developments

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Thursday’s contracts included an order for two more Constellation class frigates. Emphasis mine:

Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin, is awarded a $1,044,529,113 fixed-price incentive (firm-target) modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-20-C-2300) to exercise options for detail design and construction of two Constellation-class guided-missile frigates, FFG 66 and FFG 67. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (51%); Camden, New Jersey (17%); Chicago, Illinois (7%); Green Bay, Wisconsin (4%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (3%); Hauppauge, New York (3%); Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (3%); Cincinnati, Ohio (3%); Kaukauna, Wisconsin (2%); Charlotte, North Carolina (2%); Bethesda, Maryland (2%); Millersville, Maryland (2%); and Atlanta, Georgia (1%), and is expected to be completed by April 2030. Fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,044,529,113 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

So far, we have the USS Constellation (FFG 62), USS Congress (FFG 63), USS Chesapeake (FFG 64), and USS Lafayette (FFG 65), all echoing traditional early Navy names.

This comes as our beloved SECNAV (here comes the Navy ship naming convention soapbox) announced that the future FFG 66 will be named…USS Hamilton.

Now don’t get me wrong, there have been a couple of Hamiltons on the Navy List in the past, both named for the Madison’s SECNAV that served during the first part of the War of 1812: the current Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) and the Wickes-class destroyer/fast minesweeper USS Hamilton (DD-141/DMS-18/AG-111) that served from 1919 through 1945.

USS Paul Hamilton DDG-60

However, this will not be for Paul Hamilton, but instead for Alexander Hamilton, the Army artillerist who was the first Secretary of the Navy and the guy generally seen as the father of today’s Coast Guard.

The reason this hoses me off is because of the Coast Guard’s long history with the name including a brand-new National Security class cutter USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753) that was commissioned in 2014, the Vietnam/Cold War era 378-foot class leader USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715) that served from 1967 to 2011, the Treasury class 327-foot cutter (WPG-34) which was sunk by a U-boat in WWII, as well as circa 1921, 1871, and 1830 cutters that carried the name.

BLACK SEA (April 30, 2021) U.S. Coast Guard members conduct boat and flight procedures on the USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) with Turkish naval members aboard the TCG Turgutreis (F 241) in the Black Sea, April 30, 2021

USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715)

USCGC Alexander Hamilton (WPG-34) departs Boston for a Neutrality Patrol off the Grand Banks in November of 1939

The Hamilton at sea, 1978 painting at USCG Museum

Once the future USS Hamilton (FFG 66) joins the fleet, it will cause tactical confusion in the respect that there is already a San Diego-based destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), and the frigate-sized USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753).

Surely, there is no shortage of traditional early U.S. Navy names that can be recycled without both ripping off the Coast Guard and causing confusion down the line. Perhaps there could be an 11th USS Ranger, ninth USS Hornet or USS Dolphin, eighth USS Lexington, seventh USS Shark, sixth USS Franklin, USS Ticonderoga, USS Hancock, or USS Concord, or fourth USS Valley Forge? Just saying.

Or, how about this: the USS Benjamin Stoddert, after the first SECNAV? Only two ships have carried it in the past– DD-302 and DDG-22– and it has been missing from the Navy List since 1991?

But then again, ole Ben Stoddart doesn’t have a hit Broadway musical to his credit.

Final Indy class LCS Christened

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The 19th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship– the future USS Pierre (LCS 38)-– was christened over the weekend at Austal in Mobile.

Ship sponsor Larissa Thune Hargens executed the ceremonial bottle break over the bow of Pierre, witnessed by an audience of over four hundred guests. (Austal)

At least the end is near on the shitshow that has been the LCS program.

Granted, while the Indy class vessels have been less flawed than the 16-ship Freedom class built by Lockheed Martin (Marinette Marine), that is a low bar.

Anywho, it seems the Indies have at least matured to the point that they may be a viable minehunter that can carry a few anti-ship missiles and perform some low-risk flag-waving and surveillance tasks. After all, the Navy’s first Mine Countermeasures Mission Package (MCM MP) just arrived aboard Indy class sister USS Canberra (LCS 30) late last month and four of the class will deploy to the Middle East in 2025 in the MCM role. 
 

An unmanned surface vehicle is craned aboard the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30), as a part of the first embarkation of the Mine Countermeasures (MCM) mission package, on April 23. The MCM mission package is an integrated suite of unmanned maritime systems and sensors that locates, identifies, and destroys mines in the littorals while increasing the ship’s standoff distance from the threat area. Littoral Combat Ships are fast, optimally manned, mission-tailored surface combatants that operate in near-shore and open-ocean environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Vance Hand)

As detailed by NAVSEA:

An integrated suite of unmanned maritime systems and sensors, the MCM mission package locates, identifies, and destroys mines in the littorals while increasing the ship’s standoff distance from the threat area. Embarked with the MCM mission package, an LCS or a vessel of opportunity can conduct the full spectrum of detect-to-engage operations (hunt, neutralize, and sweep) against mine threats using sensors and weapons deployed from the MCM Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), an MH-60S multi-mission helicopter and associated support equipment.

The MCM mission package achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) on March 31, 2023, following rigorous initial operational testing and evaluation (IOT&E) of the full mission package, including the AN/AQS-20 system, during the fall of 2022 aboard [Independent class sister] USS Cincinnati (LCS 20). With the deployment of the first MCM mission packages in Fiscal Year 2025, the Navy will commence divesting from aging MH-53 helicopters and Avenger Class MCM ships.

Further, as noted by Austal:

In November 2023 the Navy reported it had six Independence-variant LCS deployed in the Pacific throughout 2023, including the record-breaking 26-month overseas deployment of USS Charleston (LCS 18). The Austal USA-built LCS variant is also providing support to the Navy’s unmanned programs with USS Oakland (LCS 24) operating as a mothership for the Unmanned Surface Division 1 vessels Ranger, Mariner, Seahawk, and Sea Hunter; the large flight decks support unmanned drones, like the MQ-8C Fire Scout.

For the record, the christening ceremony for the future USS Pierre, which is the second U.S. Navy warship to carry the name after a WWII subchaser (PC-1141):

And the sizzle reel from Austal on the class thus far:

Those keeping up at home will note that, of the 55 planned LCS variants back in 2004, we currently have 8 Freedoms on semi-active duty, 5 decommissioned, and three (Nantucket, Beloit, and Cleveland) still building while of the Indies: 15 are active, one (Kingsville) has been delivered but not yet commissioned, two early flight ships have been decommissioned, and one (Pierre) is building. That gives us 23-24 with the fleet (of which a third are in limited roles and the Navy is seriously trying to ditch them), four under construction, and 7 on red lead row.

Pierre will, when commissioned, head to San Diego to join the rest of her class in service. 

Looking back to 2004, the Navy should have just ordered 30 updated VLS-equipped OHP FFG7s and a dozen Italian-built MCMs from an off-the-shelf design for all the good it did, but that’s hindsight I guess.

Cape Jellison, is that you?

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It seems a used– but not too abused– Cold War-era former Cape class cutter/patrol boat is up for sale– cheap.

One of the nine 95-foot Type B Capes completed in the 1950s (there were 36 of the vessels, which were intended to be coastal subchasers in time of war, constructed between 1953 and 1959), USCGC Cape Jellison (WPB-95317) patrolled first the waters of San Diego (1956-73), and then Seward, Alaska (1973-November 1986), primarily Search and Rescue and Law Enforcement missions.

In her SAR role, she rescued the power craft El Gusto (1969), sailboat Siestar, power craft Cleff, and power craft Dowager Jones (1970), along with the FV Kathy Joanne (1982), while her LE patrols yielded a couple of large pot busts. Hey it was the 80s. 

She carried the curious Coast Guard-invented piggyback Mk 2 Mod 0 and Mod 1 .50 BMG/81mm mortar forward, seen above while in Alaskan waters.

Post decommissioning in December 1986, she was transferred to the Navy for use as a range control and dive support boat at San Clemente Island/Naval Base Coronado, then donated in turn to the Boys and Girls Club of South San Francisco as the Cape Hurricane and then later to the Sea Scouts where she operated as SSS Challenger until at least 2020.

She has seen better days but still looks great, and could easily be preserved as a small museum ship.

Spotted in the Redwood City, California Craigslist “boat” section, listed since 15 April and repeated here for posterity:

95’ RETIRED CAPE CLASS USCG CUTTER
FORMERLY USCGC CAPE JELLISON (WPB-95317)

Builder: US Coast Guard Yard – Curtis Bay, MD
Year Built: 1955
Length Overall: 95’
Beam: 19’
Draft: 6.5’
Displacement: ~90 tons
Last yard period: 2019

HULL, STRUCTURE, INTERIOR
Keel, bottom, topsides & decks: Steel
Superstructure: Aluminum
Deck Hardware: One single boat davit with 110 VAC electric winch, one electric smooth-drum vertical capstan with wildcat for anchor chain, Danforth anchor in hawsepipe with all-chain rode, eight mooring bitts with closed chocks
Berthing: Accommodations for 25 as follows: One Single berth commanding officer’s stateroom, two two-berth staterooms, two forward berthing spaces with six and three berths respectively. One aft berthing space with 11 berths
Heads: Three heads, each with shower and sink. One forward, one amidships, one aft.
Galley: Equipped with four-burner full size electric range with oven, two-basin sink with hot/cold water, full size refrigerator with top freezer, dry goods storage
Mess Deck: Two mess tables with seating for 16
Wheelhouse: Wheel steering with pneumatic engine controls. Furuno radar, Furuno depth sounder, two Uniden VHF radios. Em-Trak AIS Class A with GPS, Nav center with full size chart table

SYSTEMS
Main Engines: Four Cummins VT-12, 12-cylinder Turbo-Diesels, tandem installation (two engines per shaft). Fresh water cooled with sea water heat exchangers. Pneumatic start, pneumatic controls. Three engines operational, one disassembled (many parts on hand). Vessel normally operated on two engines.
Gears: Capitol Gears ~3:1 reduction with selectable engine engagement (enables 1 or 2 engines per side to drive the propeller)
Propellers: Two five-blade bronze construction propellers
Generators: Two Detroit Diesel, model 2-71, 24-volt DC electric start, 20 kw, 440 volts three-phase AC generators
Electrical System: DC System: One 12-volt 8D battery for wheelhouse electronics, two 2-volt 8D batteries series wired for 24 VDC generator starting. AC system: 50 amp 440 volts three phase, 220 volts for galley range, 117 volts three phase house power. Shore power: 50 amp 440 volts three phase primary shore power. Also equipped to accept 110 volts shore power to supply house loads, configurable for 110 or 220 volts input.
Fuel System: Three integral storage tanks, ~3,100 gallon total capacity. One integral day tank, ~150 gallon capacity. Electric transfer pump (storage tanks to day tank) with triplex fuel filter/water separator. Duplex fuel filler/water separator at each main engine, single fuel filter/water separator at each generator.
Fresh Water System: Two integral storage tanks, ~1,100 gallon total capacity, electric water heater.
Pneumatics: Two electric air compressors, two storage tanks for starting air, one storage tank for control and service air.
Steering System: Manual wheel steering, cable-driven with hydraulic assist, two rudders, emergency hand operation
Ventilation: Natural and blowers. Two-speed supply and exhaust fans forward and aft. Two Two-speed supply fans for engine room
Black Water System: ~150-gal steel holding tank with electric discharge pump and hand backup. Thru-hull (locked secure) and main deck discharge

The ‘Fighting Carney’ Back From 51 Engagements off Houthiland, Earns NUC

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With her battle flag hoisted, the early (laid down in 1993) Flight I Burke, USS Carney (DDG-64), returned from an epic 235-day deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Gulf, sailing into her homeport of Mayport, Florida on Sunday after a brief stop in Norfolk.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) visits Naval Station Norfolk following a seven-month deployment, on May 10. Throughout the ship’s seven-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operations, Carney successfully destroyed Houthi-launched weapons, including land attack cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, and unmanned systems. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Manvir Gill)

She accomplished a couple of firsts on her cruise, noted by the Navy as being the “first ship in the area to intercept land-attack cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) launched by Houthi forces toward Israel in October 2023.”

Importantly, she (and class leader Burke) were noted as being the first combat use of the SM-3, when the two tin cans fired a brace of high-flying ABMs at Iranian ballistic missiles headed to Israel on 23 April 2024, splashing at least three.

During her 7-month deployment, while operating in the Red Sea and Eastern Med, Carney:

  • Had 51 engagements
  • Faced Houthi missiles and drones
  • Conducted two strikes in Yemen, destroying 20 targets
  • Shot down one Iranian medium-range ballistic missile

231019-N-GF955-1104 RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19, 2023. US Navy Photo

Not bad for a ship that was commissioned some 28 years ago and hasn’t had a major upgrade/refit to a more modern standard (i.e. SPY-6, etc). 

The engagements broke a record set in 1945 off Okinawa, at least how the Navy marks it.

“I could not be more proud of what the Carney team has done since September,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti aboard Carney. “Called to action on the very first day that you entered the U.S. 5th Fleet, you conducted 51 engagements in 6 months. The last time our Navy directly engaged the enemy to the degree that you have was way back in World War II, and it was the USS Hugh Hadley (DD-774), with her engagement record of 23. You saved lives, ensured the free flow of commerce, and stood up for the rules-based international order and all the values that we hold dear. It has been eye-watering to watch, you are truly America’s Warfighting Navy in action.”

She even apparently got six “kills” with her 5-inch gun, something that hasn’t been documented since 1945. Most were reportedly single-shot swats against low flyers but one went 12 rounds. 

Carney has to be the first tin can with kill rings on her 5 incher since Okinawa. The red stripe is reportedly a LACM crossing shot. Also, note that she has an older 5″/54 Mk 45 Mod 1, which is basically a 1970s design. It would be interesting to see what something like a newer 5-inch/62 Mk 45 Mod 4, helped out by a SPY-6, could accomplish.

The ship earned a Navy Unit Commendation from the SECAV.

Drone CVEs and CVLs abound (except in the US)

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I know you guys are together and bathe regularly and don’t need me to point stuff like this out, but drone carriers are seriously becoming a thing.

In the past couple of years, Turkey has decided to turn Anadolu, their 25,000-ton/762-foot variant of the Spanish LHA Juan Carlos I, into a floating airdrome for their domestically-produced UCAVs such as the Bayraktar TB-3, an aircraft roughly equivalent to a late model General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.

Plans have shown the ‘phib with 40 TB3s on deck, not counting those that could be stored below deck.

Then came news from Thailand that the small 1990s-built ski-jump equipped 11,500-ton HTMS Chakri Naruebet, long stripped of its working second-hand AV-8S Harriers, is to be upcycled to operate drones.

HTMS Chakri Naruebet with locally made MARCUS drone

Further, the Portuguese Navy is in the design phase of a 10,000-ton multifunctional LPH that can carry UAVs as its principal air wing.

The fixed-wing UAVs are launched via a ski jump. Portuguese Navy image.

The mothership is shown with two notional fixed-wing UAVs on deck (they look like MQ-1C Grey Eagle but the new MQ-9B STOL may be a better fit) as well as 6 quad-copter UAVs and one NH90 helicopter. The design seems to lack an aviation hangar. Below decks is a modular area to launch and recover AUV, UUV, and USV. Portuguese Navy image.

Speaking to adversarial countries, Iran has shown off a one-way drone carrier made from a converted coaster, and China built a pair of small catamaran “drone mini-carriers.”

Iran’s budget “drone carrier”

Chinese catamaran drone mini-carrier, with five VTOL spots

Now it seems the PLAN has gone the distance and is close to completing a much larger, 300-foot, drone carrier catamaran.

Via Naval New. The previously unreported drone carrier (A) is longer but narrower than two drone motherships (C, D) built in the same yard. There are also several high-tech target barges (B, F), including one miming an aircraft carrier (E).

We need American CVE-Qs

It seems that a quick program to rapidly construct a series of navalized drone-carrying jeep carriers should be pushed through.

Think this but with UAVs: 

USS Altamaha (CVE-18) transporting Army P-51 Mustang fighters off San Francisco, California on 16 July 1943. NH 106575

Commercial hull. Perhaps even taken up from the glut of vessels already for sale at just above scrap value. Minimal conversion reconstruction while resisting the desire to add all sorts of gee-whiz gear and weapons. Could even go supersized and use converted VLCCs and supertankers. 

Minimally manned (15-20 vessel crew, 20-30 UAV techs and operators). Expendable vessel if push comes to shove, with the crew given ready access to a couple of quick-release free-fall lifeboats.

Fill it with a few dozen MQ-9B STOLs until something more advanced comes along. 

This General Atomics rendering shows it running from an LHA, but surely a smaller and more dedicated CVE-style vessel could work. Note the underwing armament

DARPA is working on its Ancillary Program of six different design concepts for a low-weight, large-payload, long-endurance VTOL uncrewed X-plane to operate with the fleet, so the idea of an all-UAS Carrier Air Wing is just over the horizon. 

ANCILLARY design concept renderings from all six performers, clockwise from lower left: Sikorsky, Karem Aircraft, Griffon Aerospace, Method Aeronautics, AeroVironment, Northrop Grumman.

Add a couple of CVEQs to a DDG (commodore and AAW commander) and LCS (Surface Warfare commander) for an instant sea control group.

The ghosts of Kaiser and Zumwalt would approve.

Sea Orbit at 60

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Some 60 years ago this week, the world’s ocean saw a novel naval squadron take to sea. On 13 May 1964, the first all-nuclear-powered task group, “Task Force One,” was organized and deployed to the Fleet as Carrier Division 2.

Comprising the brand new 93,000-ton supercarrier USS Enterprise (CVAN 65), the sleek and enigmatic 15,000-ton cruiser USS Long Beach (CGN 9), and the 9,000-ton destroyer leader USS Bainbridge (DLGN 25), the group, thanks to their dozen installed nuclear reactors (8 A2Ws on Enterprise, on 2 C1Ws on Long Beach, and 2 D2Gs on Bainbridge) could make 30+ knots non-stop for years, with their endurance limited generally to the amount of food aboard for their combined 7,600 sailors and Marines, and the finite quantity of lubricants and spare parts to keep things in motion.

U.S. Navy National Naval Aviation Museum photo NNAM.1996.488.125.008

They weren’t just showboats and had serious combat potential as well.

The “Big E,” whose radio callsign was “Climax,” had the newly redesignated Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 6 embarked (F-4B Phantoms of VF-102, F-8E Crusaders of VF-33, A-4C Skyhawks of VA-64, VA-66 and VA-76; A-1H Skyraiders of VA-65, A-5A Vigilantes of VAH-7, and smaller dets of E-1Bs, EA-1Fs, RF-8As, UH-As, and C-1As) while the two escorts brought a combined four twin Terrier launchers (with 200 missiles), a Talos twin (52 missiles), two ASROC matchboxes (16 missiles), two 5″/38s, two 3″/50s, and 4 triple ASW tubes along to keep the flattop safe.

Operation Sea Orbit, 1964. A formation of A4 Skyhawk jet aircraft flies over nuclear Task Force One, on whose return to the United States on October 3, 1964, concluded a sixty-five-day unreplenished world cruise. The three ships, USS Enterprise (CVAN-65); USS Long Beach (CLGN-9), and USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25), are under the command of Rear Admiral Bernard M. Strean, aboard the carrier. Photograph released October 2, 1964. Accession #: 330-PSA-211-64 (KN 29719)

The force was under the command of RADM (later VADM) Bernard M. Strean (USNA 1929)– an Oklahoma-born naval aviator who earned the Navy Cross for personally scoring a direct bomb hit on a Japanese aircraft carrier in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Task Force One’s Mediterranean deployment turned into a high-speed circumnavigation, dubbed Operation Sea Orbit. In all, they traveled 34,732 statute miles without refueling or taking on supplies in just 65 days (57 steaming), covering 600 miles each steaming day on average.

Nonetheless, they made time to make six non-replenishing port calls (Karachi, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, and Rio De Janeiro) and “fly-by” visits in which local dignitaries were flown in from 10 other far-lung ports (Rabat, Dakar, Monrovia, Freetown, Abidjan, Cape Town, Nairobi, Montevideo, Buenos Aries, and Sao Paulo).

Operation Sea Orbit, 1964. Officials at Dakar, Senegal, were flown to Enterprise for an air demonstration as the nuclear task force sailed down the coast of Africa in the first phase of the global cruise. Captain E.W. Hassel, Chief of Staff for the Commander of the Task Force escorts Senegalese cabinet officials. Photograph released August 22, 1964. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2015/11/03). Accession #: 330-PSA-178-64 (USN 11042204)

As noted by the Navy:

The World Cruise has a dual mission. It offers practical experience in the operation of nuclear-powered warships independent of support ships, a fast impractical for conventionally powered ships. Equally important, and immediately evident is the opportunity to win friends in areas not frequently visited by U.S. Navy ships, and to show the world an all-nuclear element of the world’s great power for peace.

Of note, several men of TF1 were descendants of Great White Fleet sailors, Teddy Roosevelt’s slow battleship force that had taken 14 months to cover its 42,000 mile/20 port call circumnavigation a half-century prior.

The Navy men who had relatives aboard ships in the Great White Fleet, 1907-09, are, (left to right): Aerographer’s Mate Third Class William C. Longstreet, USN, whose grandfather made the cruise in 1907; Chief Electrician’s Mate J.E. Norton, USN, whose uncle Joseph Starr was a Quartermaster with the Great White Fleet; Boatswain’s Mate Third Class Henry Lopez, who had an uncle, Eddie Romers, in the Great White Fleet, and Fireman William C. Stock, whose father sailed with the 16 battleships on their history-making voyage. 330-PSA-208-64 (USN 1105502)

Of course, the above is a rarity that could never occur today, as the Navy has long ago put its nuclear-powered escorts to pasture as part of the Great Clinton-era Cruiser Slaughter. Speaking of which, all of the ships of TF1 have long been retired, with Enterprise the last leaving the fleet, decommissioned on 3 February 2017 (although her hulk remains).

VADM Strean passed in 2002, aged 91, and, besides Task Force One, he went on to be the technical adviser for the 1976 film “Midway” and helped establish the Naval Air Museum. His papers are in the NHHC Collection.

Weekend Warriors

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How about this great shot of a stubby U.S. Naval Air Reserve North American FJ-1 Fury fighter, BuNo 120368 F-101 of the Naval Air Reserve Training Unit (NARTU) from Naval Air Station Oakland, May 1951. Note the large “Weekend Warrior” nose art.

U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.253.7237.023

The same jet– along with others assigned to Oakland with the same nose art– appeared in several images taken around the same time over the Bay Area, possibly taken for use in recruiting drives.

Ordered along with the similarly jet-powered carrier-borne fighters– Vought XF6U-1 Pirate, McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, and the McDonnell XF2D-1 Banshee– late in WWII for Operation Olympic/Coronet, the planned invasion of Japan set for May of 1946, the FJ-1 Fury utilized the anemic Allison J35-A-2 turbojet, good for 4,000 pounds of thrust, to lift its 15,000-pound frame.

Good for about 475 knots, it carried a six-pack of .50 cal Brownings clustered in its nose– the last U.S. Navy jet with a .50 caliber armament– with 1,500 rounds carried, and no weight allocation for underwing hardpoints.

Notably, the first operational Navy jet fighter squadron, VF-5A (renamed VF-51 in August 1948), was equipped with FJ-1s and made history in March 1948 with a series of workups on the straight-decked Essex-class carrier USS Boxer (CV-21). 

FJ-1 Fury of VF 5A flown by CDR Pete Aurand traps on the flight deck of the carrier Boxer (CV 21) in the first underway test on 17 March 1948.

USS Boxer CV-21 March 1948 off San Diego, First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A’s FJ-1 Fury. LIFE Kodachrome.

USS Boxer CV-21 March 1948 off San Diego, First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A’s FJ-1 Fury. LIFE Kodachrome.

USS Boxer CV-21 March 1948 off San Diego, First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A’s FJ-1 Fury. LIFE Kodachrome.

VF-5A also made a bit of history by winning the Bendix Trophy in 1948, beating out Air Force F-80 Shooting Stars in the cross-country race.

CDR Pete Aurand’s FJ-1 Fury aircraft of Fighter Squadron (VF) 51 lined up for the Bendix Trophy Race at Long Beach, California, in 1948.

With its first flight in November 1946, and, with the new and much better performing F9F-2 Panther introduced by 1949, the Fury’s career was limited and, with just 30 production models delivered to the Navy, they transitioned to the USNR as a transition trainer for pilots moving from Hellcats and Corsairs into jets, before the type was retired in 1953, having just served seven years.

In that short period, at least nine of the 30 operational FJ-1s were written off after crackups, lost in accidents, or ditched at sea, taking at least five aviators with them. Not an enviable safety record. 

Of course, the Fury would make a much more successful return to service in its swept-wing FJ-2/-3/-4 format, which was the tailhook-carrying hot rod brother of the famed F-86 Sabre, but that is another story.

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