Some 85 years ago, official period caption: “An air infantry mortar squadron loads a Navy Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina patrol bombing plane, 18 March 1941.”
Via the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, 80-G-2156
Now, fast forward to this week, and news comes that a Hong Kong company intends to operate the turboprop-powered Catalina IIs with Pan American World Airways’ “Winged Globe” logo.
Catalina Aircraft Trust, the Florida holder of the original Catalina amphibious flying boat’s type certificate, has taken another step toward bringing a modernised turboprop-powered variant of the aircraft to market.
The company has secured a letter of intent from Hong Kong-based Pan American Airways System covering purchases of up to 46 of the planned NGAA “Next Generation Amphibious Aircraft” Catalina II.
Catalina Aircraft is now evaluating engines, avionics and other systems needed to develop the aircraft, which founder and president Lawrence Reece notes will be the only Western-certificated transport-category flying boat.
He envisions demand for up to 600 Catalina IIs of several configurations.
Of course, with Hong Kong officially part of Red China, whether they want to be or not, the prospect that these 46 shiny new flying boats could be used to shuttle around small detachments of PLAN naval infantry around the Nine-Dash Line is real.
The Damen LST 100 design, which was picked last December to be the Navy LSM– coming to a shipyard near you
TOTE Services in Jacksonville yesterday picked up a $2.6 billion contract from Naval Sea Systems Command’s PAE Maritime to serve as Vessel Construction Manager (VCM) for the McClung-class Medium Landing Ship (LSM) program, with the first hull to be delivered by 2029.
You know, the mini-LSTs that the Navy is building for the Marines to shuttle NMESIS missile batteries and light armor around the Western Pacific in a sea-denial-from-the-shore kind of philosophy, setting up what are now termed as a “Marine Corps fires expeditionary advanced base.”
A Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System launcher, a command and control vehicle, and a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle are transported by a U.S. Navy Landing Craft Air Cushion from Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Hawaii, out to U.S.S. San Diego, Aug. 16, 2021. The movement demonstrated the mobility of a Marine Corps fires expeditionary advanced base, a core concept in the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 efforts. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Luke Cohen, released)
The contract will cover management of constructing the first eight LSMs, with a program of record for up to (hold your breath) 35 of the baby phibs built to the Damen LST 100 double-ended Ro/Ro design.
The LST100 is 100.68 metres (330 feet) long with a beam of 16 metres (52 feet) and a draught of 3.58 metres (12 feet). It is suited to a diverse range of operations. With its ability to transport personnel, vehicles, equipment and cargo, the vessel can be used in patrol, landing, survey and reconnaissance operations, as well as for the delivery of humanitarian aid & disaster relief.
In its standard design, it features bunks for 282 personnel. Cargo can be transported on the RoRo deck (500m2), vehicle deck (400m2) and on the helicopter deck. The vessel is able to sail at speeds of up to 14 knots, with an endurance of 3,890 nautical miles. At an endurance speed of 10 knots, it can reach up to 7,530 nautical miles.
The LST100 features extensive flexibility. Its modular design enables straightforward adaptation and upgrade without compromising the benefits of standardization. For example, with the addition of a standard, 20-metre modular block, the vessel can be enlarged to the LST120 design during construction.
Besides the intended purpose and general use as a ‘phib, the LSMs have an obvious use in Over The Horizon – Special Forces (OTH-SF) operations, stand-off Mine Counter Measures (MCM) operations support, and as a general helicopter/UAV “lilipad.”
Now, to be clear, TOTE is not actually going to build the LSMs, simply award and manage shipbuilder contracts- you know, something NAVSEA should be capable of doing, but in program after program has proven absolutely incapable of doing so. Looking at you, FFG and LCS programs.
The Damen LST 100 McClung-class landing ship (LSM)
Anyway, the award announcement, for the record:
TOTE Services LLC, Jacksonville, Florida, is awarded a $2,206,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for vessel construction management services to award and manage shipbuilder subcontracts for the new construction of up to eight Medium Landing Ships. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $2,605,075,850. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (65%); Houma, Louisiana (16%); Jacksonville, Florida (9%); and other locations (10%), and is expected to be completed by June 2030. If all options are exercised, work will continue through September 2031. Fiscal 2025 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,933,941,000 (88%); and fiscal 2026 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $272,059,000 (12%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is awarded with funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21) and directly supports the national effort to revitalize and rebuild American shipbuilding. This contract was competitively procured via the System for Award Management website (sam.gov), with one offer received. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-26-C-2421).
Following up on yesterday’s NASA color birds article on their patriotic-themed 42-year-old F-15D and F-18B, let us take a look at the interesting lineup of Artemis III astronauts.
With no USAF or Navy personnel, it is commanded by a Marine Hornet vet joined by an Italian test pilot, a Coastie and an Army astronaut.
The NASA Artemis III crew poses for an official portrait (from left: CDR Andre Douglas, USCGR; Col. Luca Parmitano, AM; Col. Randy Bresnik, USMC (Ret); Col. Frank Rubio, U.S.Army).
NASA astronaut Randolph “Randy” James Bresnik, Mission Commander, is a 58-year-old retired Marine colonel and Citadel graduate who flew F-18Cs with VMFA-212 on three overseas deployments before seeing combat in OIF with the Vikings of VMFA(AW)-225 and wrapping up his service as ops officer of VMFA-232. In NASA service, he flew on one of the last Shuttle missions (STS-129) and logged 138 days aboard the ISS, catching Soyuz MS-05 up and back for that one.
The Pilot for AIII is ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Salvo Parmitano, a 49-year-old colonel in the Italian Air Force who formerly flew zippy little AMXs before shifting gears to become a test pilot. He’s racked up 366 days in space between two stints on the ISS, both carried back and forth via Soyuz.
Douglas is a USCGA grad (regimental commander, class of ’08) who went on to earn advanced engineering degrees from the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and George Washington University. He spent four years on active duty, including as an engineering officer on the old 210-foot Reliance-class USCGC Vigilant (WMEC-617) working out of Florida, then reactivated his commission in the reserve in 2024. A Group 23 class ‘naught, this will be his first time in space, the only “rookie” on the crew.
Douglas, 40, is the only third Coast Guard astronaut since 1996, following in the footsteps of Capt. (ret.) Daniel Burbank and CDR (ret.) Bruce Melnick. Burbank, now a professor of mechanical engineering at the Coast Guard Academy, spent 188 days in space on two Space Shuttle missions and one mission aboard the ISS. Previously, Melnick, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, logged over 300 hours in space.
AIII’s fourth member is the very well-traveled Col. Frank Rubio (USMA 1998) of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. One of just 20 Army astronauts since 1978, Rubio has the American record for the longest single spaceflight, having spent 371 consecutive days aboard the ISS on Expeditions 68 and 69 from September 2022 to September 2023, during which he logged 5,963 orbits of the Earth, traveled more than 157 million miles, and conducted three spacewalks totaling 21 hours and 24 minutes.
Colonel Rubio on the ISS in 2017. Photo 221001-A-D0431-1001
Rubio definitely “walked the walk” before heading to NASA, flying over 1,100 hours in Army aircraft– including more than 600 as a Blackhawk pilot in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq- before serving as a member of the Black Knights parachute team, a flight surgeon at Redstone Arsenal, and as a battalion surgeon with “The Originals” of the 10th Special Forces Group.
New: Army Space Branch
Of note, the Army recently established its new Space Operations Branch, giving FA40 Space Operations Officers a dedicated “forever home” and, for the first time, joining it with newly created 40D enlisted Tactical Space Operations Specialists.
While FA40s have served the Army since 1999, they previously lacked an enlisted counterpart. The Army previously sheep-dipped enlisted personnel from the Air Defense Artillery, Signal, and Military Intelligence branches to temporarily execute space missions.
U.S. Army Space Branch will continue to use the USAF/USSF Space Operations Badge in Basic, Senior, and Master grades. The badge dates back to 1982 when it was first adopted by the Air Force and has been authorized for Army use since 2006.
The Master Space Badge, seen above Army jump wings.
NASA Looking for Folks for Year-long Simulated Mars/Moon missions
And in further NASA news, the agency is “recruiting research participants for the agency’s next simulated deep space mission. Beginning no earlier than August 2027, research volunteers will spend one year living and working in interplanetary environments at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, operating under isolated conditions expected during crewed missions to the Moon or Red Planet.”
Tough to get a great LSO image, but this one rocks. Remember the magic of long exposures in low light, folks.
Official caption:
A sailor signals to a Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer during flight operations in the South China Sea, June 13, 2026. The helicopter and aviators are assigned to the Marine Corps’ 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group to provide deterrence and crisis response in the Indo-Pacific region.
USMC Photo 260613-M-KL381-9647 by Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Nicole Stuart
The 11th MEU’s air team is the “Evil Eyes” of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced) out of MCAS Miramar. which falls under the 3rd MAW/MAG-16. The squadron dates back to Korea, where it was stood up as the “Ridgerunners” of HMR-163. In turn, the AH-1Z dets used by the squadron are typically pulled from HMLA-267 (Stingers) or HMLA-169 (Vipers)
Just 189 Vipers, derived from the earlier Bell AH-1W SuperCobra, have been produced for the Marines since 2006, and 159 are still in inventory, assigned to six remaining active Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons (HMLAs).
Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducts a fly-by during aerial sniper training in the South China Sea, June 12, 2026. US Marine Corps photo
An AH-1Z Viper, BuNo 169251, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, flies over the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 23, 2026.
Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s “Tell It To the Marines,” an interbellum silent film featuring the great Lon Chaney, began filming in the summer of 1926, specifically running from 7 June to 3 August, for a Christmas weekend release.
The first film made with the full cooperation of the service, its shooting locations included Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and aboard the top-of-the-line Tennessee-class dreadnought USS California (BB-44)while on a port call at San Francisco, with active duty servicemembers filling in as extras.
I give you, some 100 years ago, the Corps’ two best-known bulldogs of the day: then-Brigadier General Smedley “Ol’ Gimlet Eye” Darlington Butler, then the commander of MCRDSD, and depot mascot “Sergeant Major Jiggs,” the first bulldog to “serve” in the Marine Corps, snapped between scenes in the filming of “Tell It To the Marines” in the summer of 1926.
Note the two MoHs on Butler’s salad bar. From the Smedley Butler Collection (COLL/3124), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections
And, of course, Butler and BB-44, taken during the same summer.
The U.S. Battle Fleet steamed into San Francisco Bay, California, on 18 June 1926, where all 68 warships dropped anchor. This was the greatest number of warships that had steamed through the Gold Gate since the entire U.S. Fleet of 144 ships was there in April 1925. The photograph shows, left to right, in the foreground, Captain William H. Standley of USS California exchanging salutes with Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler, USMC. Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco, California. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 68840
Lon Chaney, the first actor to be made an honorary Marine, would often state that this was his favorite film, and it was the biggest box office success of Chaney’s career.
The unlined summer uniform auctioned by Morphy’s was made by a Chinese tailor and bore inked Chinese letters on the inside. It is believed to have been made during Butler’s 3rd Brigade’s China Expedition. Its cloisonne ribbon bars were unquestionably made in China, likely Shanghai, and corresponded to Butler’s awards. The uniform (including undershirt and tie) remained with Butler’s family through the early 2000s, before entering the collector community.
In VG condition, it sold very near its high estimate, for $24,000.
The final USMC AV-8B Harrier deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a det of VMA-223 “Bulldogs” with the 22nd MEU aboard the USS Iwo Jima, earlier this month returned home to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina.
A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), prepares to land aboard Wasp-class amphibious assault USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) during flight operations while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Nov. 26, 2025.
U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II aircraft with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 223, Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, fly over the coast of North Carolina, May 15, 2026. The “sundown” of the AV-8B, an iconic aircraft that has supported joint and Marine Corps operations for over 40 years, also represents the dawn of a new era; it paves the way for 2nd MAW’s full transition to the F-35B and C Lightning II. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. David Ornelas Baeza)
U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II aircraft with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 223, Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, fly over the coast of North Carolina, May 15, 2026. The “sundown” of the AV-8B, an iconic aircraft that has supported joint and Marine Corps operations for over 40 years, also represents the dawn of a new era; it paves the way for 2nd MAW’s full transition to the F-35B and C Lightning II. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. David Ornelas Baeza)
The first deployed Marine Harriers, 14 AV-8As of VMA-231, went to sea in October 1976 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) for a Mediterranean deployment with the Sixth Fleet, thus bookending an almost perfect 50 years of Devil Dog jump jet operations underway and 55 years, counting the first at-sea evaluations aboard USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) in 1971.
USMC AV-8A Harrier Evaluation Onboard USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7), March 1971. Now that’s a beautiful aircraft
Now, the AV-8B in Marine service will be retired.
VMA-223 will host a Sundown Ceremony at Cherry Point from 2 – 4 June 2026.
That just leaves the navies of Spain (12 EAV-8B Plus and 1 TAV-8B operated by 9. Escuadrilla) and Italy (14 AV-8B Plus and 1 TAV-8B of Gruppo Aerei Imbarcati along with 15 stored airframes) as the keeper of the Harrier flame outside of the U.S. with the Spanish planning on putting the type to bed in 2030 and the Italians doing the same in 2028. Both allies will undoubtedly be inheriting the final couple of pallets of parts from the USMC.
Just 824 Harrier models of all types were produced, making the bird a rare one, with only about 60 airframes preserved worldwide.
So yeah, at this point, there are more jump jets in museums than in active service.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) sails in the Atlantic Ocean, April 12, 2026. The George H. W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, comprised of nearly 5,000 Sailors, provides combatant commanders and America’s civilian leaders with increased capacity to underpin American security and economic prosperity, deter adversaries, and project power on a global scale through sustained operations at sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class John R. Farren)
Right now, as noted by open sources (Centcom releases, USNI’s Marine Tracker, etc), we have three carrier strike groups– built around USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), and George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)— as well as two ARGs (USS Boxer and Tripoli), either in the region or steaming there. Tripoli is also deployed with USS New Orleans (LPD-18) and Rushmore (LSD-47) with the 31st MEU embarked, while Boxer is sailing with USS Comstock (LSD-45) and Portland (LPD-27) as well as the 11th MEU.
Centcom confirms this is the first time they have had three CVNs in their area of operation since 2003, and greater than 20,000 assorted Bluejackets and Marines are afloat.
They have no less than 18 Burkes supporting:
USS Mitscher (DDG-57)
USS Gonzalez (DDG-66)
USS Milius (DDG-69)
USS Ross (DDG-71) (Bush CSG)
USS Mahan (DDG-72) (Ford CSG)
USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) (Bush CSG)
USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) (Ford CSG, Air Defense Commander)
USS Bulkeley (DDG-84)
USS Mason (DDG-87) (Bush CSG, Air Defense Commander)
USS Pickney (DDG-91)
USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) (Ford CSG)
USS Spruance (DDG-111) (Lincoln CSG)
USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112)
USS John Finn (DDG-113)
USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115)
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) (Ford CSG)
USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119)
USS Frank E. Petersen (DDG-121) (Lincoln CSG, Air Defense Commander)
For those keeping count, that is roughly 300K tons of carriers, 250K tons of ‘Phibs, and 165k tons of destroyers, with the Silent Service’s SSNs and SSGNs not publicized and keeping very silent indeed, and the logistics tail, which never gets any love except from Sal.
So, pushing just shy of a million tons, with three carriers, 18 tin cans, six Gators, and AO/AOE/SS undetailed. Truth be told, that is one serious naval force.
Sadly, there are no Ticos forward deployed to Centcom. Looks like the old girls are sitting this one out, and all the CSGs are using upgraded SM-3 carrying DDGs for the group’s Air Defense Commander roles.
Combat air squadrons embarked include a homogenous 11 F/A-18E/F units (VFA-14, VFA-31, VFA-37, VFA-41, VFA-83, VFA-87, VFA-103, VFA-105, VFA-131, VFA-151, and VFA-213), three of EA-18Gs (VAQ-130, VAQ-133, and VAQ-142) and a single F-35C squadron– the Black Knights of VMFA-314.
Ironically, this puts the Marines, which by trope are given the obsolete stuff the Navy doesn’t want any longer, with the most advanced fighter in squadron service during Epic Fury– leaving the Navy to push 14 assorted squadrons of Rhino! Of further note, there are no F-18C/D models deployed, with the 5-6 legacy squadrons that use these are all stateside Marine dirt-dets, as the last carrier deployment for those little birds was with VMFA-323 in 2021 on Nimitz.
Still, somewhere around 400 embarked aircraft when all the MH-60s aboard the DDGs and the MEU’s air units are counted.
In other sad news, the Navy’s minesweeping solution, the mine module equipped LCSs (USS Canberra, Santa Barbara, and Tulsa) were all pulled out of Bahrain in March and have been notably MIA while two aging Avenger-class sweepers based in Sasebo, USS Chief (MCM-14) and Pioneer (MCM-9), are “speeding” towards the Hormuz, a short 6,600nm jaunt away, a sail of 20 days at their typical 14 knot cruising speed. Of course, that doesn’t include stops to refuel and flirt with monkeys.
What’s left for the rest of the world?
What does this leave for other contingencies?
A MH-60S Sea Hawk, attached to the “Indians” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6, transports stores to Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during a vertical replenishment-at-sea in the Pacific Ocean, April 23, 2026. Nimitz is deployed as part of Southern Seas 2026, which seeks to enhance capability, improve interoperability, and strengthen maritime partnerships with countries throughout the region through joint, multinational, and interagency exchanges and cooperation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Johnathan McCune)
Well, of the country’s CVNs, Nimitz is in her slow-motion final cruise around Latin America to begin her deactivation, Stennis is in RCOH (where she has been for five years) and isn’t expected back in the fleet until at least October 2026, Reagan is in DPIA until at least August of 2026, Harry S. Truman (which the Navy wanted to decommission in 2019!) is set to begin her much needed RCOH in June, and JFK won’t commission until the summer of 2027 (a date likely to be pushed back after the lessons learned during Ford’s now epic deployment and saga of underway mechanical casualties).
This leaves on the East Coast the 49-year-old Ike— which is just wrapping up sea trials after a yard stint that was completed early (yes, Virginia, it is possible) and is set to retire in 2028 but probably won’t (see Ford/JFK)– Vinson and Teddy R on the West Coast, and George Washington forward deployed to Japan from where the Navy will keep her as a hedge against China/NorK.
Only four CVNs (USS Carl Vinson, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt) can handle the F-35C as they have cooled jet blast deflectors and a hangar bay that is reconfigured to support their maintenance (i.e., ODIN data centers).
Further, speaking to big-deck LHD/LHAs, the Navy only owns nine after the Bon Homme Richard fire, and two are deployed to Epic Fury as noted above. Iwo Jima is assigned to operations off Venezuela right now (delaying a planned $200 million update to operate F-35s), and two others, Essex and Kearsarge, are working up on the East and West coasts, respectively. Of the other four, two are in fairly poor material shape, with Bataan currently receiving heavy maintenance after a fire last December during her two-year-long modernization, and America is undergoing a DSRA at NASSCO until at least July 2027.
Meanwhile, only five big deck ‘phibs (USS Wasp, Essex, America, Makin Island, and Boxer) have had their decks shielded to operate short take off/vertically landing F-35Bs.
The new construction big deck phibs, the future USS Bougainville (LHA-8), Fallujah (LHA-9), and Helmand Province (LHA-10) have had their delivery dates pushed back to July 2027, July 2031, and September 2034, respectively.
Afloat in the Pascagoula River proper is the future USS Bougainville (LHA-8), the first Flight I America-class Lightning carrier, circa March 2026. She still has another 15 months of fitting out and trials to come. Chris Eger
For reference, Bougainville was laid down in March 2019, which would give her an eight-year construction cycle. The first steel on Helmand Province hasn’t even been cut yet, so even 2034 may be optimistic (although Wasp is set to retire that year). Even if Helmand Province arrives in the fleet in 2034 as planned, class leader America (LHA-6) will be 20 years in service then, while the Wasp-class LHDs will be edging to age 40, which is never a good look on a gator (the longest serving Tarawa class, the very high-mileage Peleliu, only spent 34 years and five weeks in commission).
With that foundation under us, it has become super interesting that the Navy has delivered its first disabling gunfire against a large surface vessel since 1988, with several 5″/62 rounds delivered into the engine room of the M/V Touska by the USS Spruance (DDG 111) while operating as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.
It was certainly the old “cruiser rules” with Sprunace firing five warning shots and opting to use nine BLP (Blind Loaded Projectile, the blue, steel projectile loaded with inert contents) to wreck Touska’s engine room after several broadcasted warnings and a six-hour pursuit.
Dead in the water, Touska was soon boarded in a night operation by Marines from the 31st MEU carried via helicopter from USS Tripoli (LHA 7). Some real deal VBSS stuff on a 73,000-ton/968-foot Panamax-sized container ship– not your more typical seizure of an unflagged dhow that the Navy has typically done in the past several decades.
Such an incident shows the value of a 5-inch gun aboard a grey hull for just such a moment– and underlines why the Navy’s next frigates (and the Coast Guard’s larger cutters) need such a weapon installed. Bofors 57s aren’t going to get it.
Either way, you know Spruance’s already colorful forward mount will receive some extra paint on its gun house.
U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) approaches fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) before a replenishment-at-sea Jan. 17, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Steis)
Then came the interception of the Iranian-chartered “Botswanan-flagged” (officially stateless) crude carrier M/T Tifani— 156,967 gross tons of shipping– on the 21st in the Bay of Bengal.
Of interest, she was seized by a converted tanker design, with an Expeditionary Sea Base, possibly the Lewis B. Puller-class USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), seen just off her bow in the photos released by CENTCOM and DoW.
There is no way you can look at that as other than a direct call back to the auxiliary cruisers of the Russo-Japanese War, WWI, and WWII, which typically saw gently converted mail steamers and ocean liners modified with a few guns, some paint, and a military crew, then sent out to halt enemy blockade runners and similar auxiliary cruisers flying the flags of the other guys.
On 22 April, CENTCOM said that it had intercepted a total of 29 ships as part of the now nine-day-old blockade, including five Iranian-flagged/contracted/controlled tankers (Diona, Sevin, Dorena, Derya, and Deep Sea).
To wit, the IRCG has also said they have bagged a couple of ships of their own.
Guam, some 31 years young at the time, left Morehead City, North Carolina, on 27 Jan 1996 at the head of an ARG that included the transport dock ship USS Trenton (LPD 14) and the dock landing ships USS Portland (LSD 37) and USS Tortuga (LSD 46). Embarked was the 22nd MEU (SOC), made up of Battalion Landing Team 2/4, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 261, and assorted support elements, sailing under U.S. Sixth Fleet orders.
Just over two months into her (planned) six-month deployment to the Med and afloat in the Adriatic on a series of planned exercises, the call came on 11 April 1996 for Guam— the Mediterranean ARG with the embarked Landing Force Sixth Fleet– to sail at best speed to Monrovia, Liberia, some 3,000nm distant, where trouble was brewing. Leaving Tortuga behind (she was in Haifa, Israel, with the MEU artillery– Battery B, 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, and the light armored reconnaissance company, Company D (-), 2d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion) to take part in exercise Noble Shirley), Guam and the rest of the ARG made for West Africa.
Four days later, on 15 April, the Marines of the 22nd MEU’s flyaway forward liaison cell arrived at the embassy in Monrovia to begin coordinating with the deployed European Special Operations Command’s forward headquarters in the country.
By 19 April, Guam and the promise of embarked Marines just offshore became real when they arrived at Mamba Station located off the coast of Liberia. The mission now assigned to 22d MEU was to conduct noncombatant evacuation operations and to provide security for the American Embassy in Liberia– Operation Assured Response.
USS Guam (LPH-9), Op Assured Response off Liberia, April 1996. Note her mix of CH-46Es, CH-53Ds, AH-1s, and UH-1s.
As noted by the 82-page Marine History of Assured Response:
At 0600 on 20 April, the first helicopter sorties carrying Marines arrived to replace the soldiers at the embassy in Monrovia. The well-briefed platoon guides from Company F and Weapons Company BLT 2/2 came ashore first. The main body of Marines began arriving at the basketball court landing zone one hour later. Company F arrived first, quickly followed by the small 22d MEU forward command element and some MEU Service Support Group 22 (MSSG-22) personnel. Fast attack vehicles debarked carrying .50-caliber machine guns, Mk19 grenade launchers, and tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided
missiles, commonly called TOW missiles. These vehicles, combined with the mortars, machine guns, and sniper weapons already on station at the embassy, significantly enhanced the Marines’ firepower. The MEU completed the entire lift by 1015.
Company F, commanded by Captain Eric M. Mellinger, assumed security of the compound. The smooth transition left Marine squad leaders and platoon commanders with fire plans and field sketches drawn by the departing airborne troops. Starting at about 1230, soldiers from Company C, 3d Battalion, 325th Infantry, left in six sorties of three Boeing MH-47D Chinook helicopters. The last flight out of the embassy at 2015 included the outgoing commander of the European Special Operations Command’s Joint Task Force Assured Response. That evening, more than 275 Marines protected the compound. Captain Mellinger noted the embassy staff seemed overjoyed the Marines had arrived.
Guam, her two fellow gators, and (most of) the 22nd MEU would remain in/off Liberia with the ships often within direct-line sight of Monrovia for weeks as USAF aircraft ran a quiet evac operation ashore (103 combined sorties via MH-53 Pave Low helicopters, MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft, AC-130 gunships, KC-135 Stratotankers, and C-130 cargo aircraft) from M’Poko Airfield, with the Navy/Marine force providing muscle and presence.
USS Guam (LPH-9), Op Assured Response off Liberia, April 1996
The already split ARG/MEU was further dimenished when Trenton left for the coast of Spain to join with Tortuga for Exercise Matador 96 in early May, and Portland left on 20 June, leaving Guam alone on station off Liberia until the scratch-built SPMAGTF Liberia (732 Marines and Green side Navy personnel with 5 LAVs and 9 AAPV7s, along with six CH-46Es of HMM-264) arrived crammed aboard USS Ponce (LPD 15) on 27 June.
Between 9 April and 18 June, Joint Task Force Operation Assured Response evacuated 2,444 people (485 Americans and 1,959 citizens of 72 other countries) from Liberia.
USS Guam was decommissioned on 25 August 1998 and was disposed of as a target off the East Coast on 16 October 2001 in a SINKEX conducted by the John F. Kennedy Battle Group.
Although battered, Guam took over 12 hours to sink. One tough girl to the last.
Official caption: “An F-35B stealth fighter jet is prepared for flight aboard USS Tripoli (LHA 7) as the amphibious assault ship sails in the Arabian Sea. Tripoli and its 3,500 Sailors and embarked Marines are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports. The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations.”
The “Green Knights” of Iwakuni-based Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 trace their lineage back to 1941 and were charter members of the Cactus Air Force during the Guadalcanal campaign, then went on to produce 14 aces– more than any other Marine squadron during WWII– downing 208 Japanese aircraft in the process.
They went on to fight in Korea (flying Skyraiders), Vietnam (Skyhawks then Intruders), became the first Marine F-18D night attack squadron in 1989 once the A-6 was retired, logged over 2,000 combat sorties during GWOT, and have been riding the Lightning since 2012.
Their motto is “Have Gun Will Travel,” which tracks.
