Tag Archives: USS Gravely (DDG-107)

The King of the Sea (Whiz)

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The Farragut-class guided missile destroyer leader USS King (DLG-10) is underway, circa 1973, with the prototype “Phalanx” close-in weapon system on her fantail for tests.

National Archives Catalog #: KN-21546

King, a 5,600-ton tin can, carried a twin Mark 10 Mod O launcher for Terrier/Standard-ER missiles rear with two directors and a Mark 16 matchbox launcher for ASROC/Harpoon forward. Her main gun was a Mk 42 5″/54. Commissioned with a pair of twin 3″/50 Mark 33 radar-directed guns in 1960, she shipped out with the prototype CIWS in 1973, taking up space on her VERTREP area over the stern.

That original system was a lot bulkier than what we know as Phalanx today.

“Phalanx” Close-In Weapon System shown ready for tests at Pomona, California. This automatic cruise missile defense weapon features the “Vulcan” 20mm gun, with a “Phalanx” fire control system and search and track radars. KN-20570

“Phalanx” Close-in Weapon System (Vulcan 20mm Gun) aboard USS King (DLG-13) for tests. Catalog #: K-102265

“Phalanx” Close-in Weapon System (Vulcan 20mm Gun) aboard USS King (DLG-13) for tests. Catalog #: K-102266

King would land her prototype CIWS in 1975, with the firing model fitted to the hulked WWII-era Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752), fresh off starring in Don Knotts’ ASW epic, The Incredible Mr. Limpet.

Decommissioned in 1971 and unmanned, ex-Cunningham was anchored off the California coast and used as a target with her CIWS turned on and allowed to do its thing while the fleet chucked almost two dozen Walleyes and Mavericks at the old tin can.

Cunningham’s wonder gun downed them all.

“Phalanx” Close-in Weapon System defeats a “Walleye” anti-ship weapon during recent realistic shipboard tests. Photo received July 1975. USN 1163564

Same as the above USN 1163569

Taking lessons learned, a pre-production CIWS was shipped out and installed on the Forrest Sherman-class destroyer USS Bigelow (DD-942) in 1977 for final sea trials.

USS Bigelow (DD-942) circa 1977 in the Mayport operating area showing her Vulcan Phalanx CIWS mounted forward of her aft turret.

The tests and evaluation were completed in a record five years. Phalanx Block 0 production started in 1978, and the system achieved IOC aboard USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) two years later.

However, the early marketing photos published in Jane’s showed the ordnance-killing mount on Cunningham and the installation on King.

With that, the gun has evolved through Block 1, Block 1 BL1, Block 1A, and Block 1B over the past several decades and just finally bagged its first for-real at sea “kill,” with the Burke-class USS Gravely (DDG-107) splashing a Houthi cruise missile via Phalanx recently.

As for King, she never did receive a production CIWS. Reclassified DDG-41 in 1975, she continued her career without it until she was decommissioned at the close of the Cold War on 28 March 1991.

A port view of the guided missile destroyer USS King (DDG-41) underway 6 May 1987. Photo by PH2 Clements DN-SC-88-06244.

Prosperity Guardian Goes on the Offensive (Well, Not Officially)

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Statement via CENTCOM (emphasis mine):

On Jan. 11 at 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces, in coordination with the United Kingdom, and support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain conducted joint strikes on Houthi targets to degrade their capability to continue their illegal and reckless attacks on U.S. and international vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea. This multinational action targeted radar systems, air defense systems, and storage and launch sites for one way attack unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.

Since Oct. 17, 2023, Iranian-backed Houthi militants have attempted to attack and harass 27 ships in international shipping lanes. These illegal incidents include attacks that have employed anti-ship ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These strikes have no association with and are separate from Operation Prosperity Guardian, a defensive coalition of over 20 countries operating in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden.

“We hold the Houthi militants and their destabilizing Iranian sponsors responsible for the illegal, indiscriminate, and reckless attacks on international shipping that have impacted 55 nations so far, including endangering the lives of hundreds of mariners, including the United States,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM Commander. “Their illegal and dangerous actions will not be tolerated, and they will be held accountable.”

The release came with images of an F-18E making a night cat from (likely) the Ike which is deployed to the region, and what looks like a TLAM lifting off from a DDG.

The F-18E looks to be “Canyon 400” the CAG bird of the “Gunslingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105, part of CVW-3 based out of NAS Oceana

For reference, Carrier Strike Group (CCSG) 2 currently includes the flagship Nimitz carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the Tico cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), Burkes USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Laboon (DDG 58), and USS Mason (DDG 87) of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22, and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 with nine embarked squadrons.

Known as the “Battle Axe,” CVW-3 dates back to the old USS Saratoga in 1928 and has an all-Rhino punch from four F-18E squadrons (VFA-32, VFA-83, VFA-105, and VFA-131).

Meanwhile, the Brits chipped in some strikes made by RAF Typhoons flying 3,200-mile round-trip sorties out of Akrotiri, Cyprus, with the combined target count reportedly being 60 sites across 16 locations by both the USN and RAF with 150 munitions employed.

The use of Typhoon is rare, as the RAF only has five squadrons and usually devotes these modern fighters to air defense (MoD image)

From the MoD statement: 

Four RAF Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker therefore used Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct precision strikes on two of these Houthi facilities. One was a site at Bani in north-western Yemen used to launch reconnaissance and attack drones. A number of buildings involved in drone operations were targeted by our aircraft.

The other location struck by our aircraft was the airfield at Abbs. Intelligence has shown that it has been used to launch both cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea. Several key targets at the airfield were identified and prosecuted by our aircraft.

As for the locals, they say 73 sites were hit, with about a dozen casualties, all among their fighters, and they had been given a 2-3 hour warning before the raid. Following much smack talk and lots of public rallies in the Houthi areas, it is possible an effort may be made against the American and allied bases in nearby Djoubuti in the Horn of Africa. 

BTW, the strikes on Houthiland came within hours of the Iranian Navy seizing the Greek-owned and Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas in the Gulf of Oman.

A Very “Greyhound Moment”

This TLAM and Rhino blitz against targets ashore in Houthiland comes two days after what has been described as a “Convoy Battle” that saw the Iranian-backed rebels launch a “complex attack” that included 18 one-way attack drones (OWA UAVs), two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile shot down by the Ike’s combined carrier group and the Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond (D34).

Sal Mercogliano – maritime historian at Campbell University– richly detailed in his What’s Going on With Shipping podcast just what that was like from the feedback he has gotten from his contacts in the region.

There is also a bit of chatter that an Iranian merchant ship loitering in the area (Behshad) is actually a floating covert Revolutionary Guard seabase that is feeding targeting information to the Houthi. Behshad has been in the Red Sea since 2021 off Eritrea’s lawless Dahlak archipelago and had arrived there to apparently relive the Saviz, another suspected Iranian spy vessel that had been mysteriously damaged in an attack that some blamed on the Israelis.

If you aren’t listening to Mercogliano’s podcast and are interested in what is going on with the Houthi naval war, you are missing out.

Prosperity Guardian Counts 19 (of 61) Cyclops/Vampires

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231206-N-GF955-1026 U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS (Dec. 6, 2023) Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) responds to a simulated small-craft vessel during an anti-terrorism drill, Dec. 6. 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)

The latest press briefing by the Pentagon has the CENTCOM commander, VADM Brad Cooper, remarking that the U.S. Navy alone has splashed 61 incoming Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea since late October in now some 25 attacks on merchant shipping. This apparently doesn’t count drones and missiles shot down by the British RN or French fleet.

Of that number, 19 have been swatted down since Operation Prosperity Guardian kicked off on 18 December 2023, expanding “Of the 19 drones and missiles, 11 have been uncrewed aerial vehicles. There have been two cruise missiles and six anti-ship ballistic missiles.”

OPG has also zapped three small boats while a large boat-borne IED was released offshore earlier this week. 

While at least two vessels have been hit by Houthis, Cooper said that “1,500 vessels have safely transited through the Bab al-Mandab,” since OPG started with none by UAVs. Notably, Maersk Hangzhou was hit by a missile which caused no casualties. Speaking of which, the only injuries thus far are to Houthi smallboat crews, with at least 10 killed.

Nonetheless, on 2 January, both Maersk and Happag-Lloyd announced that the Red Sea route would once again be avoided moving forward.

While it hasn’t been released just what kind of missiles are being sent up from coastal batteries along the Yemeni coast, the Houthis have developed a modified version of the Iranian Quds-1 and Quds-2 cruise missiles, with Iranian assistance. Iran also has Chinese C802 and C700 series AShMs and a whole series of domestically produced variants, such as the Noor, Ghader, and Ghadir.

Many of these are set up to be very mobile– and thus hard to target.

Transporter erector launcher (TELs) for Iranian Noor/Qader missiles. The TEL can be disguised as a civilian truck. (Wiki Commons)

Carney Going Home

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)

The American ship with the most documented “kills,” including 14 drones shot down in a single day (16 December), is the modernized Flight I Burke, USS Carney (DDG-64).

Before that incident, Carney had counted at least a 22-0 score on the eve of the Army-Navy game in early December.

Carney, which is headed home, just hosted VADM Cooper aboard who presented the whole crew with a CAR while some individuals picked up a NAM and the skipper a Bronze Star.

For now, the Ike carrier group is in the region with her DESRON 22 tin cans keeping watch along with the British Type 45 frigate HMS Diamond while other countries are promising a couple grey hulls as well.

With Denmark set to send a frigate to the Red Sea to take part in OPG, the Royal Danish Navy just released a video of the air defense frigate Iver Huitfeldt undergoing Fleet Operational Sea Training, preparing to fight while underway.

Since you have come this far, take a look at these two semi-related videos, featuring the Army’s new 1-3 week counter-drone school– including the use of a Smart Shooter device for M4 carbines, and a sit down with some Ukrainian soldiers who are manufacturing 3D-printed parts for reconnaissance and kamikaze drones on the cheap– which is the future of warfare as we are seeing it today.

 

Prosperity Guardian upates

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ARABIAN GULF (Dec. 5, 2023) An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter attached to the “Dusty Dogs” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7 escorts explosive ordnance disposal technicians to conduct helicopter rope suspension drills aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) in the Arabian Gulf, Dec. 5, 2023. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Janae Chambers)

The U.S.-led multinational sea control/protection of shipping operation formed in December 2023 to respond to Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, primarily in the Bab-el-Mandeb (also known as the Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears, names that are more apt than ever before) saw a lot of movement in the past week.

This included Denmark promising to send a frigate— likely one of its trio of new Iver Huitfeldt class air defense ships– to the region to join the OPG convoy effort. Likewise, the Greeks are sending a frigate of their own, possibly a Hydra/MEKO-200HN class vessel with limited AAW capability. That these two countries are sending grey hulls is a no-brainer as Maersk is a Danish-owned shipping company and something like 20 percent of the shipping on earth is Greek-owned in one way or another. Meanwhile, cash-strapped OPG “partners” such as Canada and Australia have elected to only send a few staff officers to the safety of Bahrain.

Current missile-slingers on OPG include the British Type 45 frigate HMS Diamond (D34), the drone ace Burke USS Carney (DDG 64), the DESRON 22 destroyers USS Laboon (DDG-58), USS Mason (DDG 87), and USS Gravely (DDG-107) from the Eisenhower strike group; as well as airpower from Ike herself which is being closely screened by the old Tico USS Philippine Sea (CG 58).

And they have been very busy.

Dec. 23: Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial drones originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that were inbound to the destroyer. There were no injuries or damage in this incident. However, M/V Blaamaen, a Norwegian-flagged, owned, and operated chemical/oil tanker, reported a near miss of a Houthi one-way attack drone with no injuries or damage reported while the M/V Saibaba, a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker, reported that it was hit by a one-way attack drone with no injuries reported.

Dec. 26: Laboon and F/A-18 Super Hornets from the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, shot down twelve one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles in the Southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis over 10 hours. The Liberian-flagged MSC United VIII was narrowly missed by incoming AShMs.

Dec. 28: Mason shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea that was fired by the Houthis. There was no damage to any of the 18 ships in the area or reported injuries. “This is the 22nd attempted attack by Houthis on international shipping since Oct. 19,” reported CENTCOM.

Dec. 30. Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned/operated container ship Maersk Hangzhou was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile, and when Gravely responded she splashed two more that were directed at her. In a follow-up attack the next day, four Houthi small boats bird dogged the wounded container ship and then fired crew-served and small arms weapons as close as 20m from the Danish vessel. Armed MH-60Rs from Ike and Gravely responded and sank three out of four boats, reportedly killing at least 10 Houthis.

Maersk is apparently running embarked private security teams to dissuade Yemeni helicopter and small boat teams from landing– the Maersk Hangzhou responded with small arms during the recent attacks on her. Others are taking to Automatic Identification System messages to wave a sort of “not it” white flag at the Houthi, who are apparently using such systems as an easy open-source intelligence for targeting.

And, as if the region couldn’t be any more tense, the 55-year-old Iranian Alvand-class corvette Alborz has entered the Red Sea.

Med Top Trio

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Lots of joint carrier ops lately, with the Brits, Japanese and 7th Fleet steaming a trio of flattops in the Pacific (HMS Queen Elizabeth, USS America, JS Ise) last August while a five-flattop formation was photographed just two weeks ago in the Philippine Sea to include the Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Groups along with Japan’s Hyuga (DDH 181) and two big phibs (America and Essex).

Well, looks like the Med now has its photo-ex as the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) integrated with the French carrier Charles de Gaulle’s (R 91) Task Force 473 and Italian carrier Cavour (C-550) strike groups, “highlighting the strength of the maritime partnerships among the three nations,” as part of Neptune Strike 22/Clemenceau 22 over in Sixth Fleet’s neck of the woods.

And a Tico, (San Jacinto) made it as the point ship, still beautiful at age 34.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA – Elements of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 8, the ITS Cavour Strike Group, and the Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group (TF 473) transit the Mediterranean Sea in formation, Feb. 6, 2022. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to maintain maritime stability and security, and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests in Europe and Africa. Photo By: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Bela Chambers. 220206-N-DH793-1568

In the below close-up, note that Charles de Gaulle has 20 Rafales on deck as well as a pair of Hawkeyes while Cavour looks to still be carrying her aging AV-8B Harriers.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA – From right to left, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (C 550), and the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91) transit the Mediterranean Sea in formation, Feb. 6, 2022. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to maintain maritime stability and security, and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests in Europe and Africa. Photo By: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Bela Chambers. 220206-N-DH793-1262.JPG

As noted by C6F:

Elements of the strike group include the staff of Carrier Strike Group 8; flagship USS Harry S. Truman; the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1; the staff and guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28, which include: USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), USS Gravely (DDG 107); the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Fridtjof-Nansen class frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310) deployed as part of the Cooperative Deployment Program; and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56). USS Cole (DDG 67) and USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) are also part of the carrier strike group and currently supporting U.S. Fifth Fleet Area of Operations.

Three months into SNMG1

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Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of four rotating task forces directed from NATO’s naval headquarters in Northwood, northwest London, currently under Royal Navy Vice Admiral Keith Blount. Usually some three-to-six destroyer/frigates, its current composition is a bit heavy and has been steaming a lot lately. They are now at a half-way point of a six-month mission in the Baltic and looking pretty mean.

Standing NATO Maritime Group One 2019 USS Gravely EPS Almirante Juan de BorbónTCG Gokova ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski HDMS Absalon,HMS Westminster German tanker FGS Rhön.

That haze rust, tho

The current task force is seven-ships strong led by flagship American destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107)— looking a bit rusty in this image from the Royal Navy– along with the with Spanish frigate EPS Almirante Juan de Borbón, Turkish frigate TCG Gokova and her sistership under a different flag, the Polish Navy’s ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski (both former USN FFG-7s), Denmark’s support/command/amphibious ship HDMS Absalon, the RN’s Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster (F237) and the German tanker FGS Rhön. If you are curious, the little guy looks like a German Elbe-class minesweeper tender, which run 329-feet oal.