The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) series of bilateral military exercises conducted between the U.S. Pacific Fleet and allied nations in Southeast Asia, never really gets a lot of attention, although it has been a thing since 1995.
It isn’t anywhere as big and sexy as the biannual RIMPAC exercises, or involves a large dynamic ground force element such as Balikatan, so it doesn’t provide a lot of great images.
However unsung, CARAT allows USPACFLT to interface with all the old SEATO allies in the region at sea but without the 1960s Cold War vibes, although the Chinese are now the proxy for the Soviets.
Besides the normal feel-good ship tours, festivities, and community relations events, Mobile got some underway formation time with three Thai assets that are very interesting in the respect that two are Chinese exported warships and while the third is a rather modern ROK-built vessel.
These included:
HTMS Naresuan (FFG-421), a modified version of the 3,000-ton Chinese-made Type 053 frigate, albeit outfitted with largely 1980s American gear.
HTMS Bangpakong (FFG-456), a 2,000-ton variant of the Chinese-built Type 053H2 frigate complete with YJ-8/C-801 anti-ship missiles and a full Eye Shield/Square Tie/Sun Visor/Rice Lamp sensor/EW suite. While dated, it is always nice to get an up-close look at stuff like that from both ends.
HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej (FFG-471), a 3,700-ton variant of the So Korean Gwanggaeto the Great-class “stealth” frigates. She only entered service a few years ago and has a mix of European sensors and American weapons.
In an allegory to the tale of the 16 vessel class, the final monohulled Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship, the future USS Cleveland (LCS 31), was christened and launched last weekend at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin Shipyard.
A traditional (for the yard) side launch, while such events are always dramatic, this one proved even more so when PCU Cleveland was involved in a minor collision with a commercial tugboat that was helping her take to the water.
No injuries were reported, and damage to Cleveland was reportedly “limited” and above the waterline.
Even before the incident, the Navy had reported that “Follow-on ships are planned to be launched using a ship lift system,” which translates to the new Fincantieri-awarded USS Constellation (FFG-62) class frigates.
The future Cleveland is the fourth ship to be named in honor of the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Previous USS Clevelands were the World War I cruiser (C 19), the World War II light cruiser (CL 55), and the Vietnam-era amphibious transport dock (LPD 7), decommissioned in 2011.
Sadly, her class has been probably the most troublesome to the Navy in decades.
While the Navy originally wanted as many as 28 Freedom variants in 2005 (and a similar number of trimaran hull Independence-class LCS variants) to replace the 51 old Knox class frigates and 14 Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships, the program as a whole has proved such as let down that this has been capped at 16 Freedoms and 19 Indys.
While the Indys have had their own issues with mechanical failures and hull cracks, a series of propulsion hardware defects (particularly in the transmission and combining gear) led to the Freedoms having numerous high-profile breakdowns at sea that required extensive post-delivery repair and refit– a problem that is likely still not fully corrected.
This led to class leader USS Freedom (LCS-1) to be placed in mothballs in 2021 after 13 years of service, and the first nine vessels of the class (Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Detroit, Little Rock, Sioux City, Wichita, Billings, Indianapolis, and St. Louis) all show up on the Navy’s decommission wish list with planned lay-up dates as early as this year, even though the latter two ships are realistically just past their shakedown period.
While I’d love to see the vessels rebuilt to work properly, even if that meant just swapping them out to a humble diesel-electric plant that actually worked but dropped the speed down significantly, it may be for the best to sideline these albatrosses.
In related news, the Indys seem to be finally kind of hitting their stride and only the first two (Independence and Coronado) have been mothballed. Further, the two oldest that have not completed completed lethality and survivability upgrades– USS Jackson (LCS-6) and USS Montgomery (LCS-8), commissioned in 2015 and 2016, respectively– are now marked for foreign military sales as part of the decommissioning plan.
The future USS Kingsville (LCS 36)— the 18th Independence-variant LCS and the first warship named for the town near Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas– will be christened during a 10:00 a.m. CST ceremony on Saturday, April 23, in Mobile, Alabama.
I’ve been to the commissioning of two of these thus far, including limited tours, and was impressed with the design even though I would like for them to be much better armed, especially when it comes to ASW and AAW.
Moreover, their helicopter decks are huge for their size, allowing them to embark a lot of different packages. For instance, all these were recently aboard USS Montgomery (LCS 8):
Speaking of which, a group of shots taken by the “Scorpions” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 49 off San Diego earlier this month just captured four Indys at play off the coast in an ad-hoc surface action group. Reportedly the first ever LCS IPEX (integrated phase exercise) with a four-ship SAG.
Four LCS underway, in early April 2023: USS Manchester (LCS 14), USS Kansas City (LCS 22), USS Montgomery (LCS 8), USS Mobile (LCS 26)
Four LCS underway, early April 2023: USS Manchester (LCS 14), USS Kansas City (LCS 22), USS Montgomery (LCS 8), USS Mobile (LCS 26)
Four LCS underway, early April 2023: USS Manchester (LCS 14), USS Kansas City (LCS 22), USS Montgomery (LCS 8), USS Mobile (LCS 26)
I have to admit, something like this, paired with a flag DDG for air defense and loaded up with full MH60/MQ-8C air dets, could be of some actual use.
An LCS’s offensive capability comes primarily from weapons organic to the LCS hull, the SUW mission package, and the aviation detachment’s MH-60S Seahawk helicopter. Deploying multiple SUW-configured LCSs in a SAG would increase the targeting radius of the ships’ weapons and the lethality of their combined aviation detachments.
Two mutually supporting LCS SUW mission packages could triple the integrated sensor coverage, increasing weapons employment range.6 Multiple LCSs could combine intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data from all SAG assets, including the embarked MH-60S Seahawks and the MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aircraft systems. Equipped with a multisensor targeting/surveillance system and surface-search radar, the MQ-8 is a valuable scouting platform. Two Fire Scouts operating concurrently in separate sectors theoretically could increase the surveillance range by 300 nautical miles, feeding ISR data into a common operational picture.7 The MH-60S is equipped with a Multi-Spectral Targeting System well-suited for integration into the kill chain. Two MH-60Ss and two MQ-8s would increase surveillance capacity and over-the-horizon targeting capabilities for weapons such as the Naval Strike Missile.
And that’s just two LCSs working together. What if it is a four-pack or a six-pack?
A newly commissioned littoral combat ship was recently spotted with her crew sporting some very compact little carbines.
Based in San Diego, the USS Mobile, an Independence-class LCS variant that only joined the fleet in 2021, earlier this month left her home port to take part in the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative. The initiative is designed to “reduce and eliminate illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing, combat transnational crimes, and enhance regional security” across the Western Pacific region under U.S. 3rd Fleet orders.
Embarked with the ship, besides a Navy helicopter and drone group, is a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment, or LEDET, from the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team.
Mobile recently posted some images while underway on the Initiative showing what looks to be members of her crew and the LEDET getting some range time with some noticeably short carbines.
Like super short. (Photo: U.S. Navy) “PACIFIC OCEAN (March 20, 2023) Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Haines Ybarra, from Eaton, Ohio, assigned aboard Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS 26) Blue Crew, fires an M4 rifle during small arms shoot on the flight deck, March 20.”
It looks like they are running ELCAN Specter DR sights with this example having a PEQ in addition to a white light. (Photo: U.S. Navy) “PACIFIC OCEAN (March 20, 2023) Fire Controlman Chief Petty Officer Kelly Hall, from Harbor City, Calif., assigned aboard Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS 26) Blue Crew, fires an M4 rifle during small arms shoot on the flight deck, March 20.
The guns, which look to have barrels in the 8-to-10-inch range, still feature a big A2-style front sight as well as a bayonet lug and what looks like a KAC QD flash hider. This gives it a fairly similar look as the old (circa 2000) Colt CQBR but with a short quad rail for accessories, or yet another variant of the vaunted Mk 18 frogman special.
In short (see what we did there?) it looks to be an Mk 18 Mod 1, which points to Coasties as the Navy and SF guys who used the Mk 18 have since switched (post-2017) to 416s and URG-equipped models.
Colt has even introduced their own URG system for 2023 in a move to get back in the shorty 5.56 game
Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, another LCS, USS Milwaukee, with embarked Coast Guard LEDET 104 aboard, last month seized an estimated $27.4 million in suspected cocaine from a drug smuggling go-fast vessel at sea. We’d bet there may have been some Mk 18s involved in that as well.
For a deeper dive into the Mk 18 concept, check out the below by Jeff Gurwitch, a retired Green Beret, who has much downrange first-hand experience with the platform in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gurwitch also covers why it was (and still is) loved by many despite the loss of velocity due to its abbreviated 10.3-inch barrel.
He calls it a “300-meter gun, easy,” saying you can stretch out hits to 400-500 yards with it.
Naval Base San Diego’s recent Holiday Lights Surface Ship Competition saw the San Antonio-class gator USS John P Murtha (LPD 26) take “Best in Show,” while the “Steelworkers” of the Flight I Burke-class destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) took “Best Holiday Spirit” and the testbed Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) scored “Best Navy Spirit.”
Those not placing but still looking great included the Flight IIA Burke USS Sterett (DDG 104), Monsoor’s class-leader USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), and the recently commissioned USS Mobile (LCS 26), who looked as good as when I saw her off from the port city she was constructed at in May.
Of course, the practice is nothing new:
USS MOUNT WHITNEY LCC 20 lit for holidays, 2019
USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14) lit up for Christmas at Naval Air Station North Island, California in December 1971. U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.488.039.067
USS Perry (DE-1034) Christmas lighting aboard ship while at Key West Naval Station Annex, Key West, Florida. The winner for Destroyer Division 601, 25 December 1961. K-26491
While The Big Easy gets all the attention when it comes to Mardi Gras, it should be pointed out that Mobile, Alabama, home to the Bienville-founded French colony around Fort Conde/Fort Louis going back to the 1700s, has vigorously celebrated the tradition for centuries. Rebooted with a new flavor in 1868 during Reconstruction by local legend Joe Cain, Mobile has its own style when it comes to its parades. They even drop a Moon Pie on New Year’s Eve.
With this year’s festivals canceled due to COVID, all the floats ran downtown along Royal and Water Street last Friday in honor of the commissioning of the fifth USS Mobile (LCS-26) over the weekend. The event, hosted at the State Port on Saturday, saw Gov. “Mawmaw Kay” Ivy and Coach (AKA U.S. Senator) Tommy Tuberville stop by to welcome the ship to the Navy.
The first USS Mobile was the captured Confederate blockade runner Tennessee, caught in New Orleans by Farragut in 1862 and recycled to serve in his West Gulf Blockading Squadron as a sidewheel gunboat.
The second USS Mobilewas, again, a former enemy vessel, the former HAPAG liner SS Cleveland awarded to the U.S. as Great War reparations and used a troopship to bring Doughboys back from France, eventually returning to HAPAG service in 1926.
The third and most famous USS Mobile was the Cleveland-class light cruiser (CL-63), “Mow ’em down Mobile!” who earned 11 battle stars in the Pacific in WWII only to be exiled to mothballs for 12 years of purgatory in red lead before heading to the scrappers.
USS Mobile (CL-63) in San Francisco Bay, California, circa late 1945. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 77364
The fourth USS Mobile was a Charleston-class amphibious cargo ship (LKA-115), which spent lots of time off Vietnam in her 25-year Cold War career. Decommissioned in 1994, she was struck from the Navy List in 2015 and is still languishing at Philadelphia NISMF, pending disposal.
An Independence-class littoral combat ship, the current USS Mobile was built at Austal only a few hundred yards from where she was commissioned and will, hopefully, go on to help prove the class’s ultimate worth and not be decommissioned in a decade. USS Mobile will homeport at Naval Base San Diego, California, from where she may soon sail into tense West Pac waters.
