The Navy Vol_64_Part2 2002 - Navy League of Australia

Lifted from the OCCM floor. the revolving gun turret from the Civil War ironclad USS MONITORbreaks the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Haitcras. N.C.. and is placeJ ontothe 300-foot derrick barge Woum. The raising of the 120-ton turret climaxed a five-year salvageoperation run by the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and Aimosphcnc Administration(NOAAl. which controls the underwater sanctuary where the wreckage is located. Since itsdesignation as the nations first marine sanctuary in 1975. MONITOR has been the subject ofintense archaeological investigation. U.S. Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and SalvageUnit 2 (MDSU-2) provided expert deep-sea salvage crews to assist NOAA in the recovery of theship's gun turret. 11 inch Dahlgren cannons, and other artifacts from the historic ship. The turretstill shows dents from cannon balls shot at it by the Confederate ironclad CSS VIRGINIA in thet.minus battle in Hampton Roads. (USNIpurpose gun supplied by Denel. Thecorvettes will also be able to carry oneAgusta West land Super Lynx helicopter.USN to home-portSSNs at GuamInitial USN home-porting of nuclearpoweredattack submarines (SSNs) inGuam is on track to begin later this year.Plans call for a total of three SSNs to bebased there, starting with the USS CITY24OF CORPUS CHRISTI in October2002. The USS SAN FRANCISCO willjoin it in November 2002 and a thirdstill undetermined boat will arrive inFebruary 2004.Home porting of assets outside theUS is seen as a way of increasingavailability of the capability. By basingsubmarines at Guam instead of thecontinental US the transit time for thosesubmarines to and from a patrol area,such as the Persian Gulf, is reduced byVOL. 64 NO. Ihalf. Although the plan requires anentire crew-rotation after each patrolthis is seen as a minor point with theadvantages of having more assetsavailable outweighing any other issues.After a certain period the asset can berotated back the US for maintenanceand another take its place. US studieshave shown that foreign porting ofassets to reduce transit time will provideat least twice the availability rates forthe platform thus providing a forcemultiplier effect.Taiwan to launchstealth patrol boatThe Republic of China (Taiwan) haslaunched the first prototype of a 150-tonne stealth-designed fast attackmissile patrol boat (PCFG) inKaohsiung.Developed by the ROC Navy's ShipDevelopment Centre, the design isintended to reduce the radar and infraredsignatures of the patrol boat.Dubbed the Kuang Hua-6'(Glorious China) programme, the navyplans to begin building 30 boats inOctober 2003 to replace its ageing 47-tonne Hai Ou-class (Sea Gull) PCFGs.The new patrol boats will carry fourHsiung Fcng-2 (Brave Wind) anti-shipmissiles (see pp 10-11 this edition),compared to the Hai Ou-class. whichonly carries two older Hsiung Feng-1missiles.Typhoon SSBNcompletes refitThe nuclear-powered ballistic missilesubmarine (SSBN) TK-208. originallycommissioned in 1985. completedits scheduled refit at theSevmashpredpriyatiye shipyard atSeverodvinsk on 26 June.After trials (reportedly scheduled tolast until 2005). the TK-208. nowrenamed DMITRI DONSKOI (after thelegendary Muscovite hero), will rejointhe Northern Fleet based at Nerpichya inZapadnaya Litsa. The refit was intendedto keep the submarine in service until2010.The refit has taken over 10 years tocomplete due to shortages of resourcesand has included upgrading thesubmarine through the use of systemsand components associated with theTHE NAVYupcoming Project 955 Borei-classSSBN.The main armament of the TyphoonclassSSBNs remains 20 RSM-52 (SS-N-20 'Sturgeon') submarine-launchedballistic missiles (SLBMs).Historic gun restoredA significant piece of Australia'smilitary history is now in better shapethanks to the men and women of HMASKANIMBLA. While operating nearChristmas Island during the ships recentOP RELEX II Deployment, severalsailors and soldiers from KANIMBLAexpended much blood and sweat torefurbish a 6-inch gun emplacement andobservation post which overlooksFlying Fish Cove.The 6-inch gun was made in 1900and installed at Christmas Island in late1940. It was manned by men from theRoyal Artillery who made up part of theisland's garrison. Christmas Island was.and still is. a large supplier of Phosphatefor the Australian and South East Asianagricultural market and with thepotential threat of war with Japan theislands defences were increased. InFebruary 1942 a Japanese submarinesank a Phosphate carrying vessel offthe island and the gun was fired inanger in an attempt to sink thissubmarine.In March 1942 the Japanese invadedChristmas Island. The majority of theisland's garrison was made up of IndianArmy troops who refused to fight theJapanese. Several of these men rose upin a mutiny against the British troops onthe island and murdered them beforesurrendering to the invading Japanese.The five Royal Artillery men manningthe 6-inch gun. near Flying Fish Cove,were amongst those killed and theirbodies dumped over the nearby cliffsinto the sea.Following the end of World War IIthe gun fell into disrepair. In 1983 amajor restoration of the gunemplacement was undertaken. When thesite was visited in July this year,however, it was found Ihe ravages oftime had taken their toll with the gunshowing substantial weathering and theemplacement and observation post wereovergrown with trees and weeds.An offer was made to the ChristmasIsland Shire Council to refurbish thegun emplacement site and this waseagerly accepted by the Councils ChiefEngineer Mr Gary Dunt (Ex WOETC)and the Island Administrator (CDREBill Taylor. RAN Retired).KANIMBLA's volunteer workparties, consisting of both Navy andseveral Army personnel embarked,turned to with a will and stripped thegun of its layers of rust, repainted it andthe emplacements external walls andremoved 20 years worth of dust, rubble,weeds and trees. The trees surroundingthe observation post were cut down aswere 50 metres of thick vegetation onthe seaward side of the gun to allowboth lo be more visible to visitorsto the island. Some concreting wasalso undertaken to strengthen theemplacement.The historic 6-inch gun on Christmas Island after it was restored by the crew of HMAS KANIMBLA.(LCDR Greg Swinden)THE NAVYVOL. 64 NO. IThe Christmas Island Shire Councilprovided most of the tools, concrete andpaint for the venture with KANIMBLAsupplying the muscle. Therefurbishment took place over severalweekends with groups of sailors andsoldiers, voluntarily giving of their owntime to ensure this important part ofChristmas Islands history remains intactand in good condition.The site will become pan of theChristmas Island Museum linked to thenearby Colonial Administrators House,which is also being refurbished and dueto be opened as a Museum in September2002.By Lieutenant Commander Greg SwindcnAustralian companieswin systems contractfor German warshipdesignDefence Minister Robert Hill andIndustry Minister Ian Macfarlane havecongratulated the Australian companiesCEA Technologies and Saab SystemsAustralia for their selection in a newwarship design announced by Blohm +Voss GmbH in Germany.The CEA-Saab Naval Advanced AirWarfare System was unveiled at theMECON 2002 Conference in Hamburgwhich was attended by naval staff fromover 40 countries.The Australian system wasspecifically designed for the Blohm +Voss new generation frigate design. Theproposed 3,500 tonne frigate would bethe first in the world to incorporateCEA's active phased array radar. Thisradar allows vessels to engage multipletargets at extended range and similarradars have previously only been fittedto ships of nearly twice the size.The radar is integrated with thelatest evolution of Saab CombatManagement System that is based oncommercial off-the-shelf technology,incorporates surface-to-surface andsurface-to-air missile control systemsand illows the vessel to operate withcoalition and US forces."The Australian Navy plans to fit aproduction system on one of our frigateswith a view to undertaking future seatrials." Senator Hill said. "If these trialsare successful, there is the potential forAustralia to use this system in thefuture."33