February 08 - Barrow Submariners Association

Page 2 February 2008Social Scene1)A proposed trip to Crewe to visitRay Scouse Bruchez we currentlyhave about 11 confirmed and themini-bus can take 15. The Date isSaturday 12th April and it is justthe lads.The Morecambe Bay Branch isalso going and the Manchester andMerseyside branches.Scouse has resurected ShepWooley who used to sing all theSubmariners and folk songs atDolphin reunions.Any more takers contact me direct(B&B approx £20 plus cost oftravel).2) The Army Navy Rugby onSaturday 3rd May weekend.I havewritten to the RNRU to confirmthe date and venue are unchanged.And will start a list next meeting(tommorrow).3) There is a list out for thosewishing to support the AnnualConference weekend with a meet& greet to all visitors to Barrow inthe Victoria Park Hotel on Fridayevening (28th March), and asocial evening at the same venueon the Saturday night (29th).Ladies invited.Those who can take the pace mayalso like to be in the Harbour for awhile on the Saturday afternoonfor a chat with those visitors whoare not actually attending theConference and those who need alivener after the Conference.Chinese Sub Sneaks UnderUSS Kitty HawkAn unexpected visit by a ChineseSubmarine that went undetected inthe middle of a Pacific OceanNaval exercise and cameextremely close to the U.S.S. KittyHawk, has American militarychiefs looking for answers.The sub was apparently able toslip past at least a dozen U.S.warships, two U.S. submarinesand a vast array of advancedtechnology, which failed to detectit.When the Navy deploys a battlefleet on exercises, they take thesecurity of the aircraft carriersvery seriously. At least a dozenwarships are used to provide aphysical guard, and usingadvanced technology they are ableto detect and deter any potentialintruders. By the time the Chinesesub surfaced, the 160ft Song Classdiesel-electric attack submarinesailed within viable range forlaunching torpedoes or missiles atthe U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, a 1,000ft.super carrier with 4,500 militarypersonnel on-board.According to senior NATOofficials, the incident caused asense of sudden fear in the U.S.Navy, as officials realized theseriousness of the encounter. TheU.S. apparently had no idea justhow sophisticated China’s fastgrowing submarine fleet hadbecome, or that they even posedsuch a threat.Analysts believe that China wassending a message to the UnitedStates and the West bydemonstrating their rapidlygrowing military capability tothreaten foreign powers that mighttry to interfere in their own“backyard.”The U.S. Navy and Nato are nowforced to re-think their strategy,and reconsider the level of threatposed from potentially hostileChinese submarines.ID CardsThe Skipper of the Americanaircraft carrier USS JOHN F.KENNEDY was relieved ofcommand in 2001 due to a failedinspection.Then in August 2004, the nextSkipper, Captain Stephen B.Squires, was relieved of commanddue to an Arab dhow being able toget close enough to the carrier toallegedly hit the ship.Whether the dhow did or did nothit the flattop was not as importantas the fact that it did apparentlyget within mere feet of theship.....too close for security.And now it is the CommandingOfficer of VF-103, the famed"Jolly Roger" Squadron madefamous in the movie "the FinalCountdown" in which a time warptakes the carrier back in time toDecember 7th, 1941 and the F-14fighters of this Squadron wereattempting to intercept JapaneseZero fighters over the HawaiianIslands.Captain W. R. Massey, DeputyCommander of Air Wing 17, hastemporarily replaced CommanderGuy Maiden as CommandingOfficer of VF-103. CommanderDavid Landess is en route to thecarrier to assume command of the"Jolly Rogers". CommanderMaiden will be temporarilyreassigned to duties in the UnitedStates. (Translation - banished toa desk job near the exit door).The relief of Commander Maidenwas an administrative taken byRear Admiral Barry McCullough,Commander of the USS JOHN F.KENNEDY Strike Group after areview of the investigation intocircumstances surrounding theincident stating that the U.S. Navytakes these incidents veryseriously and holds service membersaccountable.So what horrible thing didCommander Maiden do that costhim his command and mostprobably his career in the U.S.Navy? Here is what our friendaboard ship reports as the scuttlebutt,although not released as fact.It is alleged that CommanderMaiden was returning from libertyand did not have his identificationcard on his person, and a scuffleensued with a 'foreign nationalsecurity guard' and the rest, as theysay, is history.