Somali pirates pocket at least $1.67 million

The dollar total is for only one of the ships. The figure for the second is unknown. Earlier this week, another chemical tanker was released for $2.5 million. Owners of the oil tanker taken on Saturday are currently in negotiations.

This is sure to discourage pirates.

Murdoc votes we tell ship owners that we’re all pulling our naval assets from the area if they make payments.

India sinks suspected pirate mother ship

An Indian naval vessel sank a suspected pirate “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said Wednesday, as separate bands of brigands seized Thai and Iranian ships in the lawless seas.

A multinational naval force has increased patrols in the waters between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, where pirates have grown bolder and more violent. The force scored a rare success Tuesday when the Indian warship, operating off the coast of Oman, stopped a ship similar to a pirate vessel described in numerous bulletins. The Indian navy said the pirates fired on the INS Tabar after the officers asked to search it.

“Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers,” said a statement from the Indian navy. Indian forces fired back, sparking fires and a series of onboard blasts — possibly due to exploding ammunition — and destroying the ship.

They chased one of two speedboats shadowing the larger ship. One was later found abandoned. The other escaped, according to the statement.

Australia temporarily shuts down navy

This sound like something out of The Onion:

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia’s navy gets a big Christmas gift this year: two months paid vacation for most sailors that will ease the effects of a recruiting slump but make the service Down Under look something like a part-time operation.

The navy hopes that by making life on the sea more family-friendly, it will attract the extra 2,000 sailors it needs achieve its target strength of 15,000.

All ships and subs not on operational deployments will be recalled to port and the personnel, apart from a “skeleton crew” for security will be given extra time off. Apparently there is usually some sort of a break at this time of the year.

Neil James, executive director of the independent security think-tank Australian Defense Association, agreed the shutdown was not radically different from previous years, although it was a few weeks longer and would involve more ships remaining in dock.

More ships for longer. Sounds pretty different to me.

If the only way to recruit more people is to turn off the navy for two months out of every year, what’s the point of recruiting more people?

Oil leak aboard USS San Antonio (LPD 17)

Photos show extent of oil leaks on LPD 17

The Navy on Monday confirmed the authenticity of photos revealing corrosion and oil leaks aboard the amphibious transport dock San Antonio, which began circulating on the Internet over the weekend. But a Navy spokeswoman added that the damage did not pose a danger to sailors and Marines on the deployed ship.

Meanwhile, the lube oil system leaks, which forced the ship into a repair yard in Bahrain on Oct. 31 in the middle of its maiden deployment, are expected to take longer to fix than a previously expected two weeks, Pat Dolan, spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command, said Monday.

Pulling a deployed ship into the yard for repairs isn’t exactly the way things are supposed to go. Ship builders often complain about the Navy’s shifting requirements, and that’s a fair point. But revised plans don’t explain shoddy construction. Did some yard worker weld poorly one day because the Navy decided to change something?

More images below.

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A couple of years ago, I posted a bit about my son’s USS Nimitz pinewood derby racer (inspired by The Final Countdown movie) and now a reader has sent in pictures of his son’s two pinewood warships:

Pinewood USS John F Kennedy - Dig the F4s

The builder is a Bear Scout in Cub Scout Pack 702. And for those of you with black shoes:

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1864 or 1865. Deep Bottom, Virginia. Federal gunboat Mendota on the James River. Put in service May 2, 1864. From photographs of the Federal Navy and seaborne expeditions against the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy. Wet plate glass negative, photographer unknown.

From Shorpy.

Here’s a pic of a Dahlgren gun drill aboard the Mendota.

UPDATE: If at all interested in this period, be sure read AW1 Tim’s comments on this post. Great stuff.

UPDATE 2: Didn’t realize that the caption was missing. Fixed it.

Kirov-class cruiser Pyotr Velikiy in Toulon, France

The Velikiy and several other Russian ships will next head to the Caribbean for joint exercises with Venezuela.

This pic was taken by a MilitaryPhotos.net member. He’s got some more.

Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU), embarked aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4), perform weapons training drills on the flight deck. Boxer is conducting training exercises in the Pacific Ocean preparing for a deployment scheduled for early next year. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Barker/Released)

Note that the two on the right have M4 carbines instead of M16 rifles. Last year the Marines announced that staff sergeant through Lt. Colonel would be issued M4s instead of M9 potato shooters pistols. The M16A4 is the standard Marine rifle.

Obviously, the Marines are as serious as ever when it comes to firepower. Even chaplains are getting trigger time on the M240.

DoD release:

The Navy’s first littoral combat ship (LCS) Freedom will be commissioned Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008, during a 10 a.m. EST ceremony at Veterans Park, Milwaukee, Wis.

Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Birgit Smith, the ship’s sponsor, is the widow of Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The commissioning ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when Smith gives the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”

I have long been a supporter of the LCS program as a quick and cheap addition to the fleet. But as things have turned out to be neither quick nor cheap so far, I’m growing skeptical. It’s early in the cycle, of course, and it sure would be nice to see things work out.

LCS 1 during sea trials on Lake Michigan