US Navy – The USS Cole is on her way home.

• Washington Post: USS Cole departs ‘proudly’, with help

Royal Navy – The HMS Ocean amphibious ready group is on its way to Sierra Leone.

• Times of London: Britain sends 600 Royal Marines to Sierra Leone

US Navy – The USS Kitty Hawk battle group is exercising in Operation Foal Eagle, off Korea.

• Stars and Stripes: Kitty Hawk planes hunt subs as part of Foal Eagle exercise

US Navy – The USS Harry Truman is ready to make its first operational deployment. Construction on the ship was started in 1989, the keel was laid in 1993???

• Virginian Pilot: Carrier Truman is ready for initial deployment

Indian Navy – How and why the Indian and Pakistani navies should get along.

• Rediff: The road to good neighborliness

Indian Navy – The Chief of the Naval Staff of India feels his country is failing to take advantage of the potential of the Indian Ocean.

• The Hindu: Country neglecting potential of Indian Ocean

Royal Navy – The Royal Navy is sending a task force back to Sierra Leone, headed by HMS Ocean which is in the Mediterranean and has 42 Commando embarked. The UN has requested these troops, which will remain off shore as a rapid reaction force.

• BBC News: Britain prepares Sierra Leone force
• Times of London (registration required): UK to send task force to Sierra Leone

US Navy – First person accounts of the attack on the USS Cole.

• Washington Post: ‘I just didn’t want to die on the ship’

US Navy – The US Navy is interested in basing nuclear attack submarines on Guam.

• Stars and Stripes: Navy wants subs based in Guam

US Navy – The USS O’Brien is delivering humanitarian aid to East Timor.

• Associated Press: US ship brings aid to East Timor

Royal Navy – While the stranded HMS Tireless in Gibraltar continues to cause controversy, there is more information now available about what is wrong with her reactor and how serious it is.

• BBC News: Experts to discuss crippled UK sub
• Guardian: Nuclear sub was hours from meltdown

OK, this brings us up-to-date:

US Navy – The US Navy has given up on saving the LST USS LaMoure County, and will have her towed to a port in Chile and scrapped.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy gives up on saving ship grounded near Chile
• Virginian Pilot: LaMoure County sailors to return Saturday

US Navy – The USS Cole will be placed on a Norwegian transport ship Blue Marlin and shipped back to the US for repairs. Meanwhile, Janes’ points out that this sort of event is to be expected as the US Navy shifts to more and more operations involving the littorals???

• CNN: Transport ship for USS Cole to arrive in Aden on Saturday
• Janes: Attack on US ship shows vulnerabilities

Yemen – Background – how the Yemeni’s feel about the US in their country.

• Washington Post: Influx of U.S. Personnel Makes Yemenis Wince

US Navy???Meanwhile, an investigative report reveals that security is extremely loose around US Navy ships at ports in the United States.

• ABC News: Naval insecurity
• ABC News: Testing the waters

Royal Australian Navy – the RAN is considering construction of a Littoral Support Ship, to help it in future interventions in Asia.

• Sydney Morning Herald: New breed of aircraft carrier grabs the Navy’s attention

Royal Navy – the RN has recalled all its nuclear powered attack submarines for safety checks on their reactors.

• Reuters: British Navy Recalls 12 Nuclear-Powered Subs

Russian Navy – Again, the lack of funds is the Russian Navy’s fundamental problem.

• Washington Post: Russia’s submarine disaster may be tied to economic pressures

Sri Lankan Navy – Tamil Tiger rebels attacked and sank a Sri Lankan naval vessel in Trincomalee harbor.

• The Hindu: LTTE destroys naval craft

I hope to perform a catch-up of naval news tomorrow. In the interim???

Russian Navy – There were 23 survivors of the Kursk’s explosion, according to a note found on the body of one of the sailors who has been recovered by divers.

• BBC News: Kursk survivors’ slow death

I’m back from an excellent meeting in Germany. I hope to do a full update / catch-up on Thursday or Friday, but here are 2 stories to get us going again???

U.S. Navy – How the USS Cole disaster should have been avoided???

• Washington Post – William Arkin: Why Americans died in Yemen

Russian Navy – Russian and Norwegian divers are attempting to retrieve the Russian sailors’ bodies from the Kursk.

• BBC News: Divers cut hole in Kursk

This is the last NOSI update until Tuesday October 24.

US Navy – Latest on the USS Cole

• Washington Post: Yemenis insist accident caused USS Cole blast
• Washington Post: Officers say ship was an easy mark
• Virginian Pilot: Threatening signs have been growing in turbulet, poor Yemen
• Washington Times: Officer calls refueling stop at Aden port ‘buffoonery’

US Navy – More news on the apparent terrorist attack on the USS Cole. The Cole was on its way to the Gulf to join in enforcing the oil embargo preventing Iraq from exporting oil except under UN supervision.

• BBC News: Blast holes US warship
• BBC News: Policing the Gulf
• Time: Attack on US ship signals new wave of terror
• CNN: Pentagon suspects terrorism in blast that tore into US destroyer

US Navy – Breaking News – The USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was attacked by an explosive laden zodiac boat while in harbor in Aden. There are at least 4 US Sailors dead and 20-30 injured. There is a large hole in the hull but the ship is not in danger of sinking.

• BBC News: Suicide attack on US warship
• CNN: Attack on US Navy vessels kills US Sailors in Yemen

US Navy – the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Monterey has become the second “smart ship,” with fewer problems so far than the first “smart ship.”

• Virginian Pilot: Guided-missile cruiser Monterey becomes ‘Smart Ship’

Royal Navy – One third of the Royal Navy’s Sea Harrier pilots are threatening to resign rather than move to new bases under RAF control.

• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Harrier pilots threaten to quit

A few minutes for a quick update, after all???

US Navy – The US Navy chose EDS to install and operate the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). NMCI, once deployed, with give the Navy and Marine Corps a single world wide intranet, thus reducing barriers to collaboration, cooperation and integration between different units. The hope is that this will revolutionize the Navy’s day-to-day operations.

• ABC News: Military operations go high-tech
• Dow Jones: In a suprise, Electronic Data gets $6.9B Navy contract

US Navy – The US Navy may have to scrap the heavily damaged
tank landing ship LaMoure County that ran aground off Chile.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy may have to scrap ship that ran aground off Chile

US Navy – The US Navy is rethinking its plans to scrap one of its Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs), the Avalon, in the wake of the Kursk disaster. The DSRVs will be replaced by a system that many feel is inferior.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Rescue sub may be saved

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – the JMSDF will soon be empowered by Japanese law to board and inspect vessels if they are deemed a threat to Japanese security.

• The Hindu: Bill to remove shackles on Japanese Navy

Royal Navy – The Royal Navy is retiring its fast fleet tankers Olwen and Olna a year or two before their replacements, the Wave Knight and Wave Ruler are commissioned, as an economy measure.

• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Tanker sales will put Navy safety at risk

Apologies for the lack of news the last few days. Unfortunately, I am a bit swamped this week, preparing for a presentation at a meeting in Germany next week, in addition to my normal work. NOSI may be updated this week, but look for the next regular update to be around Tuesday October 24th.

U.S. Navy – The US, Japanese, South Korean and Singapore navies have begun the first combined submarine rescue exercise in the Pacific, Exercise Pacific Reach 2000.

• Los Angeles Times: Multinational sub rescue exercise begins

U.S. Navy – The US Navy is making its case for a larger fleet, from 300 to 360 ships.

• Janes’: US Navy presses its case for more warships

Editorial note – you have undoubtedly noticed by now that from time to time I insert Background articles into NOSI, to help us better understand the reasons why naval forces are deployed to and engaged in various operations. I don’t especially seek such articles out, but when I come across good ones I add them into the daily mix.

Background – US – The importance of the CINCs – a fascinating series of 3 articles showing the importance of the CINCs to US foreign policy today.

• Washington Post: A 4-star foreign policy?
• Washington Post: An engagement in 10 time zones
• Washington Post: Standing up to State and Congress

Sri Lankan Navy – The Tamil Tigers sunk a Sri Lankan Navy patrol boat.

• Times of India: LTTE sinks navy craft in northwestern Sri Lanka

Royal Navy – a Royal Navy task force that is circling the globe will be exercising off Pearl Harbor this week.

• Honolulu Star Bulletin: British, French ships here for maneuvers