World Naval Operational News Highlights for 2000

1. Several recurring themes were identified in this year’s naval news stories:
• Iraq’s successful attempts to circumvent the United Nations
  economic sanctions on the exporting of oil.
• The crisis in readiness, especially in the navies of the United
  States, United Kingdom, Russia, and Canada.
• Piracy in the South China Sea.
• The standoff in the Taiwanese Straits between Taiwan and China.
• Ship handling accidents in the United States Navy.
• The ascendency of Indian Navy.
• Territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly Islands.
• Support for Operations Other Than War including the Royal Navy and French Navy in Mozambique
  and Madagascar, the Royal Navy in Sierra Leone, and the Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy in the Solomon Islands.
2. The most professional combined arms operation of the year was the deployment of British forces to Sierra Leone to attempt to restore stability to the country.
3. The only ship-to-ship combat of the year was between the Sri Lankan Navy and the Tamil Tigers.
4. The most intriguing naval news story of the year is whether or not Israel has developed a sea based nuclear deterrent in the form of nuclear tipped cruise missiles on its new Dolphin-class submarines.
5. The most strategically significant naval news story of the year is the possibility that the US may have to turn its base on Diego Garcia back over to the native Chagos islanders who were unlawfully evicted from the island in the 1960’s.
6. The most narrowly averted naval disaster of the year was the serious problem found in the cooling system of the nuclear reactor on the Royal Navy’s nuclear attack submarines.
7. The most tragic naval news stories of the year was the sinking of the Russian nuclear attack submarine Kursk with the loss of all hands, and the terrorist attack on the guided missile destroyer USS Cole with heavy loss of life.
8. The most bizarre naval news story of the year was the construction of a midget submarine in the mountains of Columbia, to be used by drug smugglers, with assistance from Russian nationals.
9. The most humorous naval operation of the year was the sight of the Canadian Navy undertaking an operation to recapture Canadian Army equipment from a transport ship’s crew which was holding it hostage in order to be reimbursed for its transport from Kosovo to Canada.
10. And finally, the naval news story of the year with the most potential long term significance was the unsuccessful attempt of Argentinians to sue the British government over the sinking of the cruiser General Belgrano in the Falklands War. Will the wars of the future be refought in the court room, rather than in the simulator room?