U.S. Navy – the USS La Moure County, an LST, ran aground today off Chile while conducting amphibious exercises. There was minor damage to the ship but no injuries to the crew.

• Virginian Pilot: Norfolk-based Navy ship runs aground off Chile

Russian Navy – Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarines are to be converted to freighters to carry nickel from mines in Russia’s north to Murmansk. The freighters will be manned by naval crews.

• Times of London (registration required): Red October subs put to work as freighters

Russian Navy – the Russian government continues to attempt to persecute (and prosecute) those who document its illegal activities in disposing of nuclear waste from submarine reactors

• Christian Science Monitor: Russia’s nuclear whistle blower lands back in court

Royal Navy – More details have emerged on the British assault in Sierra Leone. In addition to elements of the 1 Bn The Parachute Regiment and the SAS, elements of the Royal Marines Special Boat Squadron took part in the attack.

• Times of London (registration required): SAS emerged from swamp to launch deadly attack

Royal Navy – The British Type 23 frigate HMS Grafton has run aground while trying to negotiate narrow fjords close to the town of Droebak which is 19 miles from Oslo. The ship has sustained damage to the bow, but there were no injuries.

• BBC News: British frigate runs aground

Royal Navy – In a daring dawn raid, members of the 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment and the SAS freed 6 British Army hostages being held by rebels in Sierra Leone. The Paras suffered casualties of 1 killed and several wounded. The Royal Navy ship Sir Percivale, in Freetown harbor, is being used as a casualty receiving ship.

• BBC News: Bloody end to Sierra Leone hostage drama
• BBC News: Dramatic rescue operation
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Paras free hostages in jungle
• Daily Telegraph – John Keegan (registration required): Gang’s bold front collapses in the face of real soldiers

Royal Navy – Part of Portsmouth naval base is to be handed over to a civilian shipbuilder, with day-to-day maintenance of warships in the remaining naval area also being privatised. The Royal Navy is making the changes in an attempt to ease its financial plight.

• Times of London (registration required): Navy retreats at Portsmouth

East Asia Background – The Japanese and Chinese have agreed to provide each other with advance notification of future maritime incursions.

• Economist: New tensions twixt Japan and China

Royal Navy – More problems with the propulsion system of Britain’s Swiftsure-class nuclear attack submarines, leading to further readiness woes.

• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Nuclear subs hit by safety fears

U.S. Navy – Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig has been shaking up the U.S. Navy since taking his post two year ago. Insiders say he has an excellent chance of being Secretary of Defense in a Gore administration.

• Washington Post: Churning the waters

Columbian Navy – The Russian mafia appears to have been assisting in the construction of the drug smuggling submarine found under construction in Columbia this week. Apparently this is not the first time that drug running has been tried in submarines???

• Reuters: Columbian drug sub built with Russian mob help

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – An officer of the MSDF has been accused of passing operational U.S. Navy intelligence to the Russian Navy. This is the first major spy scandal in Japan since 1980.

• Reuters: Japan worries over U.S. military secrets to Russia
• CNN: Japanese naval officer allegedly spied for Russia

Russian Navy – The Russian military will be cut in size by one third by 2003, with the Russian Navy being reduced in size by 50,000 personnel.

• CNN: Russia to cut military by a third

Russian Navy – A German journalist claims in an article in the Berliner Zeitung Daily that a guided missile from a Russian warship sank the Kursk. The Russian’s deny the story.

• BBC News: Kursk own-goal theory ‘totally false’
• ABC News: Russia denies missile hit sub

U.S. Military – A cogent discussion of why morale is low in the U.S. military.

• Christian Science Monitor: Low morale saps US miltiary might

NATO – a report from submarine rescue exercise Sorbet Royal 2000, off Turkey, aboard the Turkish submarine Hizirreis.

• Associated Press: Sub crews learn sound of rescue

Columbian Navy – The Columbian government has uncovered a team of Columbian drug smugglers who were constructing a 100 foot long submarine for drug smuggling.

• Associated Press: Columbian drug smugglers built sub

U.S. Navy – Even more on the readiness debate???

• Christian Science Monitor: The real state of U.S. readiness
• ABC News: Battling over military readiness

U.S. Marines – The U.S. Marines have cleared the MV-22 Osprey and AH-1W Cobra to resume flight operations. The CH-53E Super Stallions remain grounded.

• CNN: Marines clear some aircraft to fly

U.S. Navy – The U.S. Navy has provided Russia with an intelligence assessment of what caused the loss of the Kursk.

• CNN: U.S. shares Kursk intelligence with Russia

U.S. Navy – An recent report by the Navy Inspector General has concluded that funding shortages are impairing the combat performance of naval aviators.

• CBS: Navy pilots miss the mark

U.S. Navy – Due to a lack of funds, the U.S. Navy is spending more time in port this fiscal year than it intended to – it simply does not have the funds available to send ships to sea.

• Stars and Stripes: Shortage of cash for fuel leaves Navy ships parked at pier

U.S. Navy – F-18 Hornets are wearing out faster than expected. They will need to undergo a Service Life Extension Program in order to remain in service, the funding for which will cut into funds available to purchase the aircraft which will be their successors.

• Virginian Pilot: Hornets wear out too fast, Navy says

NATO – NATO is about to begin Operation Sorbet Royal 2000, its largest ever submarine rescue exercise. The exercise is held every 3 years, and was scheduled for this time before last month’s sinking of the Kursk.

• Associated Press: NATO launches submarine exercise

Columbian Navy – The Colombian navy intercepted a speedboat off its Pacific coast on Sunday and seized three tons of cocaine.

• Associated Press: Colombian navy nets 3 tons of cocaine in Pacific

U.S. Navy – The destroyer Nicholson and fast combat support ship Detroit collided during refueling. Damage to both ships is said to be minimal. There were some minor injuries to the Nicholson’s crew.

• Virginian Press: Two Navy ships collide during refueling

U.S. Navy – Most U.S. forces are ready to perform wartime missions, but if we had to fight two simultaneous major conflicts we would run a high risk of increased casualties because of shortfalls in the ability to move, supply and protect troops. The Navy was specifically noted for a lack of carrier aircraft, especially EA-6B Prowlers.

• Associated Press: Pentagon says forces are ready for one war, but maybe not two

Russian Navy – A clearer explanation of the current U.S. Navy hypothesis that an explosion of a torpedo during loading or launching is what caused the sinking of the Kursk. The Kursk’s crew was felt to be well trained and it is unlikely that a seamanship error caused the loss.

• New York Times: 2 U.S. submarines recorded death agony of Kursk
• Washington Post: U.S. theory – on board blast sank sub

Canadian Navy – Men and women aboard Canada’s warships are having sex at sea – which is forbidden by regulations – much more often than is officially acknowledged, according to a study commissioned by the Canadian Navy to help determine whether women should serve on its new Upholder-class attack submarines.

• Toronto Star: Canadian navy crews turn warships into Love Boats

Chinese Navy – A Chinese company has acquired the former Russian aircraft carrier Kiev, for the purpose of scrapping her.

• Washington Post: China acquires Russian carrier

U.S. Navy – One of the consequences of the Kursk’s sinking may very well be decreased funding for the U.S. Navy, as one of its potential adversaries is shown to be a paper tiger.

• Washington Post: U.S. Navy hopes sink with Kursk

Russian Navy – Sonar data being analyzed from the U.S.S. Memphis, a Los-Angeles class nuclear attack submarine that was monitoring the Kursk, supports the hypothesis that a torpedo exploded during loading or firing, which then set off a larger explosion nearly 2 minutes later that sunk the submarine.

• Reuters: U.S. sonar tapes support Kursk torpedo theory-paper

Royal Navy – At the present time, 6 out of 7 of the Trafalgar-class nuclear attack submarines are not fit for operational service.

• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Six of seven killer subs unfit for service

Russian Navy – The Russian Navy’s fundamental problem is a lack of funds – “The Kursk got its name because the city of Kursk was taking care of the submarine, supplying it with food, televisions, videos???We are talking about the submarine, which is one of the most important vessels in the Russian navy. And a nonstate initiative is supporting it. It shows the state is unable to run the fleet.”

• Los Angeles Times: Russian Navy adrift in an ocean of problems

Yugoslavian Navy – Yugoslavian forces last week boarded in the Adriatic Sea and detained a U.S. cargo vessel carrying humanitarian food aid to Kosovo.

• Washington Post: Yugoslavs detained U.S. ship

U.S. Marines – the U.S. Marines have suspended all flights of the MV-22 Osprey, AH-1W Cobra, and CH-53 Sea Stallion, for unrelated safety reasons.

• Reuters: Marines suspend flights of three aircraft types

Background: U.S. Forces Readiness – Ready???or not?

• Washington Post: A look at the readiness debate – Part 1
• Washington Post: A look at the readiness debate – Part 2

Russian Navy – Evidence has been uncovered that the cause of the explosions on the Kursk may have been a malfunction occuring during tests of a new version of the Squall torpedo.

• Sunday Times of London (registration required): Secret torpedo test ‘blew sub apart’

Russian Navy – A fascinating seismic analysis of the Kursk’s explosions from Terry Wallace and Dr. Keith Koper at the University of Arizona, which estimates the force of the explosion to be between 0.5 and 1 ton. I am grateful to Micha Schellingerhout from the Netherlands for sharing this!

• University of Arizona: Forensic Seismology and the Sinking of the Kursk
  

U.S. Navy – The U.S. Navy is playing down its work in helping to recover the wreckage of the Gulf Air crash, to avoid offending Arab sensibilities.

• Associated Press: U.S. plays down rescue efforts

Australian Navy – because of the bad press the Collins-class submarines have been receiving, the Australian Navy is not meeting its recruiting goals to man the submarines.

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Navy fails to entice submariners for Collins class

Russian Navy – A Russian Captain who participated in the rescue operation and whose son was lost on the Kursk says the Russian Navy did its best, but fell short due to a lack of equipment. Meanwhile, the Norwegian company whose divers reached the submarine say the earliest it could be raised would be next year.

• BBC News: Captain who tried to save his son
• BBC News: Reforming Russia’s military
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Sub crew ‘entombed until next summer’

U.S. Navy – U.S. Navy helicopters are assisting in the search for survivors from yesterday’s Gulf Air Airbus 320 crash off Bahrain.

• CNN: Flight recorder found in wreckage of Gulf Air crash

U.S. Navy – The U.S. Navy claims that although it has been asked to double the number of intelligence missions its submarines have undertaken in the last 10 years, the number of submarines in service has been cut nearly in half in the same time.

• Associated Press: U.S. wants more subs for intelligence missions

Russian Navy – more on the Kursk.

• Daily Telegraph (registration required): British team hits at Russian ‘Cold War’ deceit
• Times of London (registration required): British homage to the dead
• Janes: Did collision trigger explosion?

Russian Navy – Norwegian divers are helping the Russians to more fully investigate the site around the Kursk. The Russians are interested in raising the submarine.

• BBC News: Russia mourns Kursk crew
• BBC News: Kursk crew’s last words
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Divers end rescue after finding Kursk flooded
• Times of London: The Kursk: British divers confirm that all crew are dead
• Times of London: Nuclear fleet a disaster in waiting

Russian Navy – Norwegian divers have successfully opened the outer and inner hatch of the Kursk, and found the compartment behind it totally flooded. There is now no hope of finding anyone alive on the Kursk. The British submersible LR5 will not be used.

• BBC News: Sub crew ‘all dead’
• BBC News: Disaster exposes military decline
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Russians argue as divers give the go-ahead for submarine rescue
• Times of London (registration required): Sealed hatch foils divers

Russian Navy – Norwegian divers have been unsuccessful in unscrewing Kursk’s rescue hatch. There is a crack in the hatch and the British rescue submarine may be unable to dock with it. The Russians now believe the crew is dead.

• BBC News: Divers struggle with Kursk hatch
• CNN: Nuclear sub video reveals ‘massive damage’
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): British rescue team told: submarine crew are dead
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): War games

Piracy – An account of a pirate attack on a merchant ship in specific, and an overview of piracy in general.

• New York Times Magazine: Bandits in the global shipping lanes

Russian Navy – Russian rescue submersibles continue to attempt docking with the Kursk’s rescue hatch, without success. The British rescue submersible LR5 should be on the scene today.

• BBC News: Frantic push to reach Kursk crew
• Janes’ Defence Weekly: Did collision trigger explosion?
• Times of London (registration required): Russia pins last hopes on British rescue team

Russian Navy – What does the future hold for the Russian Navy after the Kursk crisis? The outlook remains bleak???

• BBC News: Russia’s rusting navy
• Janes’ Defence Weekly: Tradgedy may lead to purge, but no new funds
• Janes’ Sentinnel: Russian Navy: assessment

Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan has outlined an invasion scenario, detailing the forces available on each side.

• Janes’ Defence Weekly: Taiwan paints a scenario of invasion by China

Russian Navy – A Russian rescue capsule reached the escape hatch on the Kursk, but was unable to latch on. The Royal Navy rescue team should reach the Kursk tomorrow.

• BBC News: Rescuers reach stricken sub
• CNN: Setback for sub rescue mission
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Obstacle course faces Navy team bound for Kursk
• Times of London (registration required): Sub blast may have killed most of crew

Russian Navy – the Royal Navy rescue crew which is proceeding to the site of the Kursk report seeing a video of the sub on the ocean bottom which shows she suffered a high energy explosion from the bow to the conning tower. It appears less and less likely that there are survivors left. U.S. intelligence reports there has been no sign of life onboard since the explosion.

• BBC News: Stricken sub ‘severely damaged’
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Putin attacked over delay as trapped crew fall silent
• Times of London (registration required): Russians accept British help to save sub

Russian Navy – Rescue attempts continue for the Kursk’s crew. The Royal Navy may be involved in future rescue attempts.

Please note that the below links are to the main stories on each site. There are related stories on each site as well, which can be gotten to from these main story pages. Finally, if you have not registered for the Times of London and the Daily Telegraph, I encourage you to do so. They are, I believe, amongst the finest papers available on the Internet.

• BBC News: New sub rescue attempt launched
• BBC News: UK sub rescue flight takes off
• Times of London (registration required): Save our souls comes cry from the deep
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Submarine running out of air as first rescue attempt fails