Virginian Pilot – Navy to proceed with undersea training range
The Navy announced Friday it would proceed with plans to construct an undersea water training range off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla.

Navy Times – Navy was tracking Chinese sub

Two defense officials have confirmed that the crew aboard the destroyer John S. McCain was tracking the submarine that struck its towed sonar array June 10 in the South China Sea off the Philippines.

Associated Press – NKorean cargo ship could test new UN sanctions

A North Korean ship suspected of transporting weapons toward Myanmar, the Kang Nam left the port of North Korean port of Nampo a week ago, and the destroyer USS John S. McCain is following as it sails off the Chinese coast. The sailing sets up the first test of a new U.N. Security Council resolution that authorizes member states to inspect North Korean vessels suspected of carrying banned weapons or materials. The sanctions are punishment for an underground nuclear test the North carried out last month in defiance of past resolutions. It’s not clear exactly what the Kang Nam has on board, but it has transported illicit goods in the past. The North has said it would consider any interception “an act of war.”

Wall Street Journal – U.S. Keeps Close Eye On North Korean Ship

The US Navy continues to trail a North Korean cargo ship believed headed toward Myanmar, in part because U.S. officials worry that Pyongyang plans to transfer major weapons systems and possibly nuclear technologies to the repressive Southeast Asian country.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Crisis of Confidence

The Navy – at its highest levels – needs to change the way it buys and builds its ships.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – How to Make Mentoring Work

Great mentors foster successful protégés, but as with any relationship, successful mentorships often develop spontaneously. Is legislating mentoring the answer?

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Fear and Loathing in the Post-Naval Era

Since the United States has not fought a real naval battle since World War II, justifying the high cost of a large Fleet of warships and aircraft is a tall order.

Economist – All at sea

Foreign military bases have both political and practical difficulties. “Seabasing” may offer a solution

San Diego Union Tribune – Will cash crisis leave Navy high and dry?

A serious Navy cash crunch is threatening to leave sailors in San Diego and across the fleet stranded ashore, unable to change duty stations and without the bonuses that have long encouraged them to stay in uniform. In recent weeks, Navy officials have instituted a series of austerity measures to reduce costs or postpone them until the next fiscal year, which begins Oct 1.

Virginian Pilot – Norfolk-based ship fends off pirates off Somalia

A case of mistaken identity for the pirates of Somalia…

BBC – US navy halts aid vessel over flu

The US navy is postponing an aid mission to the South Pacific after a sailor on the vessel scheduled to take the trip developed swine flu.

Virginian Pilot – Lawmakers seek openness after Navy closes reports

Amid reports that Navy inspectors found six ships unfit for their missions last year, some members of Congress are pressing the service to reconsider a decision to shroud its most detailed inspection reports.

Defense Tech – Navy Surface Force in Big Trouble

Normal Polmar writes that the Obama administration, looking for potential budget cuts, may take aim at the trouble-plagued Navy surface ship programs.

Patrol craft’s sailors can do it all – and they must

Life aboard the patrol craft USS Delta…

Virginian Pilot – Commander shares his pride in Bainbridge’s rescue effort

An interview with the commanding officer of the USS Bainbridge.

Virginian Pilot – War demands put crimp in Navy’s air, sea time

The recent surge in global demand for all things Navy has caused the service to burn through its funding more quickly than planned. As a result, the service is tightening its belt for the rest of the fiscal year, which translates into fewer hours in the air and fewer days at sea.

Armed Forces Journal – A balancing act

The shortfall of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the US Navy can be mitigated with conventional subs.

Virginian Pilot – Destroyers’ role in focus as world monitors N. Korea

Just 18 Navy ships have the ability to destroy a ballistic missile hurtling through the air at thousands of miles per hour…

Christian Science Monitor – Smarten up naval sonar to save the whales

Jean-Michel Cousteau says the Bush administration may be gone, but whales and other marine life along our coasts will be hearing from it for years to come – literally.

Virginian Pilot – Ship prepares to take help, smiles to several nations

The hospital ship Comfort left Wednesday on the Navy’s latest humanitarian mission to Central America and the Caribbean. Over the next four months, the vessel will visit Antigua, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Panama. The rotating 850-member crew of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and others plan to spend two weeks in each country, performing operations and providing medical and dental care both on board and on shore. The cruise is part of a Navy mission called Continuing Promise, which is designed to partner with host countries on medical and engineering projects and build goodwill. The mission is the fourth such cruise to the region, following Comfort’s 2007 trip and those of the amphibious assault ships Boxer and Kearsarge in 2008.

Defense Technology International – More Than One Ford In Trouble?

Are there problems with the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which is supposed to replace steam catapults aboard the Navy’s next carrier, Gerald R. Ford.?

Virginian Pilot – Dynamic new ramp gives military cargo vessel a lift

The Cape Rise left its home at the mouth of Scotts Creek on Monday, on the way to pick up Marine cargo for the war in Afghanistan. The ship, a roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel, was already a useful machine, but now it has a new feature to make loading all that cargo easier: a massive stern ramp that can be lowered by a single person, thanks to computer-controlled hydraulics.

Virginian Pilot – After shaky start, ship gets its sea legs

The maiden voyage of the San Antonio could be summed up in a few words: Deployment. Breakdown. Repair. Loss. Pirates. And the crew, steaming home to Norfolk on Friday from a seven-month deployment to the Middle East, would add another: vindication.

Washington Post – Destroyer to Protect Ship Near China

The U.S. Navy has dispatched the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon to the South China Sea after Chinese ships allegedly harassed an American ship operating there last weekend.

San Diego Union Tribune – Goodbye to Mystic minisub, hello to Falcon

About 350 crew members and friends of the naval minisub Mystic will gather today to retire a ship whose services, thankfully, were never needed during a career that stretched nearly 40 years.