Carrier Lincoln Hands Over Hurricane Irma Relief Effort to Carrier Strike Group 10

USNI News – Aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), with embarked Carrier Strike Group 12 (CSG-12) staff and the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG-56), has left the Florida coast, having turned over the Navy’s sea-based Hurricane Irma relief efforts to Carrier Strike Group 10. Thursday night, Carrier Strike Group 10 – amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD-21) and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Farragut (DDG-99) – arrived in position off the coast of the Florida Keys.

Why did one of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced subs return to port with a pirate flag?

Washington Post – An image posted to a Pentagon media site and tweeted by Scottish journalist Ian Keddie shows the USS Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class nuclear-powered submarine, returning to her home port in Washington Tuesday flying the American flag alongside the unmistakable pirate skull and crossed bones, known as the Jolly Roger.

Navy Prepares Ships for Hurricane Irma Relief Operations

USNI News – The Navy sent the ships to sea ahead of the storm’s landfall last week, in order to be able to quickly assist with recovery efforts. The ships can provide medical support, security, logistic support, medium and heavy lift air support, and can assist state and federal agencies assessing damage. Before the Navy can provide assistance, a formal request must be made by state and federal officials.

Rebuilding the Ukrainian Navy

US Naval War College Review – This article examines the Ukrainian governments attempts to rebuild the Ukrainian navy and argues that, while Ukraine faces political, conceptual, and financial challenges in reviving its maritime power, it has made some modest progress toward building a “mosquito fleet.” This fleet has been bolstered by the addition of some small, new ships and the increasing professionalization of Ukraine’s naval personnel, in particular its marines. This progress suggests that Ukraine can go in a radically different direction as it redevelops its navy: toward coastal defense.

Littoral Combat Ship Program Vastly Different a Year Into Major Organizational, Operational Overhaul

USNI News – The Littoral Combat Ship fleet has spent the last year in the midst of a reorganization and preparing for a new way of doing business following recommendations from a 2016 LCS Review that pointed the Navy towards injecting simplicity, stability and ownership into the unusual program. A year into implementing those recommendations, the LCS fleet looks vastly different than originally envisioned.

Sweden’s Navy Asks: Please Don’t Live Stream Our Submarines

National Interest – Back in 2009, the Swedish town of Karlskrona had a brilliant idea to boost tourist traffic: install Web cameras overlooking the picturesque Swedish coast. But there was just one problem with this marketing gimmick: as a local writer pointed out this summer, the Karlskrona cameras were live streaming the nearby naval base—Sweden’s largest and home to the country’s fleet of five advanced non-nuclear submarines.