Welcome to the CavasShips Podcast with Christopher P. Cavas and Chris Servello…a weekly podcast looking at naval and maritime events and issues of the day – in the US, across the seas and around the world. This week…there were more Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as counterattacks and preemptive strikes by the US and its allies–we discuss the latest with Sal Mercogliano of What is Going on With Shipping and gCaptain’s John Konrad.
Please send us feedback by DM’ing @CavasShips or @CSSProvision or you can email chriscavas@gmail.com or cservello@defaeroreport.com.
This Week’s Naval Round Up:
The carrier USS CARL VINSON and her strike group carried out a series of exercises with Japanese and South Korean warships in the western Pacific January 16 through 18. The maneuvers were similar to a previous series held in November. This time, however, North Korea carried out a test of its Haeil-5-23 underwater nuclear weapon system on January 19 in the Sea of Japan – a test that North Korea said was a response to the US-Japan-South Korean maneuvers. The Haeil system, revealed by North Korea last March, consists of an unmanned underwater vehicle that North Korea says is able to carry a nuclear warhead. South and North Korea each issued a series of declarations denouncing the moves by the other.
US forces joined by those of the United Kingdom carried out a series of strikes throughout the week following a major attack on Houthi targets in Yemen beginning January 11th. The US has publicly offered no strike damage assessment of the attacks, and the Houthis continued to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles at merchant shipping in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden despite several follow-up US attacks. We’ll discuss the situation in more detail coming up in a few moments.
Two US Navy SEALS remain missing as of this recording after going into the water January 11 during the search and seizure of Houthi weapons being carried by an undocumented vessel in the Arabian Sea. The weapons seized included warheads and propulsion and guidance units for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, US Fifth Fleet said in a statement. While the two Navy SEALs are presumed lost, according to sources, no public determination has been released.
The carrier USS GERALD R FORD returned to Norfolk January 17 to wrap up a deployment of more than eight months to the US Sixth Fleet and the Mediterranean Sea. The cruise marked the first full deployment for the first-of-class FORD, during which it was repeatedly touted by US and other governments and media as the world’s largest and most powerful warship. The aircraft of Carrier Air Wing Eight and destroyers THOMAS HUDNER and McFAUL also returned to the US.
And the USS HARRY S TRUMAN got underway from Norfolk January 19 for post-overhaul sea trials. The carrier left Norfolk Naval Shipyard December 17 after a year-long overhaul.
The first Type 054B frigate for the Chinese Navy was observed getting underway from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard near Shanghai on January 14. While showing the same general outline as the earlier Type 054 frigates, the 054B is bigger, carries more missiles, has a bigger gun and helicopter hangar and features many other improvements. The new frigate, launched in August, has yet to display a name or pennant number, usually withheld by the Chinese Navy until a ship enters service. At least one other 054B is under construction at the Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou.
The Turkish Navy on January 19 placed four new vessels into service, all built by Turkish shipyards. The ships are frigate ISTANBUL – built at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, with three more to follow from other shipbuilders – the large fleet replenishment ship DERYA; logistic ship TCG ARIF EKMEKCI and the unmanned surface vessel MARLIN.
Servello Squawk:
It’s time for the White House to take the muzzle off the Pentagon and the services and allow them to fully show the actions unfolding in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The idea that this administration would essentially put on a gag order to keep the US military from embarking journalists and sharing specific details of unit-level heroics to keep maritime traffic free and safe is short-sighted and foolish.
Why was it ok and just to have reporters cover the battles, deployments and homecomings from Iraq and Afghanistan, but suddenly now the national security story must be managed solely from the White House?
I get that the administration wants to tread lightly and avoid having decision space taken away by either party…that political struggle over and for the public narrative is nothing new. But the service men and women and the American mariners enduring the hardships of Houthi drones and smuggled Iranian weapons deserve to have their story told. If not strictly out of obligation to their individual service, these stories must be told as a way of encouraging others to sign up. With recruiting numbers at an all time low and the propensity to serve among younger Americans on an equal decline…why on earth would we want to keep these stories from the American public?
From a selfish navalist approach…the work being done by the ships and aircraft of the 5th and 6th fleets is exactly what Americans should expect and demand from their forward deployed Navy. It’s also exactly what they are likely to see and hear more about in the Pacific and Indian Ocean if the United States and its allies don’t stand up to China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
The idea that we aren’t filling the living rooms, cell phones and desk tops of ordinary Americans with images of our service men and women doing what we pay them to do is again foolish and short sighted. We pay a lot of money for our military and unless the world suddenly gets safer that bill will only rise. It’s important for the Congress and Americans at large to understand what they are paying for and why they will be asked to pay even more in the near future.
I have full faith and confidence in the DoD civilian and uniformed leadership to tell this story in a responsible, straight forward and appropriate way that doesn’t run counter to our policy makers approach for how to deal with these issues. I only wish the White House had that same confidence.
