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…Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery joins us to discuss maritime operations in Indo-Pacom, lessons from the Red Sea and Ukraine and how the US Navy can continue to get better.
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This Week’s Naval News:
Operations have ended from the temporary pier established by US Navy and Army personnel in Gaza, the Pentagon announced July 17. Beset by problematic weather conditions, the pier was in service for only a few weeks after becoming operational in May. Humanitarian aid now is being funneled through the port of Ashdod, Israel. US officials have not said whether or not the Joint Logistics Over the Shore, or JLOTS, system and its support craft and personnel will return to the United States.
In the Red Sea, the merchant tanker (KEY-OHS) CHIOS LION was struck July 15 by a Houthi explosive unmanned surface craft. While Stealth Maritime, the vessel’s manager, said the crew was unharmed and the attack caused only a small amount of damage, satellite images soon showed a large oil spill in the area that appears to be fuel oil coming from the CHIOS LION. The tanker was carrying a 90,000-ton load of Russian oil from the Black Sea to China when it was hit.
The amphibious assault ship USS BOXER is underway and has resumed its deployment, USNI News reported July 17. The ship, originally scheduled to deploy in January with elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was initially delayed by multiple readiness issues and, when it finally left its home port of San Diego in April, was unable to continue the deployment and returned to port with serious rudder problems. Repairs now have been completed and, although the ship is six months behind schedule, the Navy said in a statement July 14 that the ship, quote, “remains on schedule for an Indo-Pacific deployment.” Problems continue to plague the ship, however, as it returned to San Diego briefly on July 16 to crane off an MV-22B Osprey aircraft damaged in a deck-handling mishap.
Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, exercises continue in waters near Hawaii. The underway portion of the world’s largest scheduled naval exercise, held every two years, began June 27 and is to run through August 1. More than 25,000 personnel from 29 nations are taking part in this year’s RIMPAC.
Russia has cancelled the main naval parade at Kronstadt near St Petersburg for Russian Navy Day, reports the Barents Observer. Rather only 12 smaller vessels will take part in St Petersburg on July 28. Since 2017 the Russian Navy has put on major displays along the Neva River in the city, attended by President Vladimir Putin.
At Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii, 28 Australian personnel have begun training on various aspects of submarine maintenance, the US Navy said July 19. The training is part of the AUKUS agreement between the US, Australia and the United Kingdom, and will support the basing of up to four US submarines and one British nuclear sub at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia starting as early as 2027.
In new ship news, the destroyer JOHN BASILONE (DDG 122) was delivered to the US Navy July 8 from General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship is the second US Navy destroyer to honor Marine Gunnery Sergeant Basilone, a hero of both the Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima campaigns in World War II. The destroyer is scheduled to be commissioned in November at New York City and will be based at Mayport, Florida with the US Atlantic Fleet.
And the US Navy has exonerated 256 Black sailors unjustly punished in July 1944 after a major explosion in a US Navy ammunition port in California killed 320 sailors and civilians. Despite the dangers black sailors were ordered to return to work at Port Chicago on San Francisco Bay under hazardous conditions. Many refused and were punished. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro on July 16 officially cleared the sailors, all of whom now are deceased.
