Category Archives: USN

USS Cooperstown (LCS 23) brief visit.

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The latest Freedom class LCS, USS Cooperstown (LCS 23) stopped in Halifax yesterday for about 8 hours. the ship arrived in the morning and sailed from the dockyard at 4:30.

The freedom class LCS program has been beset by a number of issues, including problems with the combining gear that connect the diesel engines and the turbines to the shafts, given the location of that combining gear, the navy has mothballed many of the early ships of the class, as the repair is too costly.

USS Gerald R Ford

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The USS Gerald R. Ford offered a media availability yesterday, which i had the privilege to attend. All manner of tour boats, and a Halifax transit ferry were pressed into service to move people form the carrier to shore and back, including tour vessels from Oak Island and Lunenburg – sort of a mini Dunkirk.

The carrier is designed for stern boarding, and a barge was used as a floating dock. from there, its up two flights to the hanger deck.

Those doors lead to the hanger deck.

The flight deck is several flights of stairs up from the hanger deck.

(below) the view form vultures alley, the lowest balcony on the tower.

Most of the Air wing looked to be on deck, and was made up up of F-18 hornets. This one had a kill; a SU-22 in 2017.

(above) E-2 Hawkeye (below) SH-60 seahawk (which is the naval variant of a blackhawk)

As Part of the Media availability, various officials spoke of the the importance of the deployment, both to test the Ford, but also to hone interoperability between navies, and show that nato can work together as a unified force.

The Ford has on board a liaison officer from each of the participating navies. (Denmark, Netherlands, Germany and Spain. These officers also spoke to the importance of the work

A full gallery of the tour can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/hfxshippingnews/albums/72177720303273562/page1

The Strike group is set to depart Tuesday. HMCS Montreal and NRU Asterix will be joining the group.

Carriers

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HMS Prince of Wales, the UK’s second aircraft carrier sailed for a North American Deployment a couple of days ago. On the way out of Portsmouth, it appears the ship may have struck bottom, and suffered an issue with her Starboard shaft or propeller. She is now at anchor, undergoing inspections.

HMS Prince of Wales was reportedly due to visit Halifax this fall, and under go some exercises with a US Carrier Group.

This brings us to the C-2 greyhound, the US Navy’s carrier capable cargo plane, a variant of the E-2 Hawkeye, the plane features a bigger body, but same engines, tail and wings. This particular plane arrived at YHZ yesterday from Norfolk, and returned this afternoon. Flying as Rawhd75, the plane belongs to VRC-40 rawhides squadron.

USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul

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USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, LCS-21 arrived Sunday for a port visit. The ship is Due to sail tomorrow morning. Like most LCS built at Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, the ship stopped in Halifax on her way to her home port.

Previous ships of the class to stop ave included:
USS Freedom – Nov 2008
USS Fort Worth – Aug 2012
USS Milwaukee – Dec 2015
USS Detroit – Nov 2016
USS Little Rock – April 2018
USS Billings – July 2019
USS Sioux City – Nov 2019 (missed this one)
USS Witchita – Nov 2019
USS Indianapolis – Nov 2019 (Missed this one too)

USS St Louis Bypassed Halifax during Covid in 2020. Early ships faced issues with the Combining Gear – the Gear box that transfers power to the shafts form either the diesel engines or the turbines. Because of these issues, Completed ships were not accepted by the navy untill alterations could be made, which led to 3 visits in November 2019.

Due to the location of the combining gear, it was determined to not be cost effective to repair early ships. USS Freedom was Decommissioned in Sept 2021, and Fort Worth, Detroit and Little Rock are set to be decommissioned this year. 5 Additional ships are currently under construction.

US Navy amphibious assault ship on Fire in San Diego

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LHD-1 USS Wasp arrives in Halifax in 2010.

At approximately 8:30 on July 12, a fire was discovered aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) while it was moored pier side at Naval Base San Diego. Approximately 160 Sailors were aboard at the time. USS Bonhomme Richard is going through a maintenance availability and normally has a crew size of approximately 1000.

the fire is believed to have started on one of the vehicle storage decks and spread to the well Deck. the ship is designed for amphibious assault, and features a flood-able space at the rear for launching landing craft and has 2 vehicle decks with direct access to the well deck.

throughout the day, the fire spread, into the the hanger deck, and by last night into the island, destroying the bridge area and causing the forward mast to collapse on deck. the ship developed a 3 degree list to starboard.

400 firefighters have been working on board, assisted by 5 tugboats fire monitors, and helicopters with Bambi Buckets.

As of this morning,6:30 a.m. Pacific time, firefighting teams continue operations on board, 57 personnel, 34 USNavy Sailors and 23 civilians, have been treated for minor injuries including heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.

US Navy Officials are optimistic the ship can be saved, however the extent of the fire may mean the ship is a total loss.

this post will be updated.

UPDATE 22:50AST: as of 3:30 p.m. Pacific time July 13, firefighting teams continue operations on board USS Bonhomme Richard. 59 personnel, 36 U.S. Navy Sailors and 23 civilians, have been treated for minor injuries including heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Currently, there are no personnel hospitalized.

Several commentators are further suggesting the heat stress on the ship from the still burning fires will result in the ship being declared a loss. replacement cost for the ship would be in excess of 1.5 billion dollars.

Update July 14 11:50AST: Still Burning. We have some images of damage, and it looks severe.

UPDATE July 16:
06:00 a.m. Pacific time July 15, firefighting teams continue operations on board USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), 63 personnel, 40 Sailors and 23 civilians, have been treated for minor injuries including heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Currently, there are no personnel hospitalized. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron THREE has conducted more than 1,500 helicopter water bucket drops, which is cooling the super structure and flight deck enabling fire crews to get onboard internally to fight the fire.

The fire is now thought to be mostly under control, with teams chasing hot spots. Apparently the superstructure was constructed from Aluminum, which is why the Island was able to burn through – the Heat melted the metal.

at 2:30 am pst, the USN Surface Warriors twitter account tweeted that “Out of an abundance of caution the pier and ship were cleared of personnel due to an initial shift in the ship’s list. Personnel are now pier side. ” there have been no further updates.

the 6 am update indicates that fire teams are back on board. the ship has a noticeable list towards the pier, no smoke is visible, and external water application has ceased.

USS Indianapolis for Port Visit

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The latest US Navy Littoral combat ship USS Indianapolis is due this morning, and is expected at the dockyard around 8:30am. the ship is sailing from its builders in Wisconsin, to Mayport Florida.

The ship was commissioned Oct 26 in Burns Harbor Indiana. 

photos will follow, but may be delayed due to weather.

Cutlass Fury Arrivals

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The first arrivals for exercise cutlass fury showed up in Halifax Yesterday and Today.
HMS Northumberland is missing below, its tucked in out of the way at the moment. HDMS PETER WILLEMOES had not yet arrived.

USS NEW HAMPSHIRE
NRP FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA
BNS LEOPOLD
HNOMS THOR HEYERDAHL
USNS PATUXENT
HNLMS VAN SPEIJK
USS JASON DUNHAM
USS Gridley
HMCS FREDRICTON inboard, HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC outboard
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