USCGC Hollyhock tied up at the Tall ships Quay. the ship was built in 2003 at Marinette Marine in Wisconsin and stationed at Port Huron Mi, spending her whole career to date in the great lakes. Hollyhock is currently headed for the USCG’s shipyard in Curtis Bay, near Baltimore Maryland.
The Crew will pick up USCGC Sequioa, which will then take up station at Port Huron. Both these vessels are Juniper Class Buoy Tenders. USCGC Juniper and USCGC Willow have also called in Halifax in the past.
The French Marine National patrol vessel Fulmar put into port yesterday for a visit. The ship is the French Naval presence in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The ship is a regualr visitor to Halifax, Usually tieing up at Tall Ships Quay next to Nova Scotia Power.
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.
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
The Island class patrol boat USCGC Tybee arrived earlier this week for a port visit. the vessel is based in Woods Hole MA, and is due to sail at 1500 this afternoon.
the Island class are 110′ long, and based on a British design. They were constructed between 1985 and 1992, and 37 vessels of the class are still in active service. Powered by 2 diesel engines, they have a top speed of 29.5knots and a range of 4500km. the Island class carries a crew on 16 – 2 officers and 14 enlisted personnel.
