Risky Behavior: Female Updates

BACKGROUND

The alleged incidents come just three years after the first female commander of a warship was stripped of command following allegations of relations with her married third-in- command.  Cdr Sarah West, 41, was removed from command of frigate HMS Portland in August 2014, four years after Capt Holly Graf (USN), and three months after 3 women became the Royal Navy's first female submariners. As it happened, the Royal Navy's first female sub crew served on HMS Vigilant.

FAST FORWARD TO HMS Vigilant NOW

Five HMS Vigilant officers have threatened to resign over affairs on board a Royal Navy'sTrident nuclear missile sub HMS Vigilant by its captain and his executive officer with two different crew women. 

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Submariner Quote of the Week, Undisclosed SSGN Damage, QTOW

Submarine Quote of the Week (serious)

Recalling a conversation with one of the first female officers admitted to the force, who had a nasty encounter with a sailor ranking beneath her, Gallo said:
“He told her, ‘You’re a woman, I’m not listening to you. You can’t tell me what to do.’” - Amanda Gallo, RPI student (Navy Scholarship program), due to graduate in May and enter the Submarine Force in 2017.  

  

Undisclosed damage (silent and strange)

("This story is developing") The CO of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Georgia (Blue) was relieved at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, during an investigation into a Nov. 25 crash that caused approximately $1 million in damage, a Navy statement said. The Georgia was reportedly returning to port when it struck a channel buoy and ran aground. The investigation remains open. story

Molten Eagle:  Hull not compromised. Completed repairs following the "grounding" and is expected to re-enter the water this week, officials told IHS Jane's on 5 January. The undisclosed $1 million damage was repaired relatively fast attesting to this sub's valuable roles in national security. So, what damage could leave the hull intact but take about $1 million to repair?  (a) propeller(s), (b) sonar, (c) something more silent and strange -- a secret.

Questions of the Week (Levity)

Name the Country & Fill in the Blanks

Some readers may appreciate ironic levity implied by the titles of a serious news publication's Most Popular stories recently:

• ____(1)_____ Hikers Respond to Criticism

• Charged for Flying People into ____(2)_____ Area.

• Killing of Basques Now Banned in West ____(3)_____

•  _____(4)_____ Couple Arrrested in Brazil

• Body of Tourist Found on  _____(5)_____

Name the country  _____(6)_____

Name its related news publication _____(7)_____

ANSWERS: SATURDAY, 9 JAN 2016.

UK Submarine Quote of the Week - 6 April 15

Background

George Kerevan, (born 1949) was in the International Marxist Group for several years between 1968 and 1982.

In 1996 he joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) and was Edinburgh East's candidate for the 2010 General Election. SNP, which supports Scottish independence, is also the third-largest political party, by membership, in the UK.  

As a jounalist, Kerevan was associate editor of The Scotsman from 2000 to 2009, and chief executive of What If Productions (Television) Ltd. 

Submarine QUOTE of the WEEK

  "The ultimate reason America maintains the Mutual Defence Agreement with Britain [note 1] is political – to make sure the UK, as a junior partner, can never use its nukes independently of the White House. Every Lockheed Trident D5 missile at sea today is rented from the Pentagon. Royal Navy submarines must visit the US base in Kings Bay, Georgia for the maintenance and replacement of these missiles – so much for referendum scare stories about the strategic importance of Faslane." - George Kerevan, THE NATIONAL, April 6 2015, "How the nuclear option is chosen for us by the US".

********

note 1 - The treaty is renewed every ten years, and currently extends to 31 December 2024.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Submarine Quotes of the Month

- 1 -

Background... shower videos of women submariners
A Navy official confirmed to Navy Times in December that investigators suspected seven (7) videos had been taken with a cell phone camera aboard the Kings Bay, Georgia-based ballistic missile submarine Wyoming.   more background


"My information is that the use of the devices was widespread among most of the crew, officers included. I also have information that by the time the sub hit the docks, officers and enlisted men were using the devices."  -  Told to Navy Times in a Jan. 16 phone interview of James Stein, defense attorney for a sailor implicated in  USS Wyoming (SSBN-742) shower videos.

 - 2 -

Background...  60 kilometers from the border to Norway's border

[T] he world is facing a worst case scenario described as "an Arctic underwater Chernobyl, played out in slow motion," according to Thomas Nilsen, an editor at the Barents Observer newspaper and a member of a Norwegian watchdog group that monitors the situation. According to a joint Russian-Norwegian report issued in 2012, there are 17,000 containers of nuclear waste, 19 rusting Soviet nuclear ships and 14 nuclear reactors cut out of atomic vessels at the bottom of the Kara Sea.  more background

Norway has over the last 20 years granted some NOK 1.5 billion (€175 million) into nuclear safety projects related to the military navy’s activities, including decommissioning of four old submarines, development of casks for spent nuclear fuel, radioactive waste management, physical protection of radioactive- and fissile material. In addition, hundreds of millions are granted to civilian nuclear safety projects including Kola nuclear power plant and the nuclear icebreaker fleet in Murmansk. “It is timely to look into what we are going to spend Norwegian money on. Russia must take responsibility.”

“So far we have followed EU’s restrictive measures. When it comes to the possible new measures will this depend on Russia,” says Brende pointing to Putin as the man in key position to stop supporting the separatists in Eastern Ukraine with soldiers, tanks and artillery.

“Sanctions was right, is right and has had an effect.”  -  Norway’s Foreign Minister Børge Brende  source

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Answers Sub Mystery Questions of the Week (22 AUG)

Background and illustration for questions is found at original posting here.

 ANSWERS -Sub Mystery Q.O.T.W.

1 - Of continental U.S. submarine bases at Kitsap, WA, Groton, CT, and Kings Bay, GA, which is closest to North Korea?  ANS: Groton CT.  "Frankly, we're the closest to North Korea if you go under the ice." - U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)

2-  What (two) unique naval facilities are co-sited with the 23 submarines at the Groton Naval Submarine Base?   ANS: Any two of the following -  The Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL), the Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS) , and the Submarine Force Library and Museum.

3- About how many staff people assigned to Submarine Group 2 are being reassigned to an admiral overseeing the Atlantic sub force from Virginia?  ANS:  Under the streamlining, the 45 people assigned to Submarine Group 2 are being reassigned, according to Lt. Timothy Hawkins, a Navy spokesman.

4- Current streamlining efforts aim to cut support staff for attack submarines based in Connecticut and Virginia by about what percent?  ANS: About 50 percent.  [ibid.]

5- How many attack submarines currently serve the U.S. Navy’s active fleet? ANS: 55.

6- The U.S. Navy's attack submarine fleet is projected to drop to about how many SSNs at its lowest point, and in what year is the low point expected?  ANS: About 41 subs by 2028. [ibid.]

7- Obvious strategies to maintain a U.S. submarine presence in Asia include lengthening submarine patrols, building subs cheaper and faster, and relying more heavily on sub coordination with friendly Asian countries. Who are four of the friendy Asian countries?  ANS: Australia, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.  [ibid.]

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Submarine Mystery Questions of the Week - 22 Aug 14

Background
Although the answers to today's submarine mystery Q.O.T.W. are quite serious, we think the topic of our first question makes it appropriate to reprint Caruso's How submarines travel so fast underwater  from October 2008's The Dirty Secret of Submarine Speed for readers who never knew:

Sub Mystery Q.O.T.W.

1 - Of continental U.S. submarine bases at Kitsap, WA, Groton, CT, and Kings Bay, GA, which is closest to North Korea?

2-  What (two) unique naval facilities are co-sited with the 23 submarines at the Groton Naval Submarine Base?

3- About how many staff people assigned to Submarine Group 2 are being reassigned to an admiral overseeing the Atlantic sub force from Virginia?

4- Current streamlining efforts aim to cut support staff for attack submarines based in Connecticut and Virginia by about what percent?

5- How many attack submarines currently serve the U.S. Navy’s active fleet?

6- The U.S. Navy's attack submarine fleet is projected to drop to about how many SSNs at its lowest point, and in what year is the low point expected? 

7- Obvious strategies to on maintain a U.S. submarine presence in Asia include lengthening submarine patrols, building subs cheaper and faster, and relying more heavily on sub coordination with friendly Asian countries. Who are four of the friendy Asian countries?

ANSWERS:  Next Friday, 29 AUG

Submarines are always silent and strange.

What George Washington (CVN-73) Will Mean for BRAC

One or two years ago

As part of the Navy's FY 2015 budget, Pentagon officials have hinted at the possibility of taking the USS George Washington (CVN-73) out of service due to budget reductions.  The George Washington is due for its midlife refueling and overhaul in 2016, at a cost of about $4.7 billion, according to Navy officials.

Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said it makes sense to reduce the fleet by one or two carriers and invest in new submarines or stealthy aircraft and bombers. But he said far more money could be saved by slowing procurement of new Ford-class carriers, which require fewer crew members and can launch planes more quickly, rather than retiring the George Washington 25 years early. Current plans call for the Navy to build one of these new carriers every five years, at a cost of about $13 billion each. Source

Note: The cost of putting the ship in mothballs would be $1.2 billion, says the Journal.

If Submarine Base New London ends up on closure list, it would be the third time. Groton’s sub base was targeted for partial closure in 1993 and total closure in 2005, but congressional leaders and the local community organized and prevented the cuts. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced last month that the president would request authorization from Congress for another round of reviews. 

Note:  Groton had also been spared permanent closure in 1912 by a Congressman from Norwich.

FEB 23, 2012  -Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and the defense department said recently it would request base reviews in 2013 and 2015. The commission makes recommendations about which bases should close. Former Congressman Rob Simmons said he is sure one will go through. This time will be harder, he said. He said the base has fewer submarines than it had in 2005, there’s been a shift from East Coast to West Coast bases, and two other bases in the east - in Norfolk, Va., and Kings Bay, Ga. - will not close.  Source


AUG 22, 2013  -Groton — Sequestration means Submarine Group Two will report to Norfolk 
The attack submarines on the East Coast soon will report to the submarine force commander in Norfolk, Va., instead of to an officer in Groton.  Source

Now

Feb. 3, 2014  Attack submarines on the East Coast will begin reporting to the submarine force commander in Norfolk, Va., instead of to a rear admiral in Groton in the fall.  Source


Feb. 6, 2014  WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has dropped a plan to retire one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers after the White House intervened to head off a brewing political fight. The military had proposed an early retirement of the USS George Washington, reducing the U.S. carrier fleet to 10, as part of plan to deal with cost cuts imposed by Congress. That touched a nerve among a bipartisan group of lawmakers, who called on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a letter last week to block the move and preserve what they argued is a potent symbol of American power.  Source

______________SubBase Groton______________

The next Base Realignment and Closure Commission will definitely target Sub Base Groton, again.
The battle to keep it open will be the toughest yet for a variety of political reasons. Unfortunately, the writing is almost legible on abandoned walls. Where will the Submarine School be moved?

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Not sub secrets, but silent and strange ever since...

The articles linked below (by dates) provide more details than the excerpts provided below; you are urged to read them. 
 

# 1

Security scare shuts Kings Bay  (May 22, 2004)

excerpts [color and underscoring emphasis mine]...

ST. MARYS, Ga. -- Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base was locked down for security reasons Friday after two Israelis were detained for questioning. Base spokesman Ed Buczek said two Israeli men attempted to enter the base about 10:30 a.m. They were hired by a moving-and-storage company to pick up some household goods in base housing, he said.

"The military dogs were alerted to a scent in the cab of the truck," Buczek said. "Guards closed access to the base and notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

The two men, whose names were not released, were detained and later taken into custody by federal immigration officers in Savannah for possible deportation, Buczek said.

Hat Tip:  Al-Jazeerah  News & Views, December 2013

related:  The Palatka Connection 

# 2

Secrets of Kent's WW1 German u-boat   (20 December 2013)

excerpts [color and underscoring emphasis mine]...

For almost a century it has been rusting in obscurity on a remote part of the Kent marshes.

Now, following an investigation by experts for English Heritage, the hull of a First World War German submarine has finally given up its secrets. 

It was previously thought to be one of either U122, U123 or UB 122, but following the investigation, the team believe they can discount the first two, which were minelayers, because they would have been larger in size.

The vessel had been one of the most advanced submarines of the German fleet, being launched in February 1918, at a yard in Bremen. It was a Type UB III, coastal patrol submarine and would have carried 10 torpedoes, with a crew of 34 and a cruising range of 7,200-9,000 miles.  

Mark Dunkley a marine archaeologist with EH said: “For most people, u-boats are out of sight.

"At the start of the war, submarines were supposed to abide by international rules, under which they were supposed to allow the crews of merchant ships to get to safety before sinking their vessels. But this swiftly became impractical and led to the adoption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany, which, nearly brought Britain to its knees in 1917. During the course of the war, German U-boats sank more than 12 million tons of shipping - around 5,000 ships - with the loss of 178 submarines and almost 5,000 men killed."

Submarines are always silent and strange.