#USS Peary

[lonestarbattleship]

USS HOUSTON (CA-30) and USS PEARY (DD-226) at Darwin, Northern Territories, Australia, in February 1942. "Houston departed Darwin on February 15, 1942 with a small convoy to reinforce the garrison on Timor and was not present when Japanese aircraft raided Darwin four days later."

Australian War Memorial: P05303.011

[judgemark45]

An aerial view of the U.S. Navy Battle Group Echo underway in formation in the northern Arabian Sea on 1 November 1987. The ships are, from the top, right to left,

Row 1:

USNS Hassayampa (T-AO-145),

USS Leftwich (DD-984),

USS Hoel (DDG-13);

Row 2:

fleet replenishment oiler USS Kansas City (AOR-3),

USS Bunker Hill (CG-52),

USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073);

Row 3:

USS Long Beach (CGN-9),

USS Ranger (CV-61),

USS Missouri (BB-63);

Row 4:

USS Wichita (AOR-1),

USS Gridley (CG-21),

USS Curts (FFG-38);

Row 5

USS Shasta (AE-33),

USS John Young (DD-973) and

USS Buchanan (DDG-14) . USN Image PH3 Wimmer, U.S. Navy

[einereiseblog]

Eine Reihe interessanter Fakten über die Arktis, angeregt durch unsere kürzliche Reise zum grönländischen Eisschild Unsere erste Reise zum Polarkreis lieferte mehr, als wir uns erhofft hatten: atemberaubende Nordlichter, eine enge Begegnung mit arktischen Rentieren und eine nächtliche Husky-Wanderung voller Husky-Welpen. Von der Stadt Tromso aus sahen wir jedoch wenig von der Wildnis, die die Polarregionen ausmacht. Das wurde auf meiner kürzlichen Reise nach Grönland korrigiert, wo ich den Arctic Circle Trail bewandert, zum grönländischen Eisschild gewandert bin und die Mitternachtssonne in Ilulissat gesehen habe. Dies brachte die wahre Schönheit der arktischen Region zum Vorschein. Die Gegend ist nicht nur ästhetisch ansprechend, sondern auch historisch reich und geografisch faszinierend, was zu unzähligen interessanten Fakten über die Arktis führt. Hier teilen wir die besten von ihnen. Interessante Fakten über die Arktis Die Arktis wird von Wissenschaftlern als das Gebiet oberhalb des Polarkreises definiert, einer mathematischen Linie, die den Globus auf dem Breitengrad 66°30′ N umkreist. Darüber gibt es mindestens einen jährlichen Zeitraum von 24 Stunden, in dem die Sonne nicht scheint eingestellt und eine, während der es nicht steigt. (Quelle: Britannica) JoannaPerchaluk/Shutterstock Ein Polarfuchs in Spitzbergen, Norwegen Die Arktis besteht aus dem Arktischen Ozean und Teilen von Grönland, Island, Norwegen, Schweden, Finnland, Russland, den USA (Alaska) und Kanada. (Quelle: Britannica) 1958 fuhr das U-Boot USS Nautilus unter dem gefrorenen Eis des Arktischen Ozeans hindurch und bewies, dass die enorme Eisdecke Wasser und nicht Land bedeckt. Die Arktis ist hauptsächlich ein Ozean, der von Land umgeben ist, während die Antarktis hauptsächlich ein Land ist, das von Ozean umgeben ist. (Quelle: BBC) Grönland unter der Mitternachtssonne erkunden Auf Svalbard in Norwegen geht die Sonne 125 Tage lang von Mitte April bis Mitte August nie vollständig unter. Die „Mitternachtssonne“ ist ein Naturphänomen, das im Sommer an Orten nördlich des Polarkreises und südlich des Polarkreises auftritt. (Quelle: Visit Norway) Polarnacht ist das Gegenteil von Mitternachtssonne, wenn die Sonne überhaupt nicht über dem Horizont sichtbar ist. Auf Spitzbergen dauert die Polarnacht von Mitte November bis Ende Januar. (Quelle: Visit Svalbard) Faire Nutzung Der geografische versus der magnetische Nordpol Es gibt mehr als einen Nordpol. Der nördlichste Punkt auf der Erdoberfläche ist der geografische Nordpol, auch bekannt als True North. Im Süden liegt der magnetische Nordpol, auf den alle magnetischen Kompasse zeigen. Dieser Punkt ist nicht festgelegt und ändert sich ständig. (Quelle: National Geographic) Der amerikanische Entdecker Robert Peary galt lange als der erste Mensch, der den geografischen Nordpol erreichte (am 6. April 1909). In den 1980er Jahren ließen jedoch Untersuchungen seines Expeditionstagebuchs und anderer Dokumente Zweifel aufkommen, ob er tatsächlich den Pol erreicht hatte. Eine Kombination aus Navigationsfehlern und Aufzeichnungsfehlern kann dazu führen, dass Peary nur bis zu einem Punkt vorgerückt ist, der 50 bis 100 km vor dem Pol liegt. (Quelle: Britannica) Robert Peary/Fair Use Robert Pearys Team Wenn Sie am Nordpol stehen, wären Sie in jeder Zeitzone gleichzeitig, weil alle Linien, die Zeitzonen abgrenzen, am Nordpol beginnen. (Quelle: Die Washington Post) Die Suche nach der Nordwestpassage, die im Handel zwischen Europa und Asien unzählige Zeit und Geld sparen würde, war eine der schwierigsten maritimen Herausforderungen der Welt und erforderte eine gefährliche Reise durch Zehntausende riesiger Eisberge. Es wurde erst 1906 erfolgreich navigiert, als der legendäre norwegische Entdecker Roald Amundsen und seine Crew die Reise von Grönland nach Alaska unternahmen. Es dauerte drei Jahre. (Quelle: Britannica) Britannica/Fair Use Die Nordwestpassage dauerte zunächst drei Jahre Das Wort „Arktis“ kommt vom griechischen Wort für Bär, Arktos.

Angeblich bezieht sich dies nicht auf Eisbären, sondern auf zwei Sternbilder, die am Nordhimmel zu sehen sind: Ursa Minor (Kleiner Bär) und Ursa Major (Großer Bär). (Quelle: Telegraph) In der Arktis können die durchschnittlichen Wintertemperaturen bis zu -40 °C (-40 °F) betragen. Nordgrönland hat Temperaturen von bis zu -70 °C (-94 °F) registriert. (Quelle: Britannica) Mitglieder des Proto-Eskimo-Stammes gelten als die ersten Ureinwohner der Arktis. Heute leben mehr als vier Millionen Menschen in der Arktis, wobei die indigene Bevölkerung eine Minderheit darstellt. (Quelle: National Geographic) Nordlichter gesehen auf unserer Reise nach Tromsø Der Polarkreis bietet die Möglichkeit, die berühmten Nordlichter oder die „Aurora Borealis“ zu sehen. Dieses atemberaubende Naturphänomen tritt auf, wenn geladene Teilchen der Sonne im Magnetfeld der Erde eingefangen werden, was zu einer großartigen Lichtshow führt. (Quelle: National Geographic) Eine der bezauberndsten Tatsachen über die Arktis ist, dass es der einzige Ort auf der Erde ist, an dem Sie den Narwal finden. Diese Kreaturen sind als „Einhorn der Meere“ bekannt. Männliche Narwale haben einen geraden Stoßzahn, der aus der Vorderseite ihres Kopfes herausragt. Diese können über 3m lang werden. (Quelle: WWF) WWF/Fair Use Der Narwal ist als „Einhorn der Meere“ bekannt. Die Arktis beherbergt das weltweit größte sichere Saatgutlager. Der Svalbard Global Seed Vault lagert derzeit 980.000 Proben zum Schutz vor zukünftigen natürlichen oder von Menschen verursachten Katastrophen. (Quelle: Crop Trust) Die grönländische Eisdecke bedeckt ungefähr 80 % der Landoberfläche Grönlands. Es ist im Allgemeinen dicker als 2 km (3 km an seiner dicksten Stelle) und ist der zweitgrößte Eiskörper der Welt. Nur die antarktische Eisdecke ist größer. (Quelle: Britannica) Atlas & Boots Der grönländische Eisschild bedeckt 80 % des Landes Der Arktische Ozean ist der kleinste Ozean der Welt. Mit 14 Millionen Quadratkilometern ist er etwa ein Zehntel der Größe des Pazifischen Ozeans. (Quelle: National Geographic) Die Arktis erwärmt sich doppelt so schnell wie anderswo auf der Erde. (Quelle: NOAA) Vladsilver/Shutterstock Schrumpfendes Meereis stellt eine große Gefahr für Eisbären dar Im Jahr 2018 erlebte der Arktische Ozean den zweitschlechtesten Rückgang des Meereises seit Beginn der Aufzeichnungen. Teile Grönlands waren zum ersten Mal seit Jahrtausenden dem offenen Meer ausgesetzt. Meereis bestimmt das Klima der Erde. Es ist extrem hell und reflektiert 80 % des auftreffenden Sonnenlichts zurück in den Weltraum. Die dunkle Oberfläche des flüssigen Ozeans absorbiert dagegen etwa 90 % der Sonnenstrahlung. (Quelle: NSIDC, National Geographic) Der Verlust von Meereis stellt eine ernsthafte Bedrohung für Eisbären dar. Diese Meeressäuger verlassen sich auf das Eis, um Robben zu jagen, und werden an Land gezwungen, um Nahrung zu finden, die sich oft als knapp erweist. Das bedeutet, dass Eisbären buchstäblich verhungern. (Quelle: WWF, National Geographic) Hauptbild: Gecko1968/Shutterstock .

[lex-for-lexington]

“Looking from the Australian Corvette, HMAS Warrnambool (J 202), towards the USS Houston (CA-30) (right), with the USS Peary (DD-226) along side in early February, 1942.

Australian War Memorial, Photo #P05303.011.″

(Source)

[nicholassabalos]

Escort duty….

ATLANTIC OCEAN (August 13, 2019) -- Military Sealift Command dry cargo ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) appears to be escorted by two playful dolphins riding the pressure wave ahead of the ship’s bow.

The photo above was taken from United States Navy amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) while the warship was alongside receiving supplies, parts, food and fuel during a routine underway replenishment (UNREP).

                                             *          *          *          *

It’s not unusual for dolphins to enjoy frolicking ahead of ships of all types in this manner.

During my decades at sea I must have observed a thousand dolphins escorting my ship or nearby ships.

It’s always a welcome and delightful sight for mariners....

.....when the dolphins appear....

....to fearlessly, if not playfully, escort these great steel beasts through their waters!

                                             *          *          *          *

The ships involved here:

                                    USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5)

                                           USS Oak Hill (LSD 51)

                                   _____________________________

>>Photos: U.S. Navy

[navyhistory]

USNS Henson (T AGS 63), named in honor of Arctic explorer Matthew Alexander Henson, who traveled with Robert E. Peary to the North Pole in 1909. (U.S. Navy photo ID: 100120-N-8241M-025)

This month, we are highlighting #Navy ships named after heroic #AfricanAmericans throughout American history, both in the military and in civilian life. #blackhistorymonth #navalhistory #history

[tortoisesshells]

Top ships (Like boats. Those kinds of ships)

nonny, you know me so well!

this list is the list I made after somewhat careful considerationover lunch break, and, to save everyone a lot of handwringing, I stuck to museum ships or ships you can still see/work aboard. Therefor, this is subject to change at any one point in time,depending on where I’ve been recently, what part of my diss. I’ve been focusingon, and whether or not I think fictional representations of ships (real orotherwise) are fair game.

(1) Charles W. Morgan. mon amour. Definitely thefirst ship of note I saw, at the ripe old age of probably four (there’s someembarrassing family photos lying around somewhere of l’il baby jamesknoxpolkalying around somewhere). I’ve heard that scent is a really powerful trigger formemory, and, before she was extensively repaired by the Seaport around2009-2012(?), I swear, you could smell the whale-oil. Mystic Seaport runs a24-hour Moby-Dick readingmarathon aboard the Morgan -do you know what it’s like to be lying on the deck of the last wooden whalingship in the world, staring up at the stars at 3AM, listening to someone readChapter 96, “The Try-Works”, where Ishmael compares the Pequod to Hell and gets disoriented in the long night watch? It’snot very academic of me, but the sense of lineage, of being part of a long lineof stewards and travelers holding and passing on the Morgan gives me the chills. A+ ship, will read Moby-Dick aboard it again.

(2)HMS Victory. Avery Long Trip for your humble narrator. A Spring Break trip, so’s we’re allclear on what my priorities were in college. I stood on the spot where Nelsonwas shot, and teared up. Horatio Hornblower was my maritime history gatewaydrug, and it’s a short hop from Hornblower to falling ass over tea-kettle intothe RN during the Napoleonic Wars. Wanna know how many biographies of Nelson Ihad on my bookshelf by the time I was fourteen? Seven (7). Victory is huge and beautiful and everything my little pre-teen andearly-teen self had imagined a ship-of-the-line to be. Oldest ship of war stillin commission, anywhere! I don’t know what series of events would lead theRoyal Navy to do anything with a 250+ year old ship, but I sure as shit wouldread that fantasy novel.

(3)USS Constitution.Despite being a US American, I do not have the same attachment to the Constitution as I do to the Victory, but the Constitution has(1) a much cooler design, h/t to Joshua Humphreys for the diagonal riders(? mynaval architecture glossary is weaaaakkk as hell) and building a ship that wassturdy enough to withstand (some) cannon shot as well as not hogginghorrifically over the past 210+ years & (2) a surreptitious role asinspiring the Acheron inthe seminal Western philosophical text, Masterand Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). Owns onereasonably bad-ass nickname, “Old Ironsides”*, has a long and kind of weirdhistory after her fighting days were over. Like the Victory, is still, technically, in commission - but, unlike the Victory, actually still afloat!* addendum re: “Old Ironsides” - Constitution isnormally on display in the Charlestown Navy Yard across the pier from a WWIIdestroyer, USS Cassin Young. Ihave heard tourist ask the poor NPS rangers if the Cassin Young is “Old Ironsides”. Twice.

(4)USS Constellation. Ondisplay in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and, for a very, Very, long time, allegedto be one of the sainted ~Six Original Frigates~ of the United States Navy (ofwhich I can only name five at any one point in time, because I always forgetUSS Congress existed,and that’s not even a comment on current US politics). One of my favorite bitsof drama in US maritime history, to be sure! For a long time, the Constellation on display in Baltimore was supposed to have been the one built in 1797, although that’s not actually the case! The ship on display was built at Gosport in 1854 … at the same time that the old frigate Constellation was dismantled for parts … some of which ended up in the new sloop Constellation. There was something hinky going on with the Navy’s books, iirc, too - I don’t think the Navy took the old frigate off the books, and just ended up keeping the new sloop Constellation under the old listing. There’s an apocryphal story I’ve heard that the subterfuge was because Congress would fund repairs but not the building of a new sloop which, while amusing, isn’t actually the case. Anyway, I love a good historical quandary, & the Constellation checks off a number of boxes! Bureaucratic sleight of hand! The perplexing weirdness of the antebellum Navy Department! Weird pissing contests about “which ship is older?”!

(5) SS John W. Brown. Apart from the righteous name (okay, so she’s not named for the John Brown, but for an early 20th century labor organizer, so solidarity forever! ahem), she’s one of two WWII Liberty Ships (out of 2500+ built, which is just … shit.  The US built and launched the SS Robert Peary in under five (5) days just to make a point - there was a lot left to do before the ship was functional, but, you get the point?) that are still afloat & functional. As in, the engine still works. The ship still goes out once in a while. Which I have yet to go on, but, some day! Anyway, the point in all this is the John W. Brown is neat and one of my favorite museum ships because there’s literally dozens of WWII subs and other vessels, but the history of the Liberty ship - the Ford Model T of 20th century shipbuilding - is cool and generally under-appreciated.(5b - because I flip-flopped twice) SSV Corwith Cramer. Not an old ship (she’s older than me, only just), but my first real sailing experience. I don’t think anyone ever forgets the first time they realize they can’t see land, anywhere? That if you fall overboard in the night, and no one misses you, you will die alone and never be found? The first time you go aloft while underway, that electric, anticipatory feeling in your hands, muttering “three points of contact, three points of contact at all times” to yourself? My bunk was in a part of the ship called “Squalor”. I accidentally got grease pencil on my face. I didn’t sleep for over a day because I was so excited! to be there! (& also watch) I heard whales spouting somewhere in the dark late one night, and it was one of the eeriest, most extraordinary things I can remember. on revient toujours a ses premieres amours.

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer ok go

[tin-can-sailor-blog]

A colorized photograph of USS Black Hawk (AD-9) with USS Pillsbury (DD-227), USS Pope (DD-225), USS Ford (DD-228), USS Paul Jones (DD-230), USS Peary (DD-226) and USS Parrott (DD-218) alongside in Chefoo, China.

[uss-edsall]

All thirteen of the flushdeckers that would later make up Destroyer Squadron 29 of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, from USS Alden (DD-211) to USS Paul Jones (DD-230), were constructed by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia. Authorized by the First Session of the 65th Congress in 1917 as “Torpedo-boat destroyers,” they, too, were built rapidly, often in less than a year. But Cramp ships were strongly framed, even if not designed with enough ventilation for service in the torrid East Asian climate. And for those who may put stock in the portents of numerology in preference to the workmanship, the welded plates, rivets, and bolts of Cramp & Sons DDs 224, 225, and 226 (Stewart, Pope, and Peary) were all laid down on the same day: the ninth day of the ninth month of 1919. All three were lost in the Java campaign as members of the ill-fated Destroyer Squadron 29. Their hull numbers at Cramp & Sons were respectively 490, 491, and 492. A fourth destroyer of that heroic, unlucky baker’s dozen, hull number 485, was laid down six days after the previously mentioned three, on September 15, 1919, and she would be launched on July 29, 1920.

A Blue Sea of Blood: Deciphering the Mysterious Fate of the USS Edsall, by  Donald M. Kehn

[lonestarbattleship]

"USS HOUSTON (CA-30) (right center) at Darwin, Australia, probably on February 15 or 18, 1942. The destroyer astern of HOUSTON may be USS PEARY (DD-226). Among the ships in the background, to the left, are HMAS TERKA and the SS Zealandia. The donor was on board HMAS TOLGA, then used as a water carrier for ships in Darwin harbor."

Courtesy of Arthur W. Thomas.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 43649

[judgemark45]

An aerial view of the U.S. Navy Battle Group Echo underway in formation in the northern Arabian Sea on 1 November 1987. The ships are, from the top, right to left, Row 1: USNS Hassayampa (T-AO-145), USS Leftwich (DD-984), USS Hoel (DDG-13); Row 2: fleet replenishment oiler USS Kansas City (AOR-3), USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073); Row 3: USS Long Beach (CGN-9), USS Ranger (CV-61), USS Missouri (BB-63); Row 4: USS Wichita (AOR-1), USS Gridley (CG-21), USS Curts (FFG-38); Row 5 USS Shasta (AE-33), USS John Young (DD-973) and USS Buchanan (DDG-14) . USN Image PH3 Wimmer, U.S. Navy

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[hudsonespie]

Breaking Down the US Navy’s Blueprint for a Blue Arctic

With climate change and an increasingly unstable international order, the U.S. Navy is releasing new Arctic strategies at an accelerated pace. 

Five years after it published the 2009 Navy Arctic Roadmap, it came out with the Arctic Roadmap: 2014-2030, in step with the Quadrennial Defense Review published that year. Although the updated roadmap’s title made it seem as if the document were supposed to stick around, five years later, it was replaced by the February 2019 Strategic Outlook for the Arctic.When asked by reporters why the Navy was already revising its strategy document just four years after its publication and 12 years before its supposed expiry date, then-U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson retorted, “The Arctic triggered it. The damn thing melted.”

Less than two years later, the Navy evidently feels that the situation has changed again enough to warrant yet another update. Last week, it released its Strategic Blueprint for the Arctic, which replaces the 2019 outlook. The new blueprint does three main things, which I break down below:

It represents the Arctic as an American homeland rather than frontier, encompassing three oceans stretching from Maine to Alaska

It marks Russia and China as enemies

It portrays the Arctic as a navigable blue ocean rather than an inaccessible frozen periphery

A three-ocean Arctic homeland

The 2019 outlook described America’s Arctic following the definition codified by the 1984 Arctic Research and Policy Act, which encompasses the lands and waters in Alaska north of the Arctic Circle, along the Bering Strait, and in the Aleutians. The 2019 outlook also used the US Arctic Research Commission’s very basic map of the region, seen below.

The map included in the U.S. Navy’s 2019 Strategic Outlook for the Arctic.

In contrast, the 2021 Strategic Blueprint for the Arctic takes a more expansive view crossing three oceans, from the Atlantic to the Arctic to the Pacific. The document opens by describing the area encompassing the United States’ Arctic interests: a huge swatch of land and sea “stretching from Maine in the North Atlantic across the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait and Alaska in the North Pacific to the southern tip of the Aleutian Island chain.”

It may come as a surprise to see Maine mentioned before Alaska. For the northeast state, which only began leaning into its Arctic connections a few years ago (once Icelandic shipping company Eimskip began regularly calling at the port of Portland), this is a pretty big coup. The blueprint also directly references Maine’s participation at the annual Arctic Circle conference, which testifies to the Icelandic gathering’s importance for track two Arctic diplomacy.

Despite this geographically more expansive stage-setting, the Navy still acknowledges the same definition of the term “Arctic,” following the 1984 legislation. However, it now uses a map borrowed from the State Department with a widened scope that captures and labels three oceans – the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific – along with the capitals of Russia and Scandinavia. The eight Arctic Council member states are labeled, too. So is Maine, representing a small but important edit to the original State Department map. Finally, while the borders of various Asian countries, including China, remain visible in the 2021 map just like in the ARCUS map included in the 2019 blueprint, the actual countries remain unlabeled.

The map included in the 2021 U.S. Navy Strategic Arctic Blueprint.

If the American Arctic is really going to become a home, however, it will need a lot more investment in infrastructure. In a press conference on January 5, US Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite recounted a recent trip to Adak, Alaska, where he had been stationed as a young pilot. He remarked, “Unfortunately, it looks like the set from a zombie apocalypse, to be very honest with you. That’s a very harsh environment, it’s been very harsh on the infrastructure there. It would cost an inordinate amount of money to reopen it.”

The Navy thus recognizes that more ports and facilities are needed but doesn’t specify plans for any investments in the blueprint. Instead, it seems like it will put its energy into improving its posturing, exercises, and fleet synchronization while fretting about the ports that countries like Russia and China are seeking to improve or control. Meanwhile, the Navy may have to keep relying on other friendly countries’ Arctic infrastructure, as Secretary Braithwaite stressed:

“There are other options that we have to be able to operate out of other airfields in that part of the world, in the Arctic. Of course we have our partnerships with our NATO allies: there’s a new air station opening up in Evenes, Norway, that can support both the P-8 and the Joint Strike Fighter.”

It wouldn’t be America without baseball in this icy field of dreams. In the photo of the first-ever baseball game at the North Pole played by members of USS Seadragon in August 1960, TM2 SS Thomas J. Miletich is up at bat while Lt JG Vincent Leahy playing catcher. Source: National Archives/Mariners Museum

From conquering to domesticating the Arctic

The Navy’s interest in sketching out a wider Arctic region—one that protrudes northward not only from Alaska but from the Lower 48, too—supports the force’s effort to transform the Arctic from a frontier into a homeland. The blueprint mentions the word “frontier” zero times, while it mentions “home” five times.

The apparent domestication of the Arctic was already underway in the Navy’s 2019 outlook, which clearly set out its three strategic objectives for the Arctic as follows:

2019 U.S. Navy Strategic Objectives in the Arctic

Defend U.S. sovereignty and the homeland from attack

Ensuring the Arctic remains a stable, conflict-free region

Preserving freedom of the seas

The Navy’s three strategic objectives in 2019 aligned with the country’s three national security interests expressed in the Department of Defense’s 2019 Arctic Strategy, which define the Arctic in three ways: “as the U.S. homeland, as a shared region, and as a potential corridor for strategic competition” (here directly mentioning the need to constrain China and Russia).

Now in 2021, the Navy’s three objectives have broadened. The need to have a presence is expressed in more general terms, while the aim of strengthening naval capabilities has replaced preserving freedom of navigation.

2021 U.S. Navy Objectives in the Arctic

Maintain enhanced presence

Strengthen cooperative partnerships

Build a more capable Arctic naval force

In trying to lay a claim to a wider slice of the Arctic and recast the region as American homeland, the blueprint emphasizes the navy’s historical presence in the region by referencing past expeditions by American explorers and military personnel. It also makes sure to namedrop not just the white men who led these missions, but their team members, too, whose knowledge was critical to their success.

For instance, the blueprint notes: “Just as [Robert] Peary, a Civil Engineer Corps Officer, led successful Arctic expeditions – together with Matthew Henson, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah – this regional blueprint recognizes the long-term challenges and opportunities of a Blue Arctic – and the role of American naval power in. (No mention is made of the doubt that many historians, including Dennis Rawlins writing in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings in 1970, cast on Peary’s claims to being the first at the North Pole in 1909.)

A photo of the Robert Peary sledge party posing with flags, allegedly at the North Pole, on April 7, 1909 from the National Archives. The official caption reads, “Ooqueh, holding the Navy League flag; Ootah, holding the D.K.E. fraternity flag; Matthew Henson, holding the polar flag; Egingwah, holding the D.A.R. peace flag; and Seeglo, holding the Red Cross flag.”

References to a historical American presence in the Arctic – one that is diverse and inclusive, no less – bolster the narrative that the U.S. has successfully tamed the region and lend confidence to the belief that the U.S. can maintain an enhanced presence today. A parallel can be drawn with the conquering and settling of the Western frontier in the nineteenth century, which U.S. historian Frederick Jackson Turner (in)famously declared “closed” in 1890. By becoming a part of the American homeland, the Arctic no longer represents the enemy to be conquered. Instead, the country’s northern home has to be defended from new enemies at the doorstep.

Russia: From friend to enemy

In the introduction, immediately after describing America’s Arctic homeland as a region stretching from Maine to Alaska, the blueprint names America’s enemies in the north: Russia and China. The document posits, “Without sustained American naval presence and partnerships in the Arctic Region, peace and prosperity will be increasingly challenged by Russia and China, whose interests and values differ dramatically from ours.”

The casting of Russia as the enemy is striking given that just a little over a decade ago, the 2009 Navy Arctic Roadmap repeatedly pointed to American naval cooperation with the Russian Navy, Russian Border Guard, the Russian-America Long Term Census of the Arctic Ocean, and the Tiksi Arctic Observatory, located on the Arctic shores of the Russian Far East.

Happier days in 2010 onboard the Russian research vessel Professor Khromov during a joint US-Russia expedition to the Bering Strait. Photo: Aleksey Ostrovskiy/RUSALCA (NOAA). 

There were peaceful times in the past, too, even if the blueprint overlooks these in favor of a focus on Cold War-era enmity. The document notes, “Over 150 years ago, USS Jamestown stood our northern watch as the U.S. flag was raised over Alaska.” Left out of the story is the fact that this historical moment marked the peaceful passing of control over the territory from Russia to the U.S. in Sitka, the former seat of the Russian American Company in Alaska (even if we acknowledge that both empires’ reigns destroyed livelihoods and lifeways for Alaska Natives). Rather than pay homage to these more cordial times, the blueprint evinces a deep suspicion of Russia’s Arctic activities, which it interprets as a “multilayered militarization of its northern flank.”

This cold and combative description contrasts with depictions of the American Arctic, which use cozier turns of phrase like “our local Alaskan and indigenous communities.” No such language is used to characterize Russia, despite the fact that the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic ties connecting people across the Bering Strait run deep.

China: A near- non-Arctic state

If Russia is the friend that’s been uninvited to America’s Arctic housewarming, China is the new kid on the block that the U.S. seeks to keep out in the cold.

China – or rather “The People’s Republic of China,” as the blueprint names it, underscoring the bogeyman’s communist status, is described in even harsher terms than Russia. China is not just undermining global interests and degrading security in the region, as the blueprint claims of Russia. In fact, China’s growing “economic, scientific, and military reach…presents a threat to people and nations, including those who call the Arctic Region home.” I’m left scratching my head as to whether this means the Navy thinks that China would present a threat to Russia, since the latter calls a greater territorial extent of the Arctic home than any other northern nation.

The blueprint’s fixation with China, which it mentions six times (versus Russia’s nine times), is striking – especially seeing as the country was totally absent from the Navy’s 2009 Arctic blueprint. Consider the international governments and militaries listed then as having an interest in the region:

Japan is the only Asian country listed, and China is nowhere to be found.

While the Navy’s 2021 blueprint doesn’t make any mention of China’s claims to “near-Arctic” statehood (unlike the 2019 Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy, which actively contested it), the department slipped up in its press release by announcing, “The blueprint places focus on the rising maritime activity spurring from Arctic states, like Russia and China.”

Klaus Dodds, professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, was among the first to catch this mistake. Puzzled, he wondered, “Did they mean to say this???”

The Navy has since corrected what must have been a typo (but at the same time, perhaps a subconscious acknowledgement of the fact that China cannot be overlooked in Arctic relations). The press release now states, “The blueprint places focus on the rising maritime activity spurring from Arctic and non-Arctic states, like Russia and China, which pos­ture their navies to protect sovereignty and national inter­ests while enabling their ability to project power.”

To nobody’s surprise, the U.S. Navy did not issue an erratum.

Wild blue yonder, tame blue Arctic

Representing the third notable development with regard to the Navy’s shifting perceptions of the Arctic, the blueprint repeatedly uses the phrase “Blue Arctic.” The evolution from white to blue mirrors predictions that over the next two decades, the Arctic region will become increasingly navigable and ice-free. As a result, the Navy asserts, “Our defense posture must be regularly and rigorously assessed to adapt to a Blue Arctic.”

To adapt, the Navy will seek to grow its presence in the Arctic not only underwater, where its submarines have accumulated over 70 years of experience, but on the increasingly open and accessible surface of the ocean, too. The Navy aims to achieve this by “regionally posturing our forces, conducting exercises and operations, integrating Navy-Marine Corps-Coast Guard capabilities, and synchronizing our Fleets.”

Massive joint military exercises like ICEX, the U.S. Navy’s biennial “submarine force tactical development and torpedo exercise,” have helped evaluate and enhance American naval preparedness for operations in the Arctic. Whether the navy can keep up with other countries like Russia and China remains to be seen.

Acknowledging the Transpolar Sea Route

Pointing to another central dimension of the blue Arctic, the 2021 blueprint elaborates upon the 2019 strategy’s mentioning of the Transpolar Sea Route, the shipping route via the North Pole that could emerge once sea ice melts sufficiently in summertime in the next two decades. The blueprint indicates, “The projected opening of a deep-draft trans-polar route in the next 20-30 years has the potential to transform the global transport system.”

As I’ve written about previously on Cryopolitics and in a 2020 paper in Marine Policy, the Transpolar Sea Route would represent the most direct maritime link between Europe and Asia. It could also facilitate access to new fishing grounds in the Central Arctic Ocean should the 2018 moratorium not be renewed when it expires around 2034.

Defending the virtual homeland with C5ISR

It’s not just the physical environment that the Navy deems important to protect: the virtual one is, too. The blueprint states that the Navy will “assess and prioritize C5ISR capabilities in the Arctic.” That’s shorthand for “command, control, communications, computers, cyber, information, surveillance, and reconnaissance” – a mouthful confirming that the world has come a long way from C2, or “command and control.”

The military’s domain awareness in the Arctic is limited by a lack of satellite and terrestrial communications, as a report by the Department of Defense in 2016 warned. Making investments in remote sensing, ice prediction, and weather forecasting are crucial to closing this gap. At the same time, the U.S. will likely keep its eye on China, which recently announced that it will launch a new satellite to monitor Arctic shipping routes next year.

Yet enhancing C5ISR involves more than just being better able to determine whether the next day will bring snow or sleet. The U.S. Army rather chillingly describes the term as “technologies that enable information dominance and decisive lethality for the networked Soldier.”

But, not to fret. The Arctic is America’s homeland, and, as the blueprint reminds, “The United States will always seek peace in the Arctic.”

This article appears courtesy of Cryopolitics and is reproduced here in an abbreviated form. The original may be found here.

from Storage Containers https://maritime-executive.com/article/breaking-down-the-us-navy-s-blueprint-for-a-blue-arctic via http://www.rssmix.com/

[georgemcginn]

Observe: DOD Featured Photos

Observe: DOD Featured Photos

Sea Sail The USS Oak Hill, the USNS Robert E. Peary and the USS Bataan conduct a replenishment with the USS N… Photo Details >

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[iloveahangar]

This crashed P-40 was one of the 10 USAAF P-40s that took off to challenge the 188 Japanese aircraft (how do you like those odds?) on 19th February 1942. That was the day Darwin, Australia was bombed by 242 Japanese aircraft in two seperate raids (188 carrier based aircraft in wave one, and 54 land based bombers in wave two). This was the start of over 100 air raids against Australia. But today’s story takes place 4 days earlier and involves USAAF P-40E pilot, 2Lt. Robert J Buel (picture 2) . 2Lt. Robert J Buel is a name not know by many however 2Lt. Buel made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of Darwin, Australia during WWII and was the first Allied aerial combat death in Australia. During an air battle on 15th February, 1942, he shot down a Kawanishi H6K flying boat however 2Lt. Buel’s aircraft was also hit and plunged into the ocean. Sadly, neither he or his aircraft were ever seen again. A monument now stands at Darwin’s USS Peary Memorial In Bicentennial Park that reads the following: . Inscription 2nd Lt. Robert  J Buel, USAAF, 21st Pursuit Sq., 35th Pursuit Grp. “On Feb. 15, 1942, the P-40E Kittyhawk fighter of 2nd Lt. Buel was one of only two planes that were available for the defense of Northern Australia. On this date, both aircraft were sent to defend an allied convoy under Japanese attack, but only Buel caught up with the fleet. Before he was shot down and plunged to his death, 2nd Lt. Buel -- alone -- downed a Japanese bomber and cleared safe passage for the allied ships. His self-sacrifice and valor became an inspiration to all who learned of it.”. . . The burning Kawanishi H6K (picture 3) is just reflective of the type of aircraft shot down by 2Lt. Buel and us not the actual aircraft from his battle. . www.iloveahangar.com . 🛫FREE SHIPPING! 📦 🌎 . 🛩CUSTOM REQUESTS AVAILABLE ⚒ . #warbirds #warbird #usaaf #keepemflying #ww2aviation #raaf #bombingofdarwin #p40warhawk #p40ewarhawk #pacificairwar #ww2aircraft #respect #airshow #againstheodds https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Uzf-YBCaM/?igshid=u6u1iy2xvrn2

[nraeducationalfoundation]

U.S. Military Teams from All Branches Honored for Excellence in Foodservice on Eve of Armed Forces Day, Joined by Renowned Chef Andre Rush

The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) will honor the winners of this year’s Military Foodservice Awards in conjunction with the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. The awards program aligns with the NRAEF’s commitment to support America's armed forces, veterans, and military spouses through training and post-duty opportunities.

This year’s keynote speaker is Chef Andre Rush, retired combat Veteran who served 23 years in the Army and has received global recognition for his suicide prevention efforts, including becoming a popular internet sensation for doing 2,222 push-ups a day to promote the importance of mental and physical health. Chef Rush has served meals in the White House, appeared on the Rachael Ray Show and now serves as Ambassador for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After School All- Star Kids Program.

During the Show, individuals and teams will be honored at the Military Foodservice Awards dinner for their commitment to foodservice excellence in management effectiveness, force readiness support, food quality, employee and customer relations, resource conservation, training and safety awareness.

“For more than 60 years, the restaurant industry has honored the men and women of the U.S. military for outstanding foodservice at bases and installations throughout the world,” said Rob Gifford, executive vice president of the NRAEF. “The NRAEF is dedicated to helping the military maintain foodservice excellence across all branches, and providing guidance for veterans transitioning to restaurant jobs and careers."

Winners for these prestigious awards are chosen by representatives from the National Restaurant Association, NRAEF and the Society for Foodservice and Hospitality Management, who travel with senior military officers to installations around the globe on a yearly basis to evaluate foodservice operations. In addition to the Awards ceremony, winners will participate in a multi-day foodservice training program

Photos from last year's Military Foodservice Awards; this year, Chef Andre Rush (bottom right) will be joining the event for 2019 and attend industry sessions.

The following installations were recognized as the 2019 Military Foodservice Awards winners:

Winners of the Philip A. Connelly awards, honoring the Army: Winner for the Best Garrison Food Operation: 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE, 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION Winner for the Best Active Army Field Kitchen: 25th QUARTERMASTER COMPANY, 264th COMBAT SUPPORT SUSTAINMENT BATTALION, 3rd SUSTAINMENT COMMAND (EXPEDITIONARY) Winner for the Best Army Reserve Field Kitchen: 129th TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, 451st SUSTAINMENT COMMAND (EXPEDITIONARY), 79th THEATER SUPPORT COMMAND The winner for the Best Army National Guard is: 1135th COMBAT SUPPORT COMPANY Minnesota Army National Guard

Winners of the Marines W.P.T. Hill awards, honoring the Marine Corps: Winner for the Best Military/Contractor Garrison Mess Hall: MESS HALL 2365 Marine Corps Installation Pacific, Marine Corps Base, Camp Hansen, OKINAWA, JAPAN Winner for the Best Full Foodservice Contractor Garrison Mess Hall: MESS HALL 2204 Marine, Corps Installations West-Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California Winner for the Best Active Field Mess: 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force-2nd Marine Logistics Group, COMBAT LOGISTICS REGIMENT 27, FOODSERVICE COMAPANY, CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA Winner for the Best Reserve Field Mess: 6th ENGINEER SUPPORT BATTALION, 4th MARINE LOGISTICS GROUP, PORTLAND, OREGON

Winners of the Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Awards, honoring the Navy: Award for Best Aircraft Carrier is: USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Small/Medium Afloat: USS JOHN P. MURTHA (LPD 26), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Large Afloat: USS BOXER (LHD 4), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Submarine: USS SANTA FE (SSN 763), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Large Ashore: TRIDENT INN GALLEY, Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington Award for the Best Small Ashore: RESORANTE BELLA ETNA, Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sigonella, Italy

Winners of the Captain David M. Cook food service excellence awards, honoring the Military Sealift Command: Award for the Best Foodservice Operation Small category: USNS MERCY (T-AH 19) Award for the Best Foodservice Operation Medium category: USNS YUKON (T-AO 202)

Award for the Best Foodservice Operation Large category: USNS ROBERT E. PEARY (T-AKE 5) Award for the Hybrid category is: USS FRANK CABLE (AS-40)

Winners of the 2019 John L Hennessey awards, honoring the Air Force: Air Force Region 1 category winner: Elgin AFB, 96th FORCE SUPPORT SQUADRON, AFMC Valparaiso, Florida Air Force region 2 category winner: Altus AFB, 97th FORCE SUPPORT, SQUADRON, AETC Altus, Oklahoma Winner of the 2019 John L. Hennessey awards for Air Force Reserves: 914th FORCE SUPPORT SQUADRON, Niagara Falls Air Reserve, New York

Winner of the Senior Master Sergeant Kenneth W. Disney food service award, honoring the Air National Guard: 115th FORCE SUPPORT SQUADRON SERVICES FLIGHT – Madison, Wisconsin

Winner of the 2019 Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award: Award for Large Afloat Dining Facility: COAST GUARD CUTTER ALEX HALEY, Kodiak, Alaska Award for Large Ashore Dining Facility: COAST GUARD TRAINING CENTER YORKTOWN GALLEY, Yorktown, Virginia Award for Medium Afloat Dining Facility: COAST GUARD CUTTER CONFIDENCE, Cape Canaveral, Florida Award for Medium Ashore Dining Facility: COAST GUARD AIR STATION SITKA, Sitka, Alaska Award for Small Afloat Dining Facility: COAST GUARD CUTTER JOHN MCCORMICK, Ketchikan, Alaska Award for Small Ashore Dining Facility: COAST GUARD STATION GRAYS HARBOR, Westport, Washington

The Military Foodservice Awards dinner gala and ceremony and the Advanced Restaurant Management training program are sponsored by Del Frisco’s, Hormel, Sodexo, Computrition, Ecolab, Hobart, Rose Packing, Sysco, Aramark, Barfresh, BJ’s Restaurants, Butterball, Constellation Brands, New Chef, Penfed Credit Union, Trinchero, Victorinox, Cambro, Geezer Consulting, Kitchens To Go, N’Genuity, Sack Family Foundation, and Tyson.

In addition to recognizing foodservice excellence within the armed forces, the NRAEF provides military foodservice training on established industry standards of restaurant management and culinary training, connects transitioning military to apprenticeship opportunities, supports military spouses and provides scholarship opportunities.

Visit ChooseRestaurants.org to learn how to get involved with the NRAEF and its work to build pathways to meaningful jobs and careers in restaurants and foodservice.

[navalpost]

USS Leyte Gulf Back At Sea After Repairs from Minor Collision The guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf, which was involved in a minor collision with a resupply ship on Feb. 5, has left port after repairs and will shortly resume training with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) departed Naval Station Mayport, Fla. on Thursday (Feb 14) to rejoin the strike group nine days after its stern brushed against supply ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE-5) during an underway replenishment. There was no injuries. The gashes in the side of Leyte Gulf were repaired when the ship was pier-side in Mayport. Peary returned to Virginia. Peary and Leyte Gulf were performing a complicated CORPEN NOVEMBER turn during the underway replenishment when the collision occurred. Underway resupplies are among the most complex and dangerous maneuvers performed by warships with ships operating as close as 150 feet from each other. The two ships were training with the Lincoln CSG as part of its Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) that began on Jan. 24. The complex, multi-ship exercise lasts weeks and is a final qualification before the CSG leaves for deployment later this year. #USSLeyteGulf #AbrahamLincoln #CarrierStrikeGroup #collision #USNSRobertEPeary #navalnews https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt5VxEIgd3Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hoygnjujd929