US Subs on Routine Patrol Missions Off Russian Shore – Admiral

The recent sighting of a Japanese submarine off Russia's Pacific coast is a rare one, unlike the presence of the US Navy’s subs, Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, former commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, told RIA Novosti Thursday.

 

“There have hardly been any sightings of Japanese submarines near Russia’s maritime border, unlike American ones, which have been on routine patrol missions off the Kamchatka [peninsula] shore and the main base of Russia’s Pacific Fleet in Vilyuchinsk,” Adm. Fyodorov said.

 

This comment came after a report by Russia’s Kommersant daily, which cited a senior military official from the General Staff as saying earlier in the day that a Japanese submarine had been detected Wednesday in the La Perouse Strait, in between the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin and Japan's northern-most home island of Hokkaido.

 

The Russian admiral suggested the Japanese mission so close to the Russian waters was a sign that Tokyo had been beefing up its fleet to restore the Navy. The Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved following World War II, with the Maritime Self-Defense Force being formed in its stead.

 

“A new status would allow Japanese subs to venture outside Japan’s marginal waters and effectively go to anywhere around the world,” Adm. Fyodorov told RIA Novosti.

 

In a similar incident, on August 7 Russia’s Northern Fleet antisubmarine forces detected and drove away a Virginia-class US submarine in the Barents Sea.

US, UK nuclear submarines constantly on duty in Barents Sea — Russian Navy

(Cold War days on 'sneakies' in the Barents Sea and NEVER detected by the Soviet Armed Forces)

 

US and British multirole nuclear submarines are “virtually constantly on duty” in the Barents Sea, a highly-placed source in the Russian Navy Main Staff said on Tuesday.

“American and British multirole nuclear submarines sail into the Barents Sea and attempt to reconnoiter the positions of the Northern Fleet submarines and coastal military facilities. They stay beyond the 12-mile maritime zone that constitutes Russia’s territorial waters. These are the so-called high seas where the presence of foreign ships, including submarines, is not prohibited,” the source said.

 

American multirole submarines are operating off Russia’s coast in the Pacific “on a permanent basis” as well, the source added.

 

“American nuclear submarines sail mainly into the Sea of Okhotsk and less frequently into the Barents Sea, obviously trying to monitor the activity of the Pacific Fleet’s main submarine base at Vilyuchinsk in Kamchatka,” the source said.

 

“French nuclear submarines do not enter our seas. We haven’t spotted them there,” he added.

The official noted that no strategic American or British nuclear submarines had been spotted off Russian coasts.

 

On August 7, the Northern Fleet detected a foreign submarine, presumably an American Virginia-class one, and “pushed” it out of Russia’s boundary waters. A group of surface ships and an anti-submarine plane were sent over to the area to locate the submarine.

 

The Navy Main Staff said “this is not the only such spotting of foreign submarines in the Barents Sea of late”.

 

Note from Blogger - I spent many happy times on 'sneakies' in the Barents Sea during the Cold War on UK boats and together with our US boats we were NEVER detected.

USN Submarines - May 1st

1916 - USS L-5 (SS 44) is launched

1919 - USS R-6 (SS 83) is commissioned

1921 - USS R-14 (SS-83) Runs out of fuel at sea. Makes port with makeshift sails of sheets, underway on sail power for 4 days

1925 - Keel is laid for the USS Argonaut V-4 ( SS 166)

1931 - USS R-1 (SS 78) is decommissioned

1941 - USS Grenadier (SS 210) is commissioned

1943 - USS Bowfin (SS 287) is commissioned

1944 - Keel is laid for the USS Macabi (SS 375)

1946 - USS Rock (SS 274) is decommissioned

1952 - Keel is laid for the USS T-2 (Marlin)

1952 - USS Ronquil (SS 396) is decommissioned

1968 - USS Archerfish (SS 311) is decommissioned for the third and final time.

1970 - USS Billfish (SSN 676) is launched

1973 - USS Pintado (SSN-672) In collision with Soviet SSBN

1974 - USS George Washington (SSBN-598) In collision with Japanese freighter, freighter sinks

1974 - USS Pintado (SSN-672) Collides with Soviet submarine (reported Yankee) off Petropavlovsk

1989 - USS Barbel (SS-580) looses three men overboard while on surface off Japan

With Thanks toMyron Howard

Navy submarine to bear Delaware's name

It’s been 89 years since a Navy ship bearing the name Delaware sailed the world’s waters.

The drought is now ended. The Navy announced at the Pentagon this afternoon that its newest attack submarine will be named Delaware.

And get this: It was a short, simple and slyly tongue-in-cheek letter to the editor of the News Journal last spring that spurred the state’s three-member congressional

delegation to launch an inside-the-Beltway campaign to get the state a namesake ship, according to Katie Wilson, press secretary to Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.

“The Navy announced on Monday that each of five new submarines (which currently are named for states) would be named after a state that hasn't been represented in the Navy in more than 60 years,” Newark’s Steven Llanso wrote in a letter published April 18. “They missed an obvious candidate and should rectify that oversight by naming the SSN 791 after Delaware. The last USS Delaware (a battleship) had her name stricken in 1923, so the First State certainly qualifies.

“I know our Vice President [Joe] Biden is too bashful to weigh in on this question, so I leave it to the News Journal to take up the cry.”

The “bashful” Biden, in fact, showed up at the Pentagon ceremony today – as the “special guest” of his wife, Jill Biden, who Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said will serve as ship’s sponsor. As such, she’ll have the honor of breaking a bottle of champagne across the bow when the submarine is ceremonially christened. The vice president remained on the sidelines during the ceremony, ceding the spotlight to his wife. Also on hand were Carper and Lt. Gov. Matt Denn.

So Delaware, which does not build or host Navy ships or aircraft and ranks near the bottom of the list of states for federal defense dollars received, now will be represented on the high seas – more precisely, under the waves – with its first namesake warship since the battleship referenced by Llanso, which was decommissioned in 1923.

"This is an important day for Delaware as we welcome the USS Delaware to our proud family," said Carper. "It is a great source of joy to me that the vessel that will bear the name of Delaware will be one of the most state-of-the-art submarines in the world. If we want to continue to protect our military might and protect our shipping lanes so that we can conduct commerce around the world, we are going to need fast attack submarines like the USS Delaware.

"

The ship will be something to crow about: The Virginia class of submarines is the Navy’s latest and greatest. Nuclear-powered and stealthy, the 377-foot subs bristle with torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, and are equipped with special warfare enhancements such as a large lock-in/lock-out chamber for divers.

The Delaware, to be known in official parlance as SSN 791, will be assembled in Newport News, Va., by builder Huntington Ingalls Industries, in partnership with the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics. The Navy earlier said, in error, that the submarine was already under construction.

The ship which won’t officially gain the “USS” – for United States Ship – before its name until it is commissioned and accepted into the Navy fleet, fully manned, operable and ready to sail.