CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO ALL SUBMARINERS

“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” 

Many years ago, we all stood as a sentinel with our shipmates aboard submarine’s, regardless of our nation and mission. We spent months at a time isolated from our world, hiding in the ocean’s depths. We stood guard against the evil of our day. We provided a credible deterrent. In so doing, we gave half our life to the sea. We had no communication with the outside world for months on end.

We remember the feelings we had those many years ago while on patrol at Christmas. We remember the sense of isolation we had even though our shipmates were all around. We remember the helpless feeling of not really knowing how our families were doing. We remember the deep sadness of knowing that we would not be home for Christmas. Yet, we were proud then that our sacrifices were helping to provide Peace on Earth.

Our shipmates and  ourselves only endured a loneliness and isolation. Today’s men and women of our military are not only enduring separation from their loved ones, they are constantly placing their lives in “Harm’s Way.” As we celebrate Christmas, let us all pray for their safe return to their families and that they may experience Peace on Earth in their lifetime.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and God bless our brave men and women serving to protect our freedom!

SSBN Verkhoturye Puts Off for Trials in White Sea

Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center started shipyard's sea trial program of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) Verkhoturye. 

Upon completion of trials and elimination of all found defects, the nuclear submarine will be recommissioned into Russian Navy and head for her permanent basing site.

Works on the submarine's technical recovery and 5-year service life extension started in the fall of 2010. The shipyard has repaired the sub's hull, outboard fittings, ballast tanks, mechanisms of propeller-rudder system and other onboard systems. The submarine was withdrawn from covered slipway in March 2012.

K-51 Verkhoturye nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine was laid down in Feb 1981 at Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, put afloat in Jan 1984, and commissioned in Dec 1984. That was the first submarine in her class deployed in the Arctic with nuclear-headed ballistic missiles onboard in 1987.

She is a second-generation Project 667BDRM Delfin nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, lead sub in her class. Six submarines of this project still make the core of Russia's maritime nuclear deterrence force.

Performance

Surface speed: 14 knots
Submerged speed: 24 knots
Operating depth: 320 - 400 meters
Test depth: 550 - 650 meters
Endurance: 90 days
Crew: 135 - 140 men

Dimensions

Surface displacement: 11,740 tons
Submerged displacement: 18,200 tons
Extreme length (at design waterline): 167.4 meters
Extreme beam: 11.7 meters
Mean draft (at design waterline): 8.8 meters

Armament

4 x 533-mm bow torpedo tubes (12 torpedoes or 24 mines instead)
16 SLBM R-29RM launchers
MANPADS 9K310 Igla-1/9K38 Igla launcher (combat load - 8 SAMs)

Russia to Double Number of Losharik-Class Bathyscaph

JSC Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center resumed construction of a nuclear-powered deep-sea submersible to be a miniature version of Project 10831 Kalitka commonly known as Losharik.

According to newspaper Izvestiya referring to a source in Russian defense industry, name of the new station is kept in secret. Same as Losharik, it will be used for special works at large depths, including seabed researches in the Arctic.

Russian defense ministry refuses to comment this information referring to confidentiality. Purpose of such deep-water bathyscaphs is not reported either. As was said late in Oct 2012, Losharik took part in Arctic seabed research and took bottom soil samples. In prospect, results of those studies may help Russia to expand its Arctic zone beyond 370 km.

According to the source, the new submersible will not yield Losharik in performance. Russian Navy spokesman told Izvestiya that the new submersible would have titanium polyspherical hull, just like Losharik. Most probably, onboard equipment would be same as the Project 10831 submersible has. Nuclear reactor will be new; it is being manufactured in Obninsk, Kaluga region. Project 667BDRM Delfin nuclear-powered submarine BS-64 Podmoskovye will be adapted as a carrier for the new bathyscaphe.

Meanwhile, Project 1851 Nelma deep-water station stays non-completed at the Zvezdochka shipyard. Three such submersibles were built and the fourth one was laid down at Admiralteyskie Verfi shipyard (St. Petersburg) in 1986-1995. The last Nelma was transferred to Zvezdochka shipyard late in 90's.

SSGN Severodvinsk Performed Underwater Cruise Missile Launch

Project 885 Yasen nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine (SSGN) Severodvinsk carried out underwater launch of a supersonic cruise missile against a land-based target during trials in the White Sea, said a source in defense industry on Nov 28.

"Severodvinsk performed the first underwater test launch of a supersonic cruise missile against a land-based target", reports Interfax referring to the source.

As for him, the launch was effective, the target was hit.

"It is the third successive launch of the newest Russian sea-based supersonic missile Caliber", pointed out the interviewee.

On Nov 26, SSGN Severodvinsk performed surface test launch of the missile against a land target, and on Nov 7 the sub successfully launched the cruise missile against sea target.

Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Viktor Chirkov said on Aug 17 that trials of SSGN Severodvinsk would finish by the end of the year.

SSGN Severodvinsk is a double-hulled single-shaft nuclear submarine with reduced level of acoustic field. Conning tower has streamlined oval shape; strength hull is subdivided into 10 compartments.

For the first time in Soviet/Russian shipbuilding, torpedo tubes are located not in bows but behind central station; that enabled to use bow space for advanced sonar antenna.

Eight vertical launch tubes are designed for missile arms. Powerful weapon system includes supersonic cruise missiles and multipurpose deep-water homing torpedoes. The sub is also equipped with state-of-the-art communication hardware and navigation aids, and powered by crucially new nuclear powerplant. Introduction of latest Russian military technologies will make Yasen class the world's most silent and covert submarines.

Displacement of SSGN Severodvinsk is 8,600/13,800 tons; dimensions are 119 x 13.5 x 9.4 meters; test depth is 600 meters; speed is 16/31 knots; crew is 90 (32 officers).

Putin: Russia to Continue Rearmament of Submarine Base at Kamchatka

Russia will continue rearmament of submarine base in the forbidden town of Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka Peninsula, said Russian president Vladimir Putin appearing in the Parliament.

"Russia should have two bases for our strategic submarine force, one in European part, and one in the Far East. That will form very powerful and essential balance in maintaining our national security. These two clusters are located remotely, which is of great military strategic significance", reports Interfax citing Putin.

He emphasized that nuclear submarine force would develop and receive new nuclear missile subs under the national defense strengthening and rearmament program.

"Indeed, we do have rearmament plans, including those for Vilyuchinsk naval base, and they will be implemented, everything is up to schedule", Putin said.

Living conditions of submariners will be improved as well, added the president.

According to RIA Novosti, the up-to-date naval base accommodating nuclear-powered submarines was established in Vilyuchinsk in 2010.

Nerpa Shipyard Starts Dismantling of Nuc Sub Krasnodar

Utilization of the nuclear-powered submarine started at Nerpa Ship Repair Plant in Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk region. The dismantling is jointly sponsored by Russian state-led nuclear corporation Rosatom and Italian Sogin. Italy appropriates over EUR 5 mln for that purpose, reports vpk-news.ru.

 Nuclear-powered submarine K-148 Krasnodar was built by Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk and handed over to Northern Fleet in 1986.

K-148 Krasnodar is a third-generation nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, the lead sub of Project 949A Antei (known in NATO as Oscar II).

Length of Antei-class submarines is 154 meters; displacement is up to 18,000 tons; diving depth is down to 500 meters; submerged speed is up to 28 knots; crew is 130 men.

Each Antei sub is armed with 24 cruise missiles Granit.

Second Sub for Black Sea Fleet Passes Hydraulic Pressure Test

Hydraulic tests of the stern hull section of diesel-electric submarine Rostov-na-Donu were successfully held at Admiralteyskie Verfi shipyard late in Nov 2012; that is the second Project 06363 submarine being built for Russian Navy, a source in the shipyard told Submariners World.

That was the ninth round out of ten hydraulic tests provided by the construction timeline in 2012. Seven of them were performed by 9-th workshop which celebrated its 60-th anniversary on Nov 1.

In the new year of 2013 the shipyard will face another challenging task. They will have to speed up construction of two series of subs (both for national and foreign navies) and hold other ten hydraulic tests.

At present, Admiralteyskie Verfi is building three diesel-electric submarines under updated Project 06363 Varshavyanka for Russian Navy. The first sub for Black Sea Fleet (B-261 Novorossiysk) was laid down in Aug 2010 and is planned for launching late in 2013. The second submarine (B-237 Rostov-na-Donu) was laid down in Nov 2011. Keel for the third one, B-262 Stary Oskol was laid down in Aug 2012. In total, Russian Navy will receive six Project 0636 submarines by 2017 and form a brigade.

The shipyard is also executing an export order for six Project 06361 subs for Vietnamese Navy. The contract value is about $2 bln. Being laid down in 2009, the lead submarine Hanoi was put afloat in Aug 2012.

Fifth Buyan-Class Corvette Gets Name of Serpukhov

The fifth Buyan-M-class corvette obtained the name of Serpukhov, a source in Zelenodolsk Shipyard told Submariners World. Municipal administration of Serpukhov, Moscow region has confirmed that information.

Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief ADM Viktor Chirkov on Nov 27 issued a decree No. 725 "On giving the name of Serpukhov to Project 21631 corvette, serial number 635". The Navy commander's decree was signed on application of Alexander Shestun, the head of Serpukhov administration.

The ship will be manned with draftees from Serpukhov district.

Also, the town of Serpukhov is a location of JSC RATEP, the leading manufacturer of control systems for Russian Navy's sea- and coast-based air defense systems.

Serpukhov governor Alexander Shestun and director general of JSC RATEP Vladimir Baibakov are about to attend the ship's keel-laying ceremony at Zelenodolsk Shipyard in Tatarstan. RATEP is planned to supply the new ship with its production, in particular, shipborne radar gunfire control system 5P-10-03 Laska.

The date of laying down the keel for the corvette has not been appointed so far. According to sources in the shipyard, although the yard is technically capable to hold the solemn ceremony even in the current year, most likely the ship would be keel-laid early in 2013. The ceremony would be possibly held on the same day with launching of the lead corvette Grad Sviyazhsk.

Currently, Zelenodolsk Shipyard constructs four Buyan-M-class corvettes.

Lead ship Grad Sviyazhsk (serial number 631) was laid down in Aug 2010 and is expected to be launched in Feb-March 2013. Two next corvettes, Uglich and Veliky Ustyug (serial numbers 632 and 633) were laid down in July and Aug 2011 respectively. Keel for the fourth ship, Zeliony Dol (serial number 634) was laid down late in Aug 2012. The whole series is designed for Caspian Flotilla.

According to Caspian Flotilla (CF) Commander RADM Sergei Alyokminsky "new Project 21631 ships will come to the flotilla in May 2013. They are based on Project 21360 but armed with Caliber missile system. The flotilla will receive two ships every year and in 2016 will have substantial surface ship force".

It was also said that RADM Sergei Alyokminsky was about to address to Southern Military District Commander and Navy Commander-in-Chief with request to give the fifth corvette the name of Hero City Volgograd in honor of 70-th anniversary of the legendary Stalingrad Battle.

Project 21631 corvettes are "river-sea" class ships built under stealth technology. Their length is 74.1 meters, beam is 11 meters, draft is 2.6 meters, displacement is about 950 tons, max speed is up to 25 knots, crew is about 60 men.

Armament of each corvette includes Caliber-NK standard missile system (combat load is 8 cruise missiles effective both against surface ships and coast-based targets); 100-mm gun mount A190-01, 30-mm gun mount AK-630M-2 Duet; two SAM systems Gibka; 14.5-mm and 7.62-mm machineguns.

The Sunday Movie - Fixed Bayonet

The Thursday Documentary - The Cold War 'Operation Ocean' The Soviet Navy

The Sunday Movie - Zulu

Iran Attempts and Fails to Shoot Down U.S. Drone

An unarmed U.S. military Predator surveillance drone was fired at by Iranian military jets last week in international airspace over the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Pentagon disclosed on Thursday.

Officials stressed that the U.S. drone had never entered Iranian territory and that the entire incident occurred in international airspace.

The drone was not hit by the plane's gunfire and was able to return to its undisclosed base in the region, the report said.

At a Pentagon briefing, spokesman George Little told reporters that the incident had occurred last Thursday at approximately 4:50 a.m. Eastern Time when an unarmed Predator drone "conducting routine surveillance" over the Gulf "was intercepted by Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot aircraft and was fired upon with guns."

The incident occurred 16 nautical miles off the Iranian coastline, Little said. The internationally recognized territorial limit of waters and airspace begins 12 nautical miles from a nation's coastline. Though Little did not disclose where the incident occurred, a defense official told ABC News that it occurred in the northern part of the Persian Gulf east of Kuwait.

The White House and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were informed of the incident as quickly as it happened, as were relevant members of Congress, reported ABC News. The incident was not disclosed until Thursday when CNN was first to reveal the details of the incident.

Little said that the Pentagon does not talk about classified missions like the one the Predator was undertaking, but decided to go public with details following "the unauthorized leak."

Little said that the United States communicated to Iran via Swiss intermediaries that "we will continue to conduct surveillance flights over international waters over the Arabian Gulf consistent with long-standing practice."

He described last Thursday's incident as the first time that an unmanned American aircraft has been shot at over the international waters of the Persian Gulf.

When asked if the United States considered the shooting an "act of war", Little said he was "not going to get into legal labels."

He added, "The reality is that we have a wide range of options, as I said before, to protect our assets and our forces in the region and will do so when necessary." He later acknowledged that no manned American aircraft had responded to the incident.

Last December, Iran boasted that its military forces had shot down a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 stealth UAV.

The U.S. later admitted that one of its drones is in Iranian possession but did not say that the Iranians shot down the spy plane. Iran then presented video footage of the U.S. drone it shot down.

Pe

Use of force in bypass of UN will cause chaos, Putin warns

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Ambassador Itti Ditbanjong, left, of the Kingdom of Thailand during the ceremony of credential letters presentation from 21 foreign ambassadors to Russia, in the Alexandrovsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The Russian President has told foreign diplomats that UN decisions must remain a priority in international relations and actions, as any attempt by a nation to act unilaterally will not lead to anything good.

In a speech made in Moscow during the handing of credentials to foreign ambassadors Vladimir Putin said that it was impossible to make foreign policy in the modern world without the backing of international law. “Any attempts to replace the universal principles of the United Nations’ Charter by unilateral actions or some bloc agreements, or, worse even, the attempts to use force to bypass the UN Charter, never lead to anything good,” the Russian leader stressed.

Putin added that such actions can lead to destabilization and chaos.

The Russian President went on to say that the current situation was proof that this was the correct approach, and called upon the audience to draw the lessons from recent events. He added that the ongoing session of the UN General Assembly was a good excuse to remind the international community of the importance of the UN Charter and its principles of sovereignty and equality for all nations.

Putin said that these principles suggested that all problems must be solved by talks and without any foreign interference. He added that the strict observation of these principles meant that the rule of law was still a priority in international affairs as well as in internal national ones.

He told the diplomats that the current processes in the world’s hotpots, first of all in the Middle East, are a proof that such approach was right. “Instigating the continuation of violence in any form can only lead to a dead end. Violence causes violence,” Putin said.

The Russian President stressed that the solution was in the coordinated effort of the international community aimed at a peaceful settlement of all conflicts through diplomacy and political agreements as well as the stimulus to the fighting sides to end the armed standoff.

“The value of human life is of primary importance and it must not be used as a currency in a geopolitical game,” Putin concluded.

Belarus awaiting explanation on "teddy bear" invasion

Belarus security officials say they are still waiting for the results of an inquiry into an incident involving an aircraft that entered Belarus airspace via Lithuania on July 4th and scattered hundreds of stuffed bears bearing messages.

"There have been no changes so far in terms of receiving any new information from Lithuania about the investigation of this matter," KGB spokesman Alexander Antonovich told Interfax on Wednesday.

Relations between Minsk and Stockholm deteriorated after the incident, when a light aircraft crossed into Belarus and dropped hundreds of teddy-bears.

The toys carried slogans urging Minsk to show more respect for freedom of speech and democracy.

The plane, which had been chartered by a Swedish PR firm, evaded Belarus air defenses after making their drop over the capital of Minsk.

The incident represented a major embarrassment for President Alexander Lukashenko and led to dismissals at the top of the country’s Air Force and State Border Guard.

Early last month, Belarus' Office of the Prosecutor General asked Lithuania and Sweden to help investigate the incident, Antonovich said.

The chairman of the security and defense committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, Arvydas Anusauskas, said Lithuania was investigating the incident and would produce its findings before the end of September.

Minsk invited the three Swedes who organized the flight to Belarus for an interview with investigators. The men flatly refused.

If the perpetrators of this incident hoped they would make a difference in Belarus’s parliamentary elections, they were mistaken.

Lukashenko on Sunday received an overwhelming show of support in parliamentary elections as an absolute majority of candidates loyal to his policies won seats in the National Assembly.

Alexander Lukashenko has served as President of Belarus since 1994.

The Laws of the Navy

Now these are the laws of the Navy,

Unwritten and varied they be;

And he that is wise will observe them,

Going down in his ship to the sea;

As nought may outrun the destroyer,

Even so with the law and its grip,

For the strength of the ship is the Service,

And the strength of the Service, the ship.

Take heed what you say of your rulers,

Be your words spoken softly or plain,

Lest a bird of the air tell the matter,

And so ye shall hear it again.

If ye labour from morn until even.

And meet with reproof for your toil,

It is well, that the gun may be humbled,

The compressor must check the recoil.

On the strength of one link in the cable,

Dependeth the might of the chain;

Who knows when thou may be tested?

So live that thou bearest the strain.

When the ship that is tired returneth,

With the signs of the sea showing plain.

Men place her in dock for a season,

And her speed she reneweth again.

So shalt thou, lest, perchance thou grow weary,

In the uttermost parts of the sea,

Pray for leave for the good of the Service,

As much and as oft as may be.

Count not on certain promotion,

But rather to gain it aspire,

Though the sight line shall end on the target

There cometh perchance a misfire.

Can'st follow the track of the dolphin,

Or tell where the sea swallows roam?

Where leviathan taketh his pastime?

What ocean he calleth his home?

Even so with the words of thy rulers, And the orders those words shall convey,

Every law is as nought beside this one---

THOU SHALT NOT CRITICISE, BUT OBEY!

Saith the wise, " How can I know their purpose?"

Then acts without wherefore or why:

Stays the fool but one moment to question,

And the chance of his life passes by.

If ye win through an African Jungle,

Unmentioned at home in the press,

Heed it not: no man seeth the piston,

But it driveth the ship none the less.

Do they growl? It is well: be thou silent,

So that work goeth forward amain;

Lo, the gun throws her shot to a hair's breadth,

And shouteth, yet none shall complain.

Do they growl and the work be retarded?

It is ill, speak, whatever their rank;

The half loaded gun also shouteth,

But can she pierce armour with blank?

Doeth paintwork make war with the funnels?

Do the decks to the cannon complain?

Nay, they know that some soap or a scraper,

Unites them as brothers again;

So, ye being Heads of Departments,

Do your growl with a smile on your lip,

Lest ye strive and in anger be parted,

And lessen the might of the ship.

Dost deem that thy vessel needs gilding,

And the dockyard forbear to supply?

Place thy hand in thy pocket and gild her,

There be those who have risen thereby.

Dost think in a moment of danger,

Tis well with thy seniors to fight?

They prosper who burn in the morning,

The letters they wrote overnight;

For some there be, shelved and forgotten,

With nothing to thank for their fate

Save that ( on a half sheet of foolscap ),

Which a fool "had the honour to state."

If the fairway be crowded, with shipping

Beating homeward the harbour to win,

It is meet that, lest any should suffer,

The steamers pass cautiously in;

The steamers pass cautiously in;

So thou, when thou nearest promotion,

And the peak that is gilded is nigh,

Give heed to thy words and thine actions,

Lest others be wearied thereby.

It is ill for the winners to worry,

Take thy fate as it comes with a smile,

And when you are safe in the harbour,

They will envy, but may not revile.

Uncharted the rocks that surround thee,

Take heed the channels thou learn,

Lest thy name serve to buoy for another,

That shoal, the Court -Martial Return.

Though armour the belt that protects her,

The ship bears the scar on her side,

It is well if the court shall acquit thee,

It were best hadst thou never been tried.

Now these are the laws of the Navy,

Unwritten and varied they be,

And he that is wise will observe them,

Going down in his ship to the sea.

As the wave rises to the hawse pipe,

Washes aft, and is lost in the wake,

So shall ye drop astern, all unheeded,

Such time as the law ye forsake.

It is my understanding the "The Laws of the Navy" were written by a Royal Navy Captain R.A. Hopwood, at the turn of last century. He later went on to be promoted to Admiral. I had this in my old files, and one does not see it around too much these days, but I thought you may like it, and I think it deserves a wider audience today.