Monthly Archives: August 2023

  The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) at sea in 1961-62, following modernization with a new foremast supporting the very large antenna for the SPS-37A radar. USS Helena (CA-75), a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Helena, Montana. Originally laid down as the USS Des Moines, she was renamed Helena while underContinue reading “USS HELENA, Apra Harbour Guam, 1952”

Photo by Stewart Bale Ltd, Liverpool, Imperial War Museums’ Foxhall Collection, no. IWM FL 19059 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205121477 Above we see the third flight S-class diesel boat, HM Submarine Simoom (P225), underway, likely in 1943, her only year of service. A rather unlucky boat, Simoom fired 15 war shot torpedoes in her career and, although she never hit a target that sheContinue reading “Warship Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023: The Lost Desert Wind”

So the recent biannual Talisman Saber 2023 exercise had a supercarrier in attendance, at least partially: the forward-deployed (to Japan) Nimitz-class USS Ronald Reagan and her strike group. However, it also had four “other” non-carrier flattops on hand as well: the 27,000-ton Australian Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ship HMAS Adelaide (L01), the 45,000-ton amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), the 27,000-ton Japanese “helicopter destroyer” JSContinue reading “119,000-ton unofficial carrier four-pack , Exercise Talisman Sabre- laststandonzombieisland / August 11, 2023 at 12:03AM”

The future USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) was christened at the shipyard in Bath, Maine. The Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided- missile destroyer, the USS Carl M. Levin, arrived at its home port of Pearl Harbor on Monday. The ship was christened Oct. 2, 2021, at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, where it was built, and was commissioned June 24 in Baltimore.Continue reading “USS Carl M. Levin Joins Fleet at Pearl Harbor”

U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) made a port visit to Muara, Brunei August 3-5.      This is Blue Ridge’s first visit to Brunei since 2002. “The United States and Brunei’s relationship has entered its fourth decade in a position of strength and we continue to build our partnership through jointContinue reading “U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) made a port visit to Muara, Brunei August 3-5.”