INTRODUCTION Since the 90’s, two of the six claimant countries in the disputed Spratly Group of Islands possessed submarines in their respective fleets. After the year 2000, this would change with the arrival of the French-built Scorpene and the Russian Kilo Class Submarines in the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and the Vietnam Peoples Navy (VPN) in 2014. Things are about…
Military personnel from the Philippines, United States, Australia, France, Japan, and United Kingdom kicked off exercise Sama Sama-Lumbas in Cebu, Philippines on 11-October-2022. Sama Sama is an annual bilateral navy-to-navy exercise between the Philippine Navy (PN) and the U.S. Navy (USN), while Lumbas is a yearly bilateral navy-to-navy exercise between PN and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). This is the…
The first time I came across the term “dangerous ground” was during my sea phase training in September 1976 on board BRP Rizal, a fleet minesweeper, when the ship conducted resupply of the marines deployed in Spratlys. The nautical charts then were blueprint copies but one could not miss the words “dangerous ground” printed in the charts in bold letters….
U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced on 19-May-2022 that a future destroyer will be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad in honor of a Filipino sailor who rescued a crew members when their ship caught fire more than a century ago. Despite his face being burned by an explosion, he still went back inside the ship to save…
On June 1939, the second Philippine Q-Boat arrived in Manila and was named Luzon after one of the three main Island groups of the country, and was given hull number Q-111. She is 10 feet longer than Q-112 and has a cruising speed of 41 knots with a crew of 2 Officers and 4 Enlisted Personnel. Q-111 was the squadron…
The Philippine Navy is one of five Asian navies that possessed the Cannon Class Destroyer Escort apart from the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), Republic of China Navy (ROCN), Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), and the Royal Thai Navy (RTN). The Philippine Navy inducted into service its first Cannon Class Destroyer Escort (known in Filipino Naval Service as the…
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On 29-June-1964, the Philippine Navy lost its Flagship and our First Destroyer Escort during the fury of Typhoon Winnie. The loss of a Flagship is a major loss to any Naval Force; fortunately, during this incident none of the Officers and Crew was lost. Despite the harshness of Mother Nature, the ship’s entire complement fought bravely to save the ship…
INTRODUCTION: THE TIES THAT BIND. In August 1947, a naval mission was organized by the U.S. Navy in Subic Bay Naval Base to bring in former Auxiliary Motor Minesweepers (AM) of the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy to form the nucleus of the Korean Naval Defense Corps being activated under the supervision of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Korean Naval…
US NAVAL STATION SAN DIEGO –Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) and the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) hosted 10 students school on 20-September-2019 in CIAT, the Navy’s newest combat trainer, or the Combined integrated Air & Missile defense/anti-submarine Warfare Trainer, to increase operator lethality of Advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare Officers (ASWO). The students will Fleet-up aboard the…
To be relevant and to survive, many profit-oriented organizations positively react to their changing operational environment. They are cognizant that the very thing to expect over time is change. As a consequence, they revise their structure to support a new corporate strategy with the aim to improve efficiency, promote teamwork and reduce cost. These changes could lead to mergers, acquisitions,…
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Using data from underwater robots, scientists discovered that Beaked Whales prefer to feed within a Navy sonar test range off Southern California that have dense patches of deep-sea squid. A new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology shows that Beaked Whales need these prey hotspots to survive, and that similar patches do not exist in nearby “sonar-free” areas….
The U.S. Navy is contemplating on building a high 14-foot seawall to protect the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, D.C. from rising sea levels, an effect of climate change. The Navy Yard is the Navy’s oldest installation. It was established in 1799 as a shipbuilding facility and port, and later used for making ordnance, and then turned into an administrative…
On 15-March-2018, Navy Commander Alex Gianan, the last skipper of BRP Rajah Humabon, ordered his chief quartermaster to haul down the ship’s Commission Pennant to formally conclude her 38-year service in the Philippine Navy (PN). Philippine Fleet Commander RAdm Danilo Rodelas presided the Decommissioning Ceremony with Offshore Combat Force Commander Captain Caesar Bernard Valencia, Fleet senior officers, and 10 former…
INTRODUCTION. The Philippine National Defense has signed a contract with Hyundai of South Korea for the construction of two units of Incheon Class Frigate last 24-October-2016 at the cost of USD 337M to modernize the capability of surface combatants of the Philippine Navy. WHY A FRIGATE? A frigate represents lower investment in terms of cost and displacement compared with a…
Jan. 27 (UPI) — Ingalls Shipbuilding has officially begun fabrication on a new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), for the US Navy. The official start of fabrication means the first 100 tons of steel have been cut for the vessel. “Starting fabrication on another destroyer is a great way to start the year,” Ingalls Shipbuilding…
“[Beijing is] building a Great Wall of sand over islands claimed by several countries. China’s pattern of provocations toward smaller claimant countries on the basis of the sweeping 9-dash Line which is inconsistent with international law, and the wide asymmetry between China’s capabilities and of her weak neighbors, raises serious questions about Chinese intentions.”
This reminds me that the United States Navy and the US Department of State in the mid-‘60s had great hopes for the Philippine’s future. After Japan, the trios Taiwan, ROK and [ROK] Singapore had started to take off and they thought we would be the next. That was the message I got from them when they gave us a briefing…