PenguinSix » Navy

The Peace Corps needs a Navy

Andrew — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:15:17 +0000

Floods in Pakistan are a growing problem for the governments not only in Islamabad but in the US as well. The demand for helicopters to ferry supplies and rescue workers is being shouted from those suffering on the ground, and the radicals are certainly adding fuel to the fire by spreading the idea “they can use the helicopters to attack us but not save us?” Needless to say, it’s getting some traction. The US dispatched 6 desperately needed helicopters from combat operations in Afghanistan, but with the arrival of the USS Peleliu those six will return to be replaced by 19 USMC helos (eventhough, in an unrelated incident, the captain of the Peleliu was relieved of command last weekend).

Last year the disaster was in Haiti, and before then we had earthquakes and tsunamis all of which required a significant deployment of US combat capabilities in a humanitarian effort. Sometimes these come at a cost, such as when our aircraft carriers were working with the Indonesian tsunami and we had to offload all the combat aircraft (carrier pilots need to land on a carrier every 21 days to maintain proficiency, which was nearly impossible with all the relief operations ongoing on the deck and the refusals of local governments for military aircraft to operate in their airspace).

While the military does a wonderful job assisting in humanitarian efforts, it’s sometimes like calling the fire department to rescue a cat from a tree. Is the military the most efficient resource we can send to a humanitarian crisis? Is there a better suited federal agency or group that could provide necessary assistance?

Perhaps it is time for the Peace Corps to develop a Navy.

Taking a few amphibious assault vessels out of the reserve fleets and turning them over to the Peace Corps might be an interesting approach. Staffed with Peace Corps volunteers, professional (contract) pilots, and merchant mariners, we could develop a small fleet of emergency assistance vessels that would patrol the worlds oceans providing medical assistance to impoverished lands and responding to natural disasters with their own fleet of specially suited rescue and logistics helicopters. Without the ‘US Military’ label that goes on some operations, countries might be more willing to accept assistance. Take the Chinese earthquake in Sichaun in 2008. Existing Chinese military units were vastly overstretched, but national pride prevented initial requests for international assistance. Had an amphibious ‘rescue’ vessel been offshore or in Hong Kong the response from the US could have been non-militaristic and immediate.

Of course given the budget deficits and the fact that humanitarian dollars flowing to the Pentagon help to offset some of the operational expenses of the forces, I don’t foresee this happening anytime soon. C’est la vie.

Full list of Navy ships being sent to Haiti I put together a list of Navy vessels being sent...

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Somali pirates, in a fit of stupidity, attack HNLMS Tromp, a Dutch warship.

Andrew — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:59:01 +0000

So a few months back I was walking through Baltimore and came across what you see in the photo below. Although I was never in the Navy and have been known to make some mistakes, I was pretty certain that what I was looking at was a warship, a fact confirmed after I walked to the bow and saw the large deck gun that you can see in the second photo below.

Now the reason I mention all this is because what was obvious to me and my 3 year old son, namely that this was a warship, is apparently beyond the capabilities of a Somali pirate, a few of whom decided to launch a raid on the HNLMS Tromp, a Dutch frigate on anti-piracy patrols off of Somalia.

Why are there so many idiots around the world.

This is not a cargo vessel

This is not a cargo vessel from this view either.

Full list of Navy ships being sent to Haiti I put together a list of Navy vessels being sent...
USNS COMFORT hospital ship has arrived in Haiti The COMFORT is on station off the coast, as you’ll...

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USNS COMFORT hospital ship has arrived in Haiti

Andrew — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:17:44 +0000

The COMFORT is on station off the coast, as you’ll see from this Navy photo just released.

Tracking the hospital ship USNS Comfort in the Chesapeake Bay on the way to Haiti. For those in the Annapolis area (and who...
USNS COMFORT treats first patients from Haiti earthquake Although not technically ‘there’ yet the Comfort is now within...
The USNS COMFORT passes by the back yard on the way to Haiti ...

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Tracking the hospital ship USNS Comfort in the Chesapeake Bay on the way to Haiti.

Andrew — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:09:48 +0000

5 Days from Baltimore to Haiti

For those in the Annapolis area (and who can see through this bit of fog we have on the Bay today), you might be able to catch a glimpse of the USNS COMFORT hospital ship on its way to Haiti sometime around 11:30. Good viewing points in Sandy Point State Park, the Bay Bridge, or in the Bay Ridge area of Annapolis. Again, it is a bit foggy right now so you might not be able to see it unless the fog burns off

It should be around the North Beach / Chesapeake Beach boardwalk, another great viewing point which is about 45 minutes from DC around 12:00-12:30. It’s not a very fast ship.

ETA to Haiti is 5 days.

The COMFORT is squawking on the AIS frequencies, so you can track it. At the moment it looks like it is just leaving the port of Baltimore.

Track all ships in the Bay:
http://www.chesbayshipping.com/
http://www.popularwireless.com/sp/index.php
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/datasheet.aspx?da…PORT_ID=95&PORT_NAME=BALTIMORE

This should be the COMFORT directly (select USNS Comfort and then ZOOM):
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?cent…entery=38.95&zoom=9&level1=130

UPDATE: The COMFORT is battling a bit of stormy weather at the moment.

UPDATE 2: The Baltimore Sun is live blogging from the COMFORT, due to arrive in Haiti on Thursday.

Tracking the Haiti rescue flights and radio traffic online For those who want to get some really specific details...
Full list of Navy ships being sent to Haiti I put together a list of Navy vessels being sent...
How satellites are being retasked to help the Haiti rescue mission. I’ve taken a bit of a break from...

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Full list of Navy ships being sent to Haiti

Andrew — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:41:10 +0000

USCG Cutters off the coast of Haiti

I put together a list of Navy vessels being sent to Haiti. Quite an armada.

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)

USS Bataan (LHD 5)

USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43)

USS Carter Hall (LSD 50)

USS Underwood (FFG 36)

USS Kearsarge

USNS Comfort (T-AH-20)

USS Higgins (DDG-76)

USS Normany (CG-60)

USCG Forward

USCG Valiant

USCG Mohawk

USCG Tahoma

Damage to the ports in Haiti

Canadian Navy

HMCS Athabaskan

HMCS Halifax

Tracking the Haiti rescue flights and radio traffic online For those who want to get some really specific details...

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Fire on Tilghman Island???

Andrew — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:30:03 +0000

Looking out over the Bay tonight was quite pretty as we had some clear skies and a rather large moon rising. But then I noticed this really bright light about 9:00 PM that wasn’t usually there (the other side of the Bay is rather desolate–I can often count the number of lights I see pretty easily)

This was a bit different. It blazed brightly and flickered a bit, kind of like a fire. The odd thing was it was about 40 feet up in the air, and I also saw another flickering light down below (fire truck?).

Unfortunately distortion over the water prevents me from seeing clearly just what is going on over there. The Naval Research Lab has a large tower over there for radar research. I hope that’s not what I saw on fire (maybe they were doing laser tests or something).

UPDATE: Went and got the bigger binoculars out of the basement and…still no idea. It might not be a fire but some really powerful light, being distorted in shape and intensity due to the water vapor over the Bay tonight. It’s still going on after 40 minutes and that tower really doesn’t have the much fuel (it’s not that big). Guess I’ll just have to wait and see…

We’ll check the Eastern Shore papers tomorrow and see what’s what.

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Half a submarine just floated past.

Andrew — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:47:42 +0000

gin: 5px; border: 1px solid black;” src=”http://www.penguinsix.com/images/sub.jpg” alt=”" width=”400″ />Ok, I know it sounds odd, but I swear I just saw 1/2 of a Submarine go past the house on top of a barge.

I went to the AIS site and the barge is the:

Ship Name: C.ANGELO

Speed : 8

MMSI: 366988420

Course: 356.5

Ship Type: Tug

Heading: 511

Ship Lat: 38.6979

Ship Long: -76.451

Dimensions: L: 30

W: 10

Destination: RIVER HEAD

D: 3.4

ETA: Jan09 19:00

http://www.popularwireless.com/sp/index.php

UPDATE: It might be the front bit that goes in below the waterline in front of a ship:

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More ships past the window.

Andrew — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:35:30 +0000

Couple interesting vessels today. The first was a destroyer leaving Annapolis and making its way back toward Norfolk. Turns out it was the USS Cole, famous from the attack in Yemen a few years back. It was in Annapolis for the homecoming game (which Navy lost miserably to Pitt).

The second is the Gazela Primerio, a barquentine heading toward Baltimore for the annual clipper race which will be in a few days.

After the Cole was attacked it was ferried back to the US for repairs.

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Sink the tank ship

Andrew — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:13:33 +0000

The Ukranian freighter loaded with T-72 tanks has been surrounded by a number of US and other naval vessels off the coast of Somalia. The pirates have responded by lowering their demand from $35 million to $20 million for the cargo, that some say is destined to be delivered to Kenya.

That’s a load of crap.

These T-72s are going to the Sudan despite an international ban on arms sales to that rogue country. Kenya does not use Russian made tanks, and it is pretty clear to many they are just the middlemen for this lucrative deal to the Sudanese government. It’s clear we need to act, and we have the opportunity to do so.

We should sink the ship.

Give the crew a chance to jump overboard, and maybe the pirates as well, but I don’t think anyone would shed a tear if this cargo went to the bottom of the sea. It would send a great message to pirates and to suppliers of the Sudanese regime that the embargo on their country has teeth.

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Somali pirates now have tanks

Andrew — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:58:32 +0000

File this in the ‘not good’ category. A boatload of 30 T-72 tanks was intercepted off the coast of Somalia but the Somali pirates, who will likely be adding these weapons. Just what Africa needs more of–tanks and ammunition.

Hopefully they’ll be dumb enough to put one of the tanks on a small boat and try to attack someone with it.

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