American submariners who operated from Albany and Fremantle during World War II were honoured at a memorial service on Sunday.

The US Submariners Memorial Service at Princess Royal Fortress paid tribute to those submariners “Still on Patrol”.

More than 4,000 officers and men died when 52 submarines were lost.

The submariners who lost their lives were remembered with the traditional ringing of a bell.

A total of 31 US submarines visited Albany after 1942 to resupply and to provide rest and recreation for crew. The tenders Holland and Pelias and five submarines were based at the port.

Few would dispute that Admiral Hyman G. Rickover cast a large shadow over the late 20th-century U.S. Navy. Not many flag officers in the long and storied history of the service generated as much controversy. Recognized as the father of the Nuclear Navy, some critics contend it was Rickover's influence that caused the shift to a greater emphasis on technical expertise and engineering skills in the Navy, eventually pushing aside the successors to the colorful men of the World War II diesel boats. That transformation can be seen even in popular culture when one observes the change in how submarine skippers have been portrayed on the silver screen. Think of Clark Gable's obsessed Commander "Rich" Richardson in Run Silent, Run Deep and compare him with The Hunt for Red October's cool Bart Mancuso, captain of the USS Dallas.

Although considered a tyrant by some, Rickover wanted only the best for the new Nuclear Navy. His arduous interview and selection process for nuclear-power-trained officers became legendary. Many of the stories from these exchanges have never been corroborated. One successful survivor of a Rickover interview is longtime Proceedings contributor retired Captain William Toti. In this issue, he takes us with him to the office of the "Kindly Old Gentleman" (Rickover's tongue-in-cheek nickname among his disciples) and verifies several of the famous over-the-top tales that emanated from the process. It's easy to see how one could love or hate the admiral, perhaps even both at the same time.

One suspects, though, that Rickover might not be too fond of the argument put forth this month by Naval War College Professor Milan Vego. In "The Right Submarines for Lurking in the Littorals" he advocates a mixed force of nuclear-powered attack submarines and conventionally powered antisubmarine boats (SSKs). If the Navy is serious about operating in the littorals, SSKs will be vital to that mission, according to Dr. Vego. He sees these boats as an important complement to the nuclear submarine force in the coming era of fiscal constraint, not an alternative.

Submarine safety has been a topic of discussion in recent years as there have been a number of mishaps involving the force. Considering the challenges inherent in peacetime operations, one can imagine the added complications a wartime antisubmarine warfare (ASW) environment would present. Retired Commander Michael Dobbs and Robert Wong discuss prevention of mutual interference and waterspace management, two key concepts of undersea command and control. They offer sound solutions for streamlining these processes.

Troy Bentz continues the discussion of antisubmarine warfare in "Fight or Flight?" While ASW was always identified as one of the littoral combat ship's (LCS) main roles, the author maintains that the LCS is perhaps the best vessel in the Navy for this task. Its speed, maneuverability, cost, and size make it more survivable against torpedo attack and therefore a more logical candidate to put in harm's way than an Aegis-equipped destroyer.

One of the great benefits of Admiral Rickover's Nuclear Navy is that it reduced the U.S. military's consumption of oil. But today, the U.S. Navy nonetheless is the largest consumer of diesel fuel in the world, while the Department of Defense is still the planet's largest oil consumer. As Lieutenant (junior grade) Douglas Marsh points out in this issue, the time is now, not later, for the Navy to wean itself off its lethal oil dependence. Oil, he notes, is an ever-more finite resource, the use of which entails all sorts of baggage, from dependence on foreign potentates to the natural disasters that can sometimes occur (witness the Gulf of Mexico at present). The Secretary of the Navy's efforts to create and deploy a "Great Green Fleet" could not be more timely, and everything from nuclear energy to alternative fuels must be brought to bear.

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BEIJING - South Korean Prime Minister Lee Myung-bak has claimed "overwhelming evidence" that a North Korean torpedo sank the corvette Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that there’s "overwhelming evidence" in favor of the theory that North Korea sank the South Korean Navy warship Cheonan. But the articles of proof presented so far by military investigators to an official inquiry board have been scanty and inconsistent.

There’s yet another possibility, that a U.S. rising mine sank the Cheonan in a friendly-fire accident.

In the recent U.S.-China strategic talks in Shanghai and Beijing, the Chinese side dismissed the official scenario presented by the Americans and their South Korean allies as not credible. This conclusion was based on an independent technical assessment by the Chinese military, according to a Beijing-based military affairs consultant to the People Liberation Army.

Hardly any of the relevant facts that counter the official verdict have made headline news in either South Korea or its senior ally, the United States.

The first telltale sign of an official smokescreen involves the location of the Choenan sinking - Byeongnyeong Island (pronounced Pyongnang) in the Yellow Sea. On the westernmost fringe of South Korean territory, the island is dominated by a joint U.S.-Korean base for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations. The sea channel between Byeongnyeong and the North Korean coast is narrow enough for both sides to be in artillery range of each other.

Anti-sub warfare is based on sonar and acoustic detection of underwater craft. Since civilian traffic is not routed through the channel, the noiseless conditions are near-perfect for picking up the slightest agitation, for example from a torpedo and any submarine that might fire it.

North Korea admits it does not possess an underwater craft stealthy enough to slip past the advanced sonar and audio arrays around Byeongnyeong Island, explained North Korean intelligence analyst Kim Myong Chol in a news release. "The sinking took place not in North Korean waters but well inside tightly guarded South Korean waters, where a slow-moving North Korean submarine would have great difficulty operating covertly and safely, unless it was equipped with AIP (air-independent propulsion) technology."

The Cheonan sinking occurred in the aftermath of the March 11-18 Foal Eagle Exercise, which included anti-submarine maneuvers by a joint U.S.-South Korean squadron of five missile ships. A mystery surrounds the continued presence of the U.S. missile cruisers for more than eight days after the ASW exercise ended.

Only one reporter, Joohee Cho of ABC News, picked up the key fact that the Foal Eagle flotilla curiously included the USNS Salvor, a diving-support ship with a crew of 12 Navy divers. The lack of any minesweepers during the exercise leaves only one possibility: the Salvor was laying bottom mines.

Ever since an American cruiser was damaged by one of Saddam Hussein's rising mines, also known as bottom mines, in the Iraq War, the U.S. Navy has pushed a crash program to develop a new generation of mines. The U.S. Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command has also been focused on developing counterparts to the fearsome Chinese naval "assassin's mace," which is propelled by a rocket engine.

A rising mine, which is effective only in shallow waters, rests atop a small platform on the sea floor under a camouflage of sand and gravel. Its detection system uses acoustics and magnetic readings to pick up enemy ships and submarines. When activated, jets of compressed air or solid-fuel rockets lift the bomb, which self-guides toward the magnetic center of the target. The blast rips the keel, splitting the ship or submarine into two neat pieces, just as was done to the RKOS Cheonan.

A lateral-fired torpedo, in contrast, "holes" the target's hull, tilting the vessel in the classic war movie manner. The South Korean government displayed to the press the intact propeller shaft of a torpedo that supposedly struck the Cheonan. Since torpedoes travel between 40-50 knots per hour (which is faster than collision tests for cars), a drive shaft would crumble upon impacting the hull and its bearing and struts would be shattered or bent by the high-powered blast.

The initial South Korean review stated that the explosive was gunpowder, which would conform to North Korea's crude munitions. This claim was later overturned by the inquiry board, which found the chemical residues to be similar to German advanced explosives. Due to sanctions against Pyongyang and its few allies, it is hardly credible that North Korea could obtain NATO-grade ordnance.

Thus, the mystery centers on the USNS Salvor, which happened to be yet right near Byeongyang Island at the time of the Cheonan sinking and far from its home base, Pearl Harbor. The inquiry board in Seoul has not questioned the officers and divers of the Salvor, which oddly is not under the command of the 7th Fleet but controlled by the innocuous-sounding Military Sealift Command. Diving-support ships like the Salvor are closely connected with the Office of Naval Intelligence since their duties include secret operations such as retrieving weapons from sunken foreign ships, scouting harbor channels and laying mines, as when the Salvor trained Royal Thai Marine divers in mine-laying in the Gulf of Thailand in 2006, for example.

The Salvor's presence points to an inadvertent release of a rising mine, perhaps because its activation system was not switched off. A human error or technical glitch is very much within the realm of possibility due to the swift current and strong tides that race through the Byeongnyeong Channel. The arduous task of mooring the launch platforms to the sea floor allows the divers precious little time for double-checking the electronic systems.

If indeed it was an American rising mine that sank the Cheonan, it would constitute a friendly-fire accident. That in itself is not grounds for a criminal investigation against the presidential office and, at worst, amounts only to negligence by the military. However, any attempt to falsify evidence and engage in a media cover-up for political purposes constitutes tampering, fraud, perjury and possibly treason.

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.

The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.

The submarines of Flotilla 7 - Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan - have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.

The flotilla's commander, identified only as "Colonel O", told an Israeli newspaper: "We are an underwater assault force. We're operating deep and far, very far, from our borders."

Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile.

The vessels can remain at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged up to 1,150ft below the surface for at least a week. Some of the cruise missiles are equipped with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal.

The deployment is designed to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents. "We're a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we can stay for a long time in one place," said a flotilla officer.

The submarines could be used if Iran continues its programme to produce a nuclear bomb. "The 1,500km range of the submarines' cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran," said a navy officer.

Apparently responding to the Israeli activity, an Iranian admiral said: "Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us."

Israel's urgent need to deter the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance was demonstrated last month. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, was said to have shown President Barack Obama classified satellite images of a convoy of ballistic missiles leaving Syria on the way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will emphasise the danger to Obama in Washington this week.

If you are at least 65 I am Sure,

 but how many have seen this? And check out the color fidelity -

Nothing will ever compare with Kodachrome film.

http://vimeo.com/5645171 

On-Line Scuttlebutt

Ahoy All,

Ahoy All,