US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Also I should add that the career of the commanding officer of USS Taylor did not survive the grounding

As expected a mistake like that can not be accepted in the navy Commander Dennis Volpe has been relieved of his command

bd popeye said:

IMO Truxtun is going in harms way at this time. There's no telling what may occur in the in that region. I'd like to know if the HST Carrier Strike Group is still in the eastern Mediterranean. I'll see what I can find out.

And yes I know a warship that large is not permitted to transit the Bosporus Straight.

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Yes she is...and at sea she will have no support there in the Black Sea.

The Taylor, which is good for ASW work but really nothing more in a situation like this, is in port being repaired after running aground and damaging her prop...so Truxtun is alone.

If it's the Bush, that's CVN-77 and I apparently Truxtun sailed from Norfolk as a part of the Bush group.

Anyhow, I imagine the Bush is keeping watch and prepared to assist with aircraft f necessary...but the Russians will have them out manned and outgunned in any case up in the Black Sea if things went awry.

I do not expect them too. The US would have to send a couple of destroyers and there would have to be a NATO SAG of 3-4 ships for them to pose any real surface challenge to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Taylor is an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate and the US still has 18 (out of an original 51 built for the US Navy) of them in service.

Their anti-air Standard missile launcher was removed because it was viewed as too expensive to upgrade them to fire the newer standard missiles. This decision also removed the capability for them to launch ASM Harpoons from the launcher. However, the Australians and the Turks upgraded their Perrys adding VLS tubes that allow the newer missiles to be launched. Those vessels now remain effective multi-role FFGs.

In US Service however, they vessels replaced the standard, single arm missile launcher and it's 40 round magazine with a single Mk-38 mod 2, 25mm auto cannon. Now, in US service the vessels are armed with the 25mm gun forward, a 76mm main gun amidships, and a 20mm Phalanx CIWS aft. They also carry two Seahawk helicopters and are therefore still very good in the ASW role.

Here's the USS Taylor, FFG-50, as she deployed. You can clearly see all three of her guns, and the two hangers for her helicopters in this photo.

Russia's actions are setting off alarm bells in Ankara and Erdogan is on the case

First it came with Georgia then came Syria and now Ukraine

Whatever enters the Black Sea has to go through Turkey and Russia has been sending ship after ship to Syria from the Crimea based Black Sea fleet

Russia is the historical enemy of Turkey let's face the facts they always will have issues with Turkey both never have got along and it's time Turkey now starts to ramp up its naval arm

Turkey has invested too much in its army and land forces for far far too long now they need to expand the navy and make sure they have the ships in place to face off the Russian navy which is adding a large number of ships to its fleet on a yearly basis

Turkey needs LPD, LHD and DDGs they need them in good numbers I would like to see Turkey put some serious consideration into buying a Arleign Burke type DDG with BMD

Buying 3 and build one in Turkey four such vessals will be very good for Turkey and will give them good first hand experience in building a DDG which will help the FFG and Corvette projects they have running

After seeing USS Truxtun flying that Turkish flag I can envisage the Turkish navu having one of these warships

It would give them such a huge capability and they could do Mediterranean missions very easily

Ada Class and TF-100 just won't cut it anymore in these circumstances MELGEM projects needs to go from FFG to DDG

USS Truxtun flying the Turkish flag

asif iqbal said:

USS Truxtun flying the Turkish flag.

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SOP for naval vessels transiting the Bosphorous straits according to the .

GENERAL:

Turkish Flag:
All foreign ships are required to fly the Turkish flag during their stay in Turkish ports or when passing through the Straits (Dardanelles and Bosphorus).

Special Rules for Passage of the Bosphorus:
During their passage through the Bosphorus, ships must regulate their speed, without exceeding the 10 knot limit over the bottom, so that piers, landing stages, etc., or other craft (sailing and rowing boats, etc.) may not be damaged by their wash. Further, they must take care not to hinder fishing and diving operations or to damage submarine telephone, telegraph or electric cables.

Sound Signals, Wireless Sets:
It is forbidden to make use of sirens or steam whistles in the harbour, except for manoeuvring purposes as laid down in the regulations for the avoidance of collisions.

Radio transmitters are not sealed on arrival of a vessel but it is recommended that their use in Turkish territorial waters be restricted to cases of emergency.

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I can guarantee you some nitwit/hater/idiot/military no-nothing will turn the Turkish flag into a Muslim flag and declare Pres. Obama has required USN ships in Muslim countries to fly this flag. And people will believe it. Look for this on Facebook and other social media..

Any way.. is also in the eastern Mediterranean. In fact Bataan just performed a rescue..

Release Date: 3/8/2014 12:25:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mark Hays

AEGEAN SEA (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) received a distress call today.

When Bataan's Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter arrived on-scene the Hellenic Coast Guard was responding to a grounded Turkish Flagged Container Vessel, Yusuf Cepnioglu. The SAR team observed the Turkish vessel listing.

Upon request for assistance, the aircraft lowered a rescue swimmer and recovered two Turkish mariners and returned to Bataan. The rescued mariners were assessed by Bataan's medical team, and were transferred to the Hellenic Coast Guard.

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Good thing ships have to fly the Turkish flag shows everyone who's boss!

bd popeye said:

I can guarantee you some nitwit/hater/idiot/military no-nothing will turn the Turkish flag into a Muslim flag and declare Pres. Obama has required USN ships in Muslim countries to fly this flag. And people will believe it. Look for this on Facebook and other social media..

Any way..

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is also in the eastern Mediterranean. In fact Bataan just performed a rescue..

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

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One thing I don't get is Obama has so much opposition and unpopularity how the hell did he manage to win a second term?

Mitt Romney. Even among Republicans, Mitt Romney is looked on as questionable. Add to this that the Obama was more popular at the time of the elections and that the last two presidents before him were both reelected, basicly there seems to be a don't rock the boat mentality. The last American president not to get the reelection was Bush Sr. Way back in the early 90s. A president really has to be viewed as slime to not get the second term.
and even then the opposition actually has to have a candidate who can been seen as capable of doing things better.

asif iqbal said:

One thing I don't get is Obama has so much opposition and unpopularity how the hell did he manage to win a second term?

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The American mainstream media is extremely liberal, and very partisan, they seem to hate conservative values on marriage, life issues, military, money, immigration, you name it, if its conservative, they hate it, and they transfer that hatred to those of us who are conservative, the media panders to the Ophrah/Daytime television crowd. You only have to observe the hatred propagated for George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz or Rush Limbaugh and right on down the line.

The Media schilled for Mr. Obama until the crushing losses of jobs, health benefits, and the individual and employer mandates to be enforced by the IRS, many, many businesses have cut a majority of their full time employees back to part time in order to avoid the employer mandate, so there are many who are partially employed. I believe there are more unemployed adults in America today than there has ever been in my lifetime, many of those are 50 to 65 years old, and trying to find employment, when your unemployement benefits run out, they quit counting those people, and state that they are not "looking for work". In addition food, fuel, medicine, and healthcare costs have doubled and even tripled, and Mr. Obama's statement, "If you like your Dr. you can keep your Dr." has been proven to be a lie, so Mr. Obama's credibility is presently very low among working Americans, many of whom are rapidly depleting their savings and retirement fund as they struggle to make ends meet.

So not only have we been very blessed, we are also very spoiled, many have realized just how little credibility we have on the international scene, so the sparrows are coming home to roost at the whitehouse???