![]() The oral histories include veterans’ memories from as early as WW1 and include personal stories of naval personnel recently returned from duties in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, East Timor and the Sinai. Oral Histories The Oral History Project commenced in 1991 as part of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy.Places Read about the history of ‘Elizabeth House’ -the home of the Women in the Navy during WWII and ‘HMNZS Tamaki’ – a training establishment for personnel in WWII.Read about ‘HMNZS Gambia’ – the ship known to have fired the last shots of WWII and ‘HMHS Maheno ‘– a hospital ship that carried injured men back home to New Zealand in WWI. Ships New Zealand’s naval ships have undertaken a range of tasks and operations.He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boringand Machete Squad. Mark Leavitt, commander of the Navy’s East Coast MH-53Es, told National Defense.ĭavid Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. “We simply do not have the assets in the pipeline to do what we’re doing right now,” Capt. While the Navy is happy with its minehunting companies and getting closer to being satisfied with the LCS as a mine-warfare vessel, the aerial component of the minesweeping missions continues to be a problem. The MH-60 is more reliable than the MH-53E is but cannot haul a sled like the MH-53E can do, making the former a less effective minesweeper. And their low- and slow-flying mission profile is risky and has resulted in one of the highest crash rates of any military aircraft community. The powerful MH-53Es with their three engines haul ocean-skimming sleds that carry sonars for detecting mines. The MH-60s partially replace the Navy’s 27 MH-53E heavy minesweeping helicopters. In addition to drones, the LCSs could embark MH-60S helicopters carrying laser sensors that can scan the sea for the telltale shape of underwater mines. The robot boats would haul sonars that could detect mines. ![]() Unhappy with the performance of some of its underwater drones, the Navy is embarking drone boats on the LCSs in place of the undersea ‘bots. The LCSs’ mine-warfare loadout still is in flux. Converting just 15 LCSs into minesweepers leaves sets of drones that the fleet could use to expand the ExMCM force. The Navy actually bought 24 LCS-compatible minehunting kits, each with its own drones. Four each minehunters will remain in Bahrain and Japan for a few more years as the Navy continues installing minehunting systems on 15 LCSs. The fleet in the meantime is preparing to decommission, sometime in 2020, three Avengers that are based in the United States for training. The Navy has been so pleased with the ExMCM companies that Merwin said he’s considering spending part of his $4-billion mine-warfare portfolio adding companies for the 7th Fleet and 6th Fleet, respectively in the Pacific and Atlantic regions. “A sailor recently aboard one ship said the sonar meant to detect mines was so imprecise that in training exercises it flagged dishwashers, crab traps and cars on the ocean floor as potential bombs.” ![]() “The companies that used to make a variety of spare parts no longer exist,” ProPublica reported. The 1,300-ton-displacement Avengers reportedly are unreliable and rarely leave port. The ExMCM companies currently deploy only to the 5th Fleet area of operations in the Persian Gulf, reinforcing four Avengers that sail from Bahrain. ![]()
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