After three years of construction at Avondale, people lined both sides of the Mississippi to pay tribute to a vessel that was born out of the steel that was once the framework for the nations tallest towers, the Twin Towers. 7 ½ tons worth of its steel was used to craft the ships bow stem. Now, completely built, painted and equipped, The USS New York was cheered on by thousands as it headed for New York City where it will be commissioned on November 7^th.

The New York set sail down the Mississippi River, through downtown New Orleans and eventually to the Gulf, where it will eventually round Florida and head up the Atlantic seaboard.

As it meandered down the Mississippi, celebrations of pride and outpourings of tribute overwhelmed the thousands who lined the banks of the Mississippi and gathered at several designated locations where the ships builders, Northup-Grumma,  and local civic associations distributed three thousand American flags which were raised in defiance of those who attacked our nation and brought down the steel that was used to make the majestic ship floating past them and waved in satisfaction and hope.

Two separate 21 gun salutes were provided during its exit from New Orleans and the Mississippi.  Sailors along the Admiral’s Pier at the Naval Support Activity joined with the Navy Band New Orleans which played “Anchors Aweigh” for the New York as she passed by. And in In Belle Chasse, near the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base’s main entrance and across from the Naval Federal Credit Union, another 21 gun salute was offered by sailors. A military color guard that was also present, honored the passing ship.

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NAIROBI (AFP) – Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military said on Wednesday.

The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre (525-foot) command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.

"The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in Paris.

La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

Officers on the ship have directed commando operations to free French hostages in the hands of Somali pirates.

The pirates tried to flee when they realised their mistake but were pursued by French forces who, after an hour-long chase, caught one of the skiffs, Prazuck said.

On it they found five men but no weapons, water or food as the pirates had apparently thrown all of the boat's contents overboard, the spokesman said.

A Western official at sea in the area, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that there had been an exchange of fire between the warship and the pirate launches.

"One of the skiffs managed to get away in the night because La Somme was busy with the first pirate boat," he said.

"Despite the arrival of other vessels, they haven't yet managed to find the second boat," he said, adding that many warships in the area were busy hunting another group which attacked a cargo ship off the Seychelles on Sunday.

[More at Yahoo! News]

Devonport naval base in Plymouth has opened its gates to the public for the first time in three years. 

Thousands of people have bought tickets for this weekend's Navy Days 2009 event which includes the chance to go onboard a number of ships and submarines.

The star of the show is HMS Daring, the first of the new Type 45 Destroyers.

Helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, the largest ship in the fleet, and HMS Bulwark, the Fleet Amphibious Flagship also opened to visitors.

Devonport has been providing support to the Royal Navy since 1691 and is now the largest naval base in western Europe, covering more than 650 acres and four miles of waterfront.

It has 2,500 civilian and service personnel. 


[via BBC News]

SAN DIEGO -- City officials are considering a plan to convert a decommissioned warship into San Diego's first city-run homeless shelter.

"It would satisfy the City Council's desire to get us off the street and put us on the water," says Ramona White, who is homeless for the first time at age 56.

Getting the thousands of homeless people off the streets is something the Centre City Development Corporation, city officials and the Housing Commission have been trying to do for years. They are trying to find a way to open a city-run shelter.

CCDC spokesman Jeff Graham said there are several emergency shelters in the city, but there are not enough beds.

Converting a former warship into a shelter would require Congress to change a federal law that says surplus ships can only be sold to an allied nation, used to create man-made reefs or made into museums like the U.S.S. Midway in San DIego.

"We don't know what the cost would be to rehabilitate the ship and make it safe," Graham said.

"I would love if we had a shelter ran by the city of San Diego.

This is the only city in America I have been in that does not have their own city-run shelter," said Ronald Danner, who has been homeless for two years.

The Navy said it has not received an official request to use an old ship to house homeless, and the CCDC is still investigating whether the idea is logistically and financially possible.

"CCDC has $10 million set aside for the one-stop-shop, permanent home solution," Graham said. "It may indeed cost quite a bit more than that, and we'll have to seek federal and state sources to fund the gap."

[via KTLA]

Somali pirates released a German freighter after a ransom was paid Monday, nearly four months after the ship was seized in the Indian Ocean, a European Union naval spokesman said.

British Royal Navy Cmdr. John Harbour said the 20,000-tonne Hansa Stavanger, taken 400 miles off the southern Somali port of Kismayu on April 4, was released several hours after the payment was made.

"She put to sea on her own steam and she is continuing out to sea under the protection of European naval force units," he said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement it was "with great relief" that learned of the ship's release.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, too, was "happy and relieved," a German government spokeswoman said.

"She hopes that the released crew members and their families can recover as quickly as possible from the stress and emotional strain of the past weeks," the spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity.

Harbour said the EU did not get involved in ransom deals and he could not confirm reports that $2.7 million had been paid. He was reached at the headquarters of the EU's anti-piracy mission in Northwood, near London.

Frank Leonhardt, head of the Hamburg-based shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg, said in a statement that he had spoken with the crew by telephone and they were "doing well."

He said the ship would continue to Mombasa, where it would be met by representatives from the company, and that the crew members would be flown to their homes "as quickly as possible."

He said the ordeal had been "seemingly endless" for the crew members and company.

"In the extremely difficult ransom negotiations with the pirates, my primary responsibility was always the safe release of the 24 crew members of the MV Hansa Stavanger."

He did not give any other details on the ransom and nobody could be reached at the company by telephone to provide further details.

The ship had a multinational 24 member crew: five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians, two Filipinos and 12 Tuvalus.

By Monday evening, a small EU team had boarded the vessel with a doctor to check over the crew members, but Harbour said initial indications were that everyone was in good condition.

"Everyone is accounted for, and there appears to be no major problem medically," he said.

Pirates in the area have conducted more than 100 attacks this year and are currently holding about a dozen vessels.

Source

NAIROBI, Kenya – In a riveting high-seas drama, an unarmed American crew wrested control of their U.S.-flagged cargo ship from Somali pirates Wednesday and sent them fleeing to a lifeboat with the captain as hostage.

The destroyer USS Bainbridge, one of a half dozen warships that headed for the area, arrived at the scene Thursday morning a few hours before dawn, said Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the company that owns the Maersk Alabama. He said the boat with the pirates was floating near the ship, the first with an American crew to be taken by pirates off the Horn of Africa.

Speers said officials were waiting to see what happens when the sun comes up. Crew members had been negotiating with the pirates Wednesday for the return of the captain.

A family member said Capt. Richard Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew.

"What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage," said Gina Coggio, 29, half sister of Phillips' wife. "That is what he would do. It's just who he is and his responsibility as a captain."

Details of the day's events emerged sporadically as members of the crew were reached by satellite phone, providing a glimpse of the maneuvering.

Source

For the first three months of 2009, Somalia's notorious pirates faded from the headlines as a massive international naval force moved in, and many observers thought the pirates were running scared. 

Not so fast: the pirates have hijacked at least five vessels since Saturday.

Using a new strategy, they are operating further away from warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden. And they no longer have to contend with the choppy waters that always plague the seas off Somalia in the early part of the year.

Source

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Two Japanese naval vessels set sail today to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia ahead of a debate in parliament over a law that would broaden their rules of engagement.  

The two warships, each carrying about 200 crew members and two helicopters, will escort vessels carrying Japanese cargo or passengers through the Gulf of Aden, said a spokesman at Japan’s defense ministry on the condition of anonymity.  

Source

Danish warship the Absalon, patrolling in the Gulf of Aden, stopped yesterday an attack by pirates against a Chinese freight ship, which had sent out a distress call.

The Absalon confiscated weapons of seven pirates, who had fired on the freighter, Denmark’s navy said late yesterday on its Web site. The Absalon and a U.S. warship offered medical aid to possible injured personal at the Chinese vessel, which was declined, according to the navy statement.

Source

Xinhua News Agency reports:

A Shanghai shipping company has rewarded 30 of its seamen with 10,000 U.S. dollars each after they successfully fought off a pirate attack off Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. 

Each crew member of the cargo ship, Zhenhua 4, was being rewarded for their bravery and courage, said Guan Tongxian, president of Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. 

The crew received the reward in a commendation ceremony at Changxing Island Port, after their vessel returned to Shanghai on Thursday morning to be welcomed by crowds of people. 

Nine pirates armed with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns boarded the ship on Dec. 17. The crew locked themselves in cabins, using fire hoses and self-made firebombs to keep the attackers at bay for six hours. 

Foreign warships and helicopters were contacted and helped Chinese seamen beat back the pirates later. No one was injured in the attack.

Captain Peng Weiyuan, 57, attributed their success to careful training. 

Peng began a drill to fend off a possible pirate attack 10 days before the ship entered the Somali waters. 

 China sent two navy destroyers and a supply ship to the Gulf of Aden on Dec. 26 to protect Chinese civilian vessels and crews, including those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and foreign vessels on request. The vessels arrived in the gulf on Jan. 6.

Source