On this day in1970, Black Tot Day marked the final daily rum issue in the Royal Navy. At 6 Bells of the Forenoon, (11am) Up Spirits was piped for final time. Grog was a rum and water mix introduced in 17th century, originally 1/2 pint it was 1/8 pint by 1970.

 

Royal Navy Astute-class fleet submarine inbound to Faslane, Scotland - July 29, 2023.

 

Another shapely stern! USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) completing its first Regular Overhaul (ROH) at Palumbo Shipyard Malta, July 25, 2023.

 

Is it a Submarine or a Cruiser? French "Undersea Cruiser" Surcouf at sea prior to its disappearance in February of 1942.

 

Always welcome... 3rd US Submarine visitor to Faslane in the space of 10 days. Virginia class submarine inbound this morning.

 

HMS Westminster in the basin at Devonport Frigate Support Centre this week, her future unclear.

https://www.navylookout.com/hms-westminster-refit-suspended-and-her-return-to-service-in-doubt/

 

RFA Mounts Bay, RFA Strlng Castle, RFA Tidesurge and RFA Tideforce all alongside in Portland. DETAILS

 

Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer, HMS Liverpool Served 1980 until 2012. Scrapped in Turkey.

 

USS San Diego (LPD 22) San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock coming into San Diego after suffering engineering casualty - July 28, 2023.

 

The shapely stern of the future USS Harvey C Barnum Jr (DDG 124) Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer being christened today in Bath, Maine - July 29, 2023.

 

HMS Tyne leaving Portsmouth this morning for duty as Cowes week regatta guard ship. HMS Kent astern.

 

Ukrainian naval drone in the CNN story. The drone control panel is also shown in the first few seconds. The range is 800 kilometers and can contain 300 kg of explosives. It is noted that it is developed and produced entirely in Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1685269876200366080

 

The Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) departs Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, March 31, 2006, after a three-month port visit to undergo minor modifications, post-transit maintenance, and routine inspections. The Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1) is a floating, self-propelled, mobile active electronically scanned array early-warning radar station designed to operate in high winds and heavy seas. It was developed as part of the United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ballistic Missile Defense System.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-based_X-band_Radar 

On this day, 80 yrs ago in 1943, the liner RMS Queen Mary arrived on the Clyde from New York in her role as a Troop Ship. She was carrying 16,683 souls, the greatest number of people ever embarked in one ship. She was escorted by the Royal Navy and averaged 28 Knots during the passage.

 

Earl Mounbatten at the ceremony to hand over the warship HMS Marriner to the Burmese Navy where it wil become the Yanmyoeaung (Conqueror of Evil) 1958.

 

On this day In 1943, Task Force 18 intercepted a Japanese convoy attempting to land reinforcements on Kolombangara. Despite loss and damage to four USN ships, the force turned back, proving again that Japan couldn't sustain forward bases in the face of Allied air and naval superiority. USS St. Louis (CL-49). Damage to bow from torpedo, at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, from the Battle of Kolombangara, July 12-13, 1943.

 

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) guided missile destroyer JDS Tachikaze (DDG-168) passing under the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo Bay.

 

Disposal of Decommissioned, Defueled Ex-Enterprise (CVN 65).

https://seawaves.com/2023/07/20/disposal-of-decommissioned-defueled-ex-enterprise-cvn-65/

US Los Angles class (Flight II) submarine outbound on the Clyde today.

 

HMS Prince of Wales full power trials in the North Sea following repairs to propeller shaft.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1684989736073474058

ITS Amerigo Vespucci with ITS Antonio Marceglia Alongside La Spezia, Italy.

 

USS Mesa Verde inbound to Devonport, UK, this afternoon.

 

The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Inch (DE-146) with prisoners from German submarine U-490 (center, two wearing life vests, one in shirtsleeves) on her quarter deck, awaiting transfer to the escort carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25), 12 June 1944. U-490 had been sunk the previous night.

 

HMS Victoria British battleship. 1890 completed by Armstrong Mitchell Elswick. Sank 1893 following collision with HMS Camperdown off Tripoli.

 

HMS Protector, inbound to Devonport yesterday. HMS Protector is the Royal Navy ice patrol ship built in Norway in mid 2000.

 

1943, USS Tinosa returned from her 11th Patrol. She had began a series of attacks on the Japanese ship Tonan Maru. Only 2 of 15 torpedoes detonated even though several were direct hits, revealing a major flaw in the Mark 14 torpedo. Because of expense, the Navy had not run many tests prior to the war.

 

USS Vermont (SSN 792) Virginia-class Block IV nuclear-powered attack submarine coming into new homeport of Pearl Harbour - July 27, 2023.

 

The hardest working capital ship in the Royal Navy is heading for a well-earned rest at the end of six years of intensive operations around the world.

 

Today to ‘Pipe Down’ means to be quiet. It comes from the Royal Navy where sailors use a Bosuns Call (the sailors answer to the bugle) to order the crew to ‘Down’ hammocks and be quiet for bed. To play the bosuns call is to pipe it, hence ‘Pipe Down’. I know, cus' I was there!

 

On this day, 60 years ago in 1963, the frigate HMS Leopard (F14), was seriously damaged. One main died when she collided with the South African minesweeper Pietermaritzburg (ex-HMS PELORUS) during an exercise. LEOPARD put in to Simonstown Dockyard for repairs before returning to the UK.

 

The U.S. Navy destroyer tender USS Prairie (AD-15) with destroyers at Yokosuka, Japan, in January 1963. To the left is a Mitscher-class destroyer leader. To the right of Prairie are: a Farragut-class guided missile destroyer, probably USS Coontz (DLG-9); a Fletcher-class destroyer; a Gearing-class radar warning destroyer; and a Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer.

 

USNS Medgar Evers when alongside at Hunterston Quay on the Firth of Clyde.

 

USS Lafayette (AP-53), formerly the ocean liner SS Normandie, after burning and capsizing in New York Harbor on 10 February 1942.

 

HMS Scott has a special connection to Devonport, being the birthplace of the ship's namesake, Captain Robert Falcon Scott RN. With thanks to Gareth Dempster for this fantastic photo of the ship passing the Scott memorial last week.

 

Italian type 212A submarine Todaro.

 

HMS DAUNTLESS 'spinning sphere' has caused consternation in the US.

https://keysweekly.com/42/british-warship-stops-in-key-west/ 

Shipbuilders prepare to secure 200,000-pound emergency diesel generator for John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the second nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford class, currently under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding. May 5, 2016.

 

HMS Queen Elizabeth, bows south, on Princess Royal Jetty in Portsmouth .