• NOT AS FLEXIBLE AS US NAVY HOPED
• U.S. ASIA-PACIFIC TILT ACCELERATES
• NAVAL COALITION AIMS TO PROVE ‘FREE STRAIT OF HORMUZ’
• SCOURGE OF THE GULF OF GUINEA
• RIMPAC 2012: BIGGEST EVER
• FOCUS ON MARITIME AVIATION
• THE FIRST & LAST FIGHT OF THE ARDENT
• MAKING THE MOST OF MODEST SUPPORT
• WAR OF 1812: DETERMINED TO BEST THE BRITISH
• A BOLD PLAN FOR FUTURE HISTORY

NOT AS FLEXIBLE AS US NAVY HOPED

Special Correspondent David Axe on how the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship isn’t nearly as flexible as it was supposed to be. That’s reported to be the conclusion of a classified study whose contents were recently leaked to the press.

Photo: US Navy.

U.S. ASIA-PACIFIC TILT ACCELERATES

A Pentagon emissary has cited the late great John Wayne – the Hollywood legend who stormed Asian beaches as a fictional US Marine – to illustrate how serious his country is about its strategic tilt towards Asia-Pacific. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter explained the USA is “walking the walk and not just talking the talk.” We reveal what else he told Asia-Pac leaders.

Photo: US Navy.

NAVAL COALITION AIMS TO PROVE ‘FREE STRAIT OF HORMUZ’

A multinational mine warfare exercise this month (Sept) will lay down the gauntlet to Iran over the right of passage through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Tehran views the narrow waterway as entirely under its jurisdiction, but the rest of the world begs to differ. Iain Ballantyne reports.

Photo: US Navy.

SCOURGE OF THE GULF OF GUINEA

As a state of equilibrium has come about in countering piracy off East Africa, it appears that failure is on the cards off West Africa. Paul Gibbins analyses the situation.

Photo: US Navy.

RIMPAC 2012: BIGGEST EVER

Two stealthy killers of the deep – one Canadian and the other Australian – struck off Hawaii, sending a pair of ships to the bottom of the ocean during the latest Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC 2012). It was just one aspect of the world’s biggest naval exercise, which we profile in words and pics.

Photo: US Navy.

FOCUS ON MARITIME AVIATION

Dave Billinge & Patrick Boniface convey news from the UK’s massive Farnborough Show 2012. MPAs were in vogue on the naval side of life, though the new Lynx Wildcat and MV-22 Osprey were also on the menu. Aside from news-in-brief, we also report on the latest developments in the programme to provide the Royal Navy with the F-35B strike jet.

Photo: Tom Harvey, Lockheed Martin.

THE FIRST & LAST FIGHT OF THE ARDENT

Iain Ballantyne recently met survivors of the frigate HMS Ardent when they returned to their old homeport of Plymouth for a reunion. Here he presents an account of the first and last fight of the Ardent. On succeeding pages we hear from two sailors who served in the frigate HMS Plymouth, which saw plenty of action in the Falklands but somehow escaped destruction.

Photo: Royal Navy.

MAKING THE MOST OF MODEST SUPPORT

Usman Ansari completes his survey of at-sea replenishment capabilities with a look at those possessed by three of Latin America’s fleets.

Photo: US Navy.

WAR OF 1812: DETERMINED TO BEST THE BRITISH

Mark Simmons begins his series on the War of 1812 by looking at the complex causes behind the conflict.

Image: US Naval History & Heritage Command.

A BOLD PLAN FOR FUTURE HISTORY

Ian Stockdale proposes a potential future naval heritage centre for Plymouth. He believes with similar dedication and vision it could one day be as successful as Chatham’s Historic Dockyard, which today generates £16 million a year.

Photo: Iain Ballantyne.