In the April 2012 Edition  – OUT NOW!

• RALLYING CALL FOR NEW SEA VISION
• AIR-SEA CONCEPT TO CONTAIN CHINA
• SWANSONG VOYAGE OF ‘HMS SCOUSE’
• THERE WILL BE NO INVASION
• HMS DARING EAST OF SUEZ
• ESSENTIAL GLOBAL NAVAL SUPPORT
• TACT, DIPLOMACY & IRON RESOLVE
• AFRICAN STATES TACKLE MENACE
• NAVIES BATTLE FIRE AND ICE
• CANADA’S CONFIDENCE CRUISE
• THE GUN THAT WON TRAFALGAR

RALLYING CALL FOR NEW SEA VISION

Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, Chief of Navy, Royal Australian Navy (RAN) presents his vision for a more relevant maritime future. It makes for a fascinating and thought provoking discourse, at a time when the admiral’s own fleet is undergoing a major regeneration, with many challenges.

Photo: Royal Australian Navy.

AIR-SEA CONCEPT TO CONTAIN CHINA

How has the recent reshaping of the American military configured the US Navy for its bid to contain expanding Chinese capabilities, via the concept of the Air-Sea Battle?

Photo: US Navy.

SWANSONG VOYAGE OF ‘HMS SCOUSE’

Editor-at-Large Jonathan Eastland voyaged aboard the veteran destroyer HMS Liverpool, from Glasgow to her namesake city on the shores Mersey. The ship was making her final visit for a farewell run ashore.  In this edition, Eastland provides a pictorial taster, with a few words to frame it, for next issue’s remarkable portrait of a venerable old lady in her twilight days.

Photo: Jonathan Eastland/AJAX.

THERE WILL BE NO INVASION

Thirty years on from the Falklands War, Argentinean writers Santiago Rivas and Juan Carlos Cicalesi suggest fears of another invasion are simply unfounded. They explain why.

Photo: US Navy.

HMS DARING EAST OF SUEZ

The British destroyer HMS Daring was no sooner through the Suez Canal, on her maiden front line deployment, when she was plunged into counter-terrorism and anti-piracy operations. We profile the beginning of the Type 45s’ first front line mission.

Photo: Royal Navy.

ESSENTIAL GLOBAL NAVAL SUPPORT

Possessing a fleet of highly capable replenishment vessels is evidence of a credible navy with the ability to both project power and protect national interests around the globe. Usman Ansari begins a multi-part survey of world naval replenishment ships by taking a look at the British and American flotillas.

Image: BMT.

TACT, DIPLOMACY & IRON RESOLVE

In the fourth and final part of our series considering the Royal Navy’s combat operations off Libya from the warship command perspective, Iain Ballantyne interviews Commander Nick Cooke-Priest, who was captain of the Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke.

Photo: Royal Navy.

AFRICAN STATES TACKLE MENACE

Nations in southern Africa have vowed to get a grip on maritime security as threats from pirates and terrorists exert themselves in waters off their shores.

We report on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Chief of Navies and Maritime Commanders summit where action plans were discussed.

Photo: Clinton Wyness.

NAVIES BATTLE FIRE AND ICE

On her maiden voyage as the Royal Navy’s new Ice Patrol Ship HMS Protector found herself involved in surveying treacherous waters where passenger liners have in the past come to grief. She was also soon called into action by sending fire fighting teams ashore to assist a blaze-afflicted research station. We report on Protector’s current deployment.

Photo: Royal Navy.

CANADA’S CONFIDENCE CRUISE

This year has seen another unhappy chapter in the story of the Canadian Navy’s submarine force, with shock expressed over the extent of damage suffered by HMCS Corner Brook during a recent submerged collision. To allay public fears of a lame duck investment, the Canadian defence ministry has mounted a publicity campaign about sister submarine HMCS Victoria’s sea trials.

Image: Canadian DND.

THE GUN THAT WON TRAFALGAR

John Roberts, from Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower, tells the story of the remarkable Blomefield cannon, one of the most important, but least well-known, weapons in the history of the Royal Navy.

Photo: Royal Navy.