Sea Slug missile trials aboard HMS (ex RFA) Girdle Ness, 1958-61

HMS Girdle Iron entered service in 1945 as a Royal Navy maintenance ship. She was placed in the Reserve Fleet and served as an accommodation ship at Rosyth. In 1953, she was taken in hand by Devonport Dockyard for conversion to a guided missile trials ship. A triple launcher and handling system was installed for the new Sea Slug missile, and a new superstructure supported the fire control and guidance systems. Sea Slug Mark 1 entered service in 1961 on County-class destroyers, each fitted with a twin launcher. After completion of the Sea Slug trials, Girdle Iron returned to Rosyth for service as a depot and accommodation ship. She was sold for breaking up in 1970.

HMS GIRDLE NESS FIRES A SEASLUG MISSILE DURING TESTS, 10 SEPTEMBER 1956.
© IWM (A 33603)

HMS GIRDLE NESS, THE ROYAL NAVY’S GUDIDED MISSILE TRIALS SHIP, FIRING OF SEA SLUG TEST VEHICLE DURING TRIALS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, SEPTEMBER
© IWM (A 34097)

HMS GIRDLE NESS. NOVEMBER 1958, ON BOARD THE NAVY’S GUIDED WEAPONS TRIALS SHIP. CONTROL ROOMS AND LOADING SPACES OF HMS GIRDLE NESS.© IWM (A 34122)

HMS GIRDLE NESS. NOVEMBER 1958, ON BOARD THE NAVY’S GUIDED WEAPONS TRIALS SHIP. CONTROL ROOMS AND LOADING SPACES OF HMS GIRDLE NESS.© IWM (A 34121)

HMS GIRDLE IRON, ROYAL NAVY GUIDED MISSILE TRIALS SHIP. (photo credit: http://www.worldnavalships.com)

THE ROYAL NAVY IN THE POST WAR PERIOD© IWM (A 34233)

TRANSFER AT SEA OF SEA SLUG MISSILE. NOVEMBER 1959, ON BOARD THE GUIDED WEAPONS SHIP HMS GIRDLE NESS, DURING REPLENISHMENT AT SEA TRIALS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.© IWM (A 34234)

HMS GIRDLE NESS, ROYAL NAVY GUIDED MISSILE TRIALS SHIP, AT MATLA. (photo credit: http://www.rfaaplymouth.org)

HMS GIRDLE IRON, ROYAL NAVY GUIDED MISSILE TRIALS SHIP DURING SEA SLUG TRIALS, 1960. (photo credit: http://www.rfaaplymouth.org/)

CANBERRA U MK 10 PILOTLESS DRONE AT MALTA FOR GUIDED MISSILE TRIALS. JUNE 1961, ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION HAL FAR, MALTA.© IWM (A 34464)

GUIDED WEAPONS TRIAL SHIP HOMEWARD BOUND. DECEMBER 1961, MALTA.© IWM (A 34562)

PHOTEX: USS Mahan (DDG 72) on “scheduled deployment” in the Mediterranean

130903-N-IY142-329 MEDITERRANEAN SEA (Sept. 3, 2013) Ensign Andrea McClellan, officer of the deck, monitors nearby shipping traffic from the starboard bridge wing aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72). Mahan is on a scheduled deployment supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Herman/Released)

Huntington Ingalls shutters Gulfport shipyard

It looks like a $59m financial hit to Huntington Ingalls and 427 jobs gone at Gulfport. The Zumwalt-class destroyer seems a busted flush… the US Navy originally planned to build 32, which was cut to 10, and finally to 3… and then the Arleigh Burke Flight IIA production line was restarted. It may be some consolation for the suits in Pascagoula that HII will pickup half of those Arleigh Burke contracts.

Huntington Ingalls to Close Gulfport Composite Facility

The deckhouse for the future USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) sits on a barge at Norfolk Naval Station in 2012. US Navy Photo

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) will shutter its composite manufacturing facility in Gulfport, Miss. following a decision by the U.S. Navy to switch from composites to steel in the construction of the deckhouse for the last of three Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers (DDG-1000), HII announced Wednesday.

According to a HII filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company expects to close the facility by May of 2014.

The closure expects to impact 427 workers at the facility and incur a cost of $59 million to the company, according to a Sept. 4 8K filing to the SEC.

“This is a difficult but necessary decision,” said HII President and CEO Mike Petters said in a statement. “Due to the reduction in the Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) ship construction and the recent U.S. Navy decision to use steel products on Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002), there is both limited and declining Navy use for composite products from the Gulfport Facility.”

The Gulfport facility built the first two 1,000-ton deckhouses for the Zumwalts as well as four hulls for the Osprey-class mine hunter ships briefly used by the Navy before the service abandoned the program in favor of the mine hunting systems based on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The facility had planned to build U.S. Coast Guard vessels before the service decided to go with steel instead.

In August, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) announced it had awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) $212 million fixed-price contract to build the deckhouse at its Maine shipyard for the planned Johnson.

Other than the deckhouses, the only other Navy work for the facility was manufacture of the composite masts for the San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious warships. HII said in August it anticipated work on the masts to be completed in the first part of 2014.

“The composite design was initially required to meet weight requirements. Subsequent to the award of DDG-1000 and 1001 superstructures, sufficient weight removal allowed for the opportunity to provide a steel superstructure, which is a less costly alternative,” NAVSEA officials said in an August statement to USNI News.

When asked if there were any other options for the facility, HII officials told USNI News, ”we have been exploring other uses for Gulfport but — to date — have not identified an alternative plan ahead.”

http://news.usni.org/2013/09/04/huntington-ingalls-close-gulfport-composite-facility

PHOTEX: Chinese frigate ‘Bengbu’ conducts live guided missile fire training

China’s first independently-developed new-generation guided missile frigate “Bengbu” in the live guided missile fire training in a certain sea area of the East China Sea. (China Military Online/Wan Fusheng, Wu Shangrui)

China’s first independently-developed new-generation guided missile frigate “Bengbu” in the live guided missile fire training in a certain sea area of the East China Sea. (China Military Online/Wan Fusheng, Wu Shangrui)

China’s first independently-developed new-generation guided missile frigate “Bengbu” in the live guided missile fire training in a certain sea area of the East China Sea. (China Military Online/Wan Fusheng, Wu Shangrui)

China’s first independently-developed new-generation guided missile frigate “Bengbu” in the live guided missile fire training in a certain sea area of the East China Sea. (China Military Online/Wan Fusheng, Wu Shangrui)