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)

Favourite photos of 2013 #6: Royal Navy radar operator in HMS Monmouth ops room

A radar operator in the operations room onboard Type 23 frigate HMS Monmouth. Alarms sound, drills commence, monitors flash, switches are made; it seems a lot to think about all at once, but this is the constant tempo in the beating heart of HMS Monmouth; the Operations Room. There are banks of displays each showing unique information which, to the untrained eye, is a jumble of letters, numbers and lines, but to the members of the Warfare department who call the Ops room home, it enables them to fuse information together to allow the Ship to operate effectively and is their way of life throughout a 7 month deployment. © Crown Copyright 2013. Photographer: L(Phot) Will Haigh

OTDIH 23 October 1943

70-years ago today…

Großadmiral Karl Dönitz has 95 U-boats at sea. The Battle of the Atlantic was not over.

In the South Atlantic:

U-170, a Type IXC U-boat, KptLt Günther Pfeffer commanding, on its 2nd war patrol, torpedoed and sunk the unescorted Brazilian steam merchant Campos (4,663 GRT) 5-miles south of Alcatrazes Island, Brazil. The crew of 57 and 6 passengers took to the ship’s lifeboats, tragically two of which were struck by the ship’s screw, throwing the occupants to the water. 10 crew members and 2 passengers were lost.

SS Campos.

In the Black Sea:

U-23, a Type IIB U-boat, KptLt Rolf-Birger Wahlen commanding, on its 12th war patrol, torpedoed and sunk the Soviet motor merchant Tanais (372 GRT) anchored at Poti, Georgian SSR. The U-Boat was operating in the Black Sea with the 30th U-Boat Flotilla… having been transported overland to Konstanza, Rumania in 1942.

Type IIB coastal U-boat.

Setting a wartime record:

U-196, a Type IXD U-boat, KKpt Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat commanding, returned to Bordeaux, France… thus completing the longest patrol by any submarine during the Second World War: 256-days from 13 March to 23 October 1943.

KKpt Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat.

Attacked in the Atlantic:

U-190, a Type IXC U-boat, KptLt Max Wintermeyer commanding, on her 3rd war patrol, was surfaced ahead of convoy GUS-18 when attacked by the US Navy Gleaves-class destroyer USS Turner (DD-648). The Turner attacked the surfaced U-boat with her Mk 12 5-inch/38-caliber guns. When the U-190 submerged, the Turner attacked with depth charges… shock waves from which disabled the destroyer’s radar and sound gear. By the time Turner was able to resume her search, U-190 had escaped.

USS Turner (DD-648).

Royal Navy suffers double disaster during Operation Tunnel:

During Operation Tunnel, HMS Charybdis, a Dido-class cruiser commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1941, Captain George Arthur Wallis Voelcker, RN commanding, was sunk off north coast of Brittany, France in position 48º59’N, 03º39’W by 2 torpedoes from the German Elbing-class torpedo boats T-23 and T-27 (not MTBs, but torpedo-armed destroyers). 464 men died (including the commanding officer) and 107 survived.

HMS Charybdis.

During the same action, HMS Limbourne (L57), a Hunt-class escort destroyer, Cdr Walter John Phipps, RN commanding, was heavily damaged by German torpedo boats T-22 and T-24. Damaged beyond repair, Limbourne was sunk by gunfire from HMS Rocket (H92) and HMS Talybont (L18).

HMS Limbourne.

Aegis tower lifted onto Hobart, lead air warfare destroyer in new class

The Hobart-class is a class of three air warfare destroyers under construction for the Royal Australian Navy. The three new destroyers will replace the RAN’s four Adelaide-class frigates between 2016 and 2019. Fewer hulls with (theoretically) more functionality seems to be a global trend.

Aegis tower lifted onto Hobart

The main radar tower for the first of Australia’s three Air Warfare Destroyers, Hobart, has been successfully lifted into position.

The main radar tower for the first of Australia’s three Air Warfare Destroyers, Hobart, has been successfully lifted into position.

Minister for Defence Senator David Johnston confirmed progress on the Hobart was well advanced, with the Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Alliance successfully lifting the Aegis tower onto the ship structure.

“The Aegis tower is a complex block on the AWD because of specific requirements to ensure accuracy in build and the effectiveness of the SPY radar’s operation,” Senator Johnston said.

Aegis tower lifted onto Hobart.

Senator Johnston said the Aegis tower, constructed onsite at the ASC Shipyard at Techport, Adelaide, will house the four octagonal-shaped phased array panels of the Aegis AN/SPY-1D (V) search radar.

The achievement comes on the back of the significant milestone of the United States Navy’s recommendation that the Aegis Weapon System computer programs are ready for the on-board trial and activation of the combat system.

“The Aegis Weapon System is the nerve-centre of the destroyers and integrates a number of sensors and effectors to simultaneously detect, track and engage multiple air, surface and subsurface targets,” Senator Johnston said.

“The multi-function SPY radar is the main sensor for Aegis. The array faces send out beams of electromagnetic energy in all directions, providing a simultaneous and continuous search and tracking capability for hundreds of targets, providing the Royal Australian Navy with one of the most advanced warships in the world.”

Aegis tower lifted onto Hobart.

The acceptance of the Aegis computer programs by the US Navy follows extensive testing last year by developer Lockheed Martin and the US Navy, with involvement of the Defence Materiel Organisation and Royal Australian Navy.

http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Oct2013/Fleet/507#.UlSnYBBgHcw

USS Decatur (DDG-73) successfully intercepts RIM-161/SM-3 ballistic missile

The Raytheon RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) is a ship-based missile system used by the US Navy to intercept short- to-intermediate range ballistic missiles as a part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.

The USS Decatur (DDG-73) is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer built at Bath Iron Works and commissioned into the United States Navy in 1998. The Decatur is home ported at Naval Base San Diego and assigned to Destroyer Squadron Seven (DESRON 7).

The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (formerly the Kwajalein Missile Range) is a missile test range operated by the US military in the Pacific Ocean.

Raytheon’s SM-3, AN/TPY-2 successful in operational ballistic missile defense test

RONALD REAGAN BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE TEST SITE, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Raytheon Company’s (NYSE: RTN) Standard Missile-3 Block IA guided missile and AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile defense radar played integral roles in the success of Flight Test Operational-01, the Missile Defense Agency’s operational test of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System.

During the test, a SM-3 Block IA guided missile fired from the USS Decatur (DDG 73) intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile target. An AN/TPY-2 radar, operating in forward-based mode, detected, discriminated and tracked the target throughout the target’s trajectory.

“The SM-3 and AN/TPY-2 are two indispensable elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System,” said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems. “This operational test proves our nation has capable, reliable systems deployed today defending the U.S. and its allies against the growing ballistic missile threat.”

Adding to the complexity of the test, a terminal-mode AN/TPY-2 radar also detected, tracked and discriminated the threat. This capability enables additional engagement opportunities, allowing for a “shoot-access-shoot” layered missile defense if necessary.

“As ballistic missiles continue to proliferate and the weapons become more sophisticated, it’s imperative the U.S. and our allies have proven, reliable defensive systems like SM-3 and AN/TPY-2,” said Dan Crowley, president of Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business. “SM-3 and both modes of the AN/TPY-2 are deployed around the world today, protecting warfighters, civilians and critical infrastructure.”

About AN/TPY-2

AN/TPY-2 is a high resolution, mobile, rapidly deployable X-band radar capable of providing long-range acquisition, precision track, and discrimination of short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The AN/TPY-2 may be deployed globally in either terminal or forward-based mode. In terminal mode, the AN/TPY-2 serves as the search, detect, track, discrimination and fire-control radar for the THAAD weapon system, enabling the THAAD missile to intercept and destroy threats. In forward-based mode, the AN/TPY-2 cues the BMDS by detecting, discriminating and tracking enemy ballistic missiles in the ascent phase of flight.

— AN/TPY-2 has performed flawlessly in both terminal and forward-based mode
in all major tests.

— On Oct. 25, 2012, two AN/TPY-2 radars — one terminal and one
forward-based — participated in FTI-01, the MDA’s largest and most
complex exercise. In a complex raid scenario involving multiple targets,
both radars met or exceeded all test objectives.

— On April 15, 2011, a forward-based AN/TPY-2 extended the battlespace by
providing fire control-quality track data to an Aegis BMD ship, which
fired a Standard Missile-3 using launch on remote capability, which
resulted in a successful intercept of a separating intermediate range
ballistic missile.

— Raytheon has delivered eight AN/TPY-2s to the Missile Defense Agency.
Some of those radars are currently helping defend the U.S. and its allies
in the European, Pacific and Central Command areas of responsibilities.

About Standard Missile-3

The SM-3 destroys incoming ballistic missile threats by colliding with them, a concept sometimes described as “hitting a bullet with a bullet.” The impact is the equivalent of a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph.

— Aegis BMD has demonstrated 26 successful intercepts in 32 at-sea events,
including the successful intercept of a non-functioning satellite during
Operation Burnt Frost in February 2008.

— Aegis BMD 3.6 Weapon System and the SM-3 Block IA were assessed as
operationally suitable and effective by an independent operational test
agency in 2008.

— More than 160 SM-3s have been delivered to U.S. and Japanese navies.

— All SM-3 guided missiles use Aerojet Rocketdyne-produced MK 72 boosters
and MK 104 dual-thrust rocket motors for first and second stage
propulsion.

— The next-generation SM-3 Block IB is on track for a 2015 deployment at
sea and ashore.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2012 sales of $24 billion and 68,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 91 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems; as well as a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at http://www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @raytheon.

Raytheon Company

Missile Systems

Tucson, Ariz.

SM-3 Media Contact

Heather Uberuaga

+1.520.891.8421

rmspr@raytheon.com

Raytheon Company

Integrated Defense Systems

Tewksbury, Mass.

AN/TPY-2 Media Contact

David Howell

+1.978.319.5104

idspr@raytheon.com

SOURCE Raytheon Company

/Web site: http://www.raytheon.com

Georges Bank Radar Station (1957)

US Navy’s fabrication, installation, launching and positioning of Texas Towers in the North Atlantic.