Free Republic

Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar has confirmed that the nation's first submarine, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, was experiencing a mechanical fault which prevented it from submerging. He said the fault was detected on Jan 17, following maintenance works conducted at the RMN base in Teluk Sepanggar, Sabah. "The damage involves a part that channels water pressure movement which caused the submarine's failure to launch underwater," he told reporters after a ceremony where appointment letters were presented to members of the National Service Training Council here Thursday. Abdul Aziz was commenting on a local English daily on...

The littoral combat ship USS Freedom will depart from Mayport Feb. 16 for its maiden deployment to the Southern Command and Pacific Command areas of responsibility. Freedom will deploy to the waters surrounding Latin America to conduct counter-illicit trafficking operations and theater security cooperation activities while en route to its new homeport of San Diego, Calif. The ship will embark Detachment 2 from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 in Norfolk, Va.; the first tailored LCS Surface Warfare Mission Package from San Diego; and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 704 from Miami to meet these mission requirements. "This deployment comes...

USS Freedom (LCS 1), the Navy's first littoral combat ship, is underway off the coast of Florida for final training and certification prior to its maiden deployment to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) region. Counter-illicit trafficking (CIT), damage control, and systems training began soon after Freedom's arrival at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., on Jan. 25. "This training is extremely important for Freedom and will help us prepare for the CIT mission we expect to perform while in the 4th Fleet area of operations," said Lt. Cmdr. Mark West of Imperial Beach, Calif., operations officer for the Gold Crew, one of...