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The deadly winter storm that swept across Texas and parts of the South knocked out power and water for millions. It also created a catastrophe for animals statewide — including for sea turtles prone to freezing in frigid waters. ...“It was like an apocalypse of turtles littered on the beach,” Bellamy told The Washington Post in a phone interview Thursday. More than 800 turtles have since been plucked from Laguna Madre by a ragtag group of about 50 Navy pilots and flight students, military spouses, family members and military retirees, said Biji Pandisseril, the Navy installation’s environmental manager. More turtles...

Sometime late last year, the U.S. Navy tested one of Northrop Grumman’s remotely piloted helicopters for use as an anti-submarine warfare platform, USNI News reported. During the evaluation, the Fire Scout drone dropped miniaturized sonobuoys into the water, essentially small acoustic devices that listen for enemy movement underwater.

Two of the warships actually began construction – with Schlachtschiff H laid down by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg on June 15, 1939; while the Schlachtschiff J was laid down by AG Weser in Bremen on August 15, 1939, just two weeks before Germany invaded Poland. Construction was halted in October as the war effort focused on the construction of U-boats rather than battleships. By 1940, the material used in the early construction of the two super battleships was scrapped and then directed to other uses.

One of Obama’s most consequential acts was to purge the Pentagon of leaders who did not subscribe to a woke, leftist philosophy. For more than a decade, the military has been at least as dedicated to implementing social justice principles as it has been to achieving military readiness. The latest manifestation of this trend is the Final Report from Task Force One Navy (TF1N), the goal of which is to “embrac[e] Inclusion and Diversity.” The Navy created TF1N on July 1, 2020, at the height of the George Floyd riots. The purpose was to “dismantle barriers to equality while creating...

In June 2020, the Navy created Task Force Navy One, which was "established to combat discrimination in the Navy." The recently released findings of the task force include the TF1N Pledge, in which members of the task force take a pledge to inclusivity and self-reflection. The pledge reads: "As a key member of Task Force One Navy I will invest the time, attention and empathy required to analyze and evaluate Navywide issues related to racism, sexism, ableism and other structural and interpersonal biases. "I pledge to be actively inclusive in the public and private spheres where I live and work,...

Also known as the Super Yamato-class, the Design A-150 battleship began in late 1938 and it was to be armed with at least six 510mm (20-inch) guns as well as dozens of smaller caliber weapons. The warship as it was originally envisioned was also 91,000 metric tons (90,000 long tons) and yet would be fast enough to maintain a speed of 30 knots – faster than the American Navy’s North Carolina-class battleships, which could maintain a speed of 27 knots.

In a report by Task Force One Navy released last week, the Navy is recommending that the service go farther than an existing mandate to rename warships and facilities named for Confederate leaders, and should also “identify assets named after racist, derogatory or culturally insensitive persons, events or language” and rename them.Task Force One Navy, or TF1N, was formed last summer to address racism, sexism, and other forms of bias within the service. In its final report published Wednesday, the task force said, “Certain Navy ship names have been highlighted by Congress and in the media for connections to confederate...

The Montana-class was authorized under the “Two Ocean Navy” building program, and it was funded in Fiscal Year 1941 (FY41). Nearly a third larger than the preceding Iowa-class, the super-battleship was to be 920 feet in length with a beam of 121 feet. Displacing 60,500 tones – 71,000 tons with its war load – it would have been even larger than the Royal Navy’s HMS Vanguard, the last battleship ever built.

Chile is likely to place an order for Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIA missiles to arm the Navy’s Adelaide-class frigates formerly used by Australia. The U.S. State Department today approved Chile’s request to buy Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIA missiles from Raytheon. The contract is estimated to cost $85 million. It would cover 16 SM-2 Block IIIA missiles, 2 MK 89 Mod 0 Guidance Sections; and 1 Target Detection Device Kit (including shroud), MK 45 Mod 14, and related support. This sale would support Chile’s anti-air warfare capabilities for the two recently transferred former Adelaide-class frigates to the Chilean Navy,...

Armed with a main battery of 16-inch guns that could hit targets nearly 24 miles away with a variety of artillery shells, the Iowa-class were among the most heavily armed U.S. military ships ever put to see. The battleships’ main battery consisted of nine 16″/50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three-gun turrets, which could fire 2,700-pound (1,225 kg) armor-piercing shells some 23 miles (42.6 km). Secondary batteries consisted of twenty 5″/38 caliber guns mounted in twin-gun dual-purpose (DP) turrets, which could hit targets up to 9 miles (16.7 km) away.

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

The U.S. Navy has patents on weird and little understood technology. According to patents filed by the Navy, it is working on a compact fusion reactor that could power cities, an engine that works using “inertial mass reduction,” and a “hybrid aerospace-underwater craft.” Dubbed the “UFO patents, The War Zone has reported that the Navy had to build prototypes of some of the outlandish tech to prove it worked. Dr. Salvatore Cezar Pais is the man behind the patents and The War Zone has proven the man exists, at least on paper. Pais has worked for a number of different...

The US Navy should rename warships and other assets that have racist connotations, as part of a modernization drive to promote diversity, the task force that shapes navy policy has recommended. "Certain Navy ship names have been highlighted by Congress and in the media for connections to confederate or white supremacist ideologies," Task Force One Navy said in its report, published on Wednesday. The 141-page report called for a review to "identify assets honoring those associated with the Confederacy and identify assets named after racist, derogatory or culturally insensitive persons, events or language." It also recommends changing the wording for...

In terms of sheer numbers, it is easy to see why Leyte Gulf should have the distinction of being the largest naval battle in history. But some historians will argue it really was a combination of four major subsidiary battles that happened to take place at the same time. Moreover, Leyte Gulf didn’t have the largest number of participants or even ships that were engaged in one battle. There are several other notable battles that have also been called the largest or greatest naval battle in history.

Now it seems that the PLAAF has taken it a bit further, as it conducted “simulated missile attacks” on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) last month. According to The Aviationist, as many as 28 aircraft including as many as eight H-6 bombers “intruded” into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) between Jan. 23 and 24 – just three days after President Joe Biden took officer.

I am looking for a book I read about 50 years ago. I found it in a high school library. It was published after WWII, probably in the 50's or 60's. The book was a collection of humorous episodes in the life of a senior NCO in the navy. One episode consisted of him running a lottery. The main character had rescued a couple of officers at Pearl Harbor, who later became a Captain and Admiral, as I recall. The NCO ran his little empire out of the incinerator room of the ship he served on, which was either an...

Two of Germany’s defense industry heavyweights, MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall have been awarded a federal contract to built and develop a laser weapon demonstrator that will be tested at sea. The project’s timeline is ambitious, with fabrication, assembly, and installation to be completed by the end of this year, with testing in “near-operational conditions,” and the first for a German Naval Frigate. In keeping with German timidity and reluctance towards all things defense-related, MBDA’s press release stressed the defensive nature of the weapon and laser’s minimal collateral damage potential.

... USS Kidd deck log...several mentions of UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones. Although those single-line reports of drones don’t really stand out in the middle of mundane navigation details, contextual information and details make the whole matter more puzzling. Those sightings happened at night and SNOOPIE teams were deployed each time UAVs were observed from the USS Kidd deck.... “The ship’s nautical or otherwise photographic intelligence exploitation (SNOOPIE) team is a reaction team that records and photographs unknown contacts that approach the ship within visual range for both intelligence gathering and documentation." ... USS Kidd deck log...found mentions of...

The U.S. Navy is considering removing conformal fuel tanks, or CFTs, from the Block III upgrade package for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets after discovering various issues with them during testing. Deciding not to pursue these tanks, which are designed to extend the Super Hornet's range even without it having to carry drop tanks in place of other underwing stores, could have significant ramifications for the service's future tactical aviation plans.

In an era of renewed great power competition, China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has become the top focus of U.S. defense planning and budgeting. China’s navy, which China has been steadily modernizing for more than 25 years, since the early to mid-1990s, has become a formidable military force within China’s near-seas region, and it is conducting a growing number of operations in more-distant waters, including the broader waters of the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and waters around Europe.China’s navy is viewed as posing a major challenge to the U.S. Navy’s ability to achieve and maintain...