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Two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Truxtun and USS Mason, successfully fought their way through the Strait of Hormuz after repelling a massive coordinated barrage of Iranian missiles, drones, and fast-attack boats. Two U.S. Navy destroyers successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday despite coming under a heavy, coordinated Iranian assault involving small boats, missiles, and drones, CBS News reported on Tuesday. The USS Truxtun (DDG-103) and USS Mason (DDG-87) entered the Persian Gulf while facing what defense officials described as a “sustained barrage.” The ships were supported by U.S. fighter aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, which helped neutralize...

The Columbia-class submarine program encountered early setbacks. The United States Navy’s effort to build its newest class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines is now expected to reach a key milestone in 2028, according to General Dynamics. The lead vessel, currently under construction, has faced schedule adjustments but is showing signs of steady progress as production challenges are gradually resolved. First submarine was planned for delivery earlier Reports revealed that the first submarine in this class was initially planned for delivery earlier, but complications during construction led to a revised target. Issues involving the supply of critical components, along with delays...

Countries from all over the World, almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute going on so visibly, and violently, for all to see, have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz, on something which they have absolutely nothing to do with — They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders! For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they...

Trump appeared to hint at a potential military operation in Cuba after US forces “finish the job” in Iran. The comments come as Washington announced a set of new sanctions targeting the island nation on Friday, which Havana slammed as a form of collective punishment. US President Donald Trump joked on Friday that his country’s Navy would take on Cuba on the way home from Iran. His comments came as he addressed attendees of an event at the non-profit Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, where he was invited as a keynote speaker.

A British diving team located the wreck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, which was sunk by a German submarine in 1918 with 131 people aboard, officials said. The British diving team Gasperados discovered the wreck about 50 miles from Newquay, a town on the north coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, the Coast Guard said in a press release. The ship participated in Allied Powers operations during World War I before she was lost over a century ago. Diving team leader Steve Mortimer said the discovery is “the result of three years of research and exploration” in...

Britain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced. Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins said that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israeli war in Iran, “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”. In a speech, the first sea lord said the 10 members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (Jef), had signed last week a statement of intent to create a “multinational maritime force”...

Our own commercial shipbuilding industry has a lot of catching up to do. We should pass the SHIPS for America Act to support it as soon as possible. Last month an eye-popping headline came out of the Chinese shipping and logistics industry: Cosco, a state-owned shipping conglomerate based in Shanghai, had struck a deal with another state-owned firm – China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) – for 87 new vessels across all segments of its fleet. Maritime Executive said the order includes “ultra-large container ships, ultra-large bulk carriers, ultra-large oil tankers, grain transport ships, multi-purpose heavy lift vessels, MR tankers, ro-ro...

A former U.S. military vessel built during World War II is now anchored in Costa Rica’s South Pacific, where it has taken on a very different mission: helping protect marine life from illegal fishing.The MODOC, a 1944 vessel originally built for the United States Navy at Levingston Shipyard in Orange, Texas, is now used as a floating operations center by Earthrace Conservation. The organization purchased the former Navy and U.S. Coast Guard ship in 2019 and converted it into a conservation vessel for patrols, surveillance and support work in protected areas. Today, the ship remains based in the waters of...

Within the last two years, Washington and Canberra have locked onto Damen’s LST-100 designs to meet their demand for littoral maneuvers assets to ferry specialized ground formations to the various archipelagic areas of the Indo-Pacific during a conflict with China, according to separate announcements from the defense contractor. While smaller than the traditional large deck amphibious vessels deployed by both nations, these landing ship transports will allow American and Australian forces to disperse their new littoral formations equipped to counter China’s naval forces with mobile infantry and area denial assets.Known as the McClung-class Landing Ship Mediums in American service, the...

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, will be heading home following a record-setting deployment of more than 300 days that included participating in the war against Iran and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, two US officials said Wednesday. The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported the development earlier. The arrival of the USS George HW Bush to the region last week...

USS-Scorpion: Two Nuclear Torpedoes Still Sit 3,000 Meters Down — And Nobody Can Retrieve Them In May 1968, USS Scorpion vanished without warning in the Atlantic Ocean — taking 99 men and two nuclear torpedoes to the bottom. Found months later at 3,000 meters depth, the wreck has never been touched. Decades later, the cause of her sinking remains officially unsolved, and those warheads still sit on the ocean floor today. 40 Minute Video at link..................

In 1963, USS Thresher imploded at test depth killing all 129 aboard—the Navy blamed a "piping failure" and closed the case. But declassified documents from the 2000s revealed the submarine had over 800 documented defects before diving, whistleblower testimony proved inspectors were pressured to approve faulty welds, and acoustic analysis of the final moments shows the crew knew they were dying for nearly 5 minutes as water flooded in. The Navy knew Thresher wasn't safe, sent her down anyway, then spent 60 years hiding that 129 men died from institutional negligence, not accident. 26 Minute VIDEO AT LINK...............

The U.S. conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of MT Tifani (IMO: 9273337) late Monday, according to a Pentagon post on X. Tifani sails a Botswana flag, while Majestic X sails a false Guyanan flag. The International Maritime Organization considers both ships to be stateless.On Tuesday, following the Monday interdiction of Tifani, Iran said it fired upon and seized two ships – MV Epaminondas (IMO: 9153862) and MV MSC Francesca (IMO: 9401116). MV Euphoria (IMO: 9235828) was also damaged on Wednesday near Iran, although it is unclear whether Iran also targeted the ship for seizure.The U.S. has right-to-visit stateless...

ARLINGTON— The Navy took a major step forward in delivering game-changing hypersonic strike power to carrier pilots when it awarded California startup Castelion a contract nearing $105 million to fully integrate the Blackbeard hypersonic weapon onto the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The deal puts U.S. forces on a fast track to field its first operational air-launched hypersonic strike weapon from carrier decks by 2027. Unlike land-based ballistic missiles, Blackbeard is made for Navy aircraft carriers and can be launched from an F/A-18 fighter jet operating hundreds of miles from shore, giving the U.S. enhanced capabilities to strike an adversary’s missile batteries...

There are now three United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers operating in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility. CENTCOM confirmed in a post on X on Thursday afternoon that the 10th and final Nimitz-class supercarrier, the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), has entered the Indian Ocean. CVN-77 joins the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), which is now in the Arabian Sea, and the U.S. Navy's newest and largest supercarrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), operating in the Red Sea after transiting the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean.

Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao has been named acting secretary following the departure of John Phelan. Cao and Phelan are both 2026 Wash100 awardees. Who Is Hung Cao? Cao is a retired U.S. Navy captain who took on the role of under secretary of the Navy in October. The Navy diver previously worked as a vice president and client executive at CACI International, where he supported efforts in areas such as electronic warfare, counter-drone technology and enterprise IT. Cao served in the Navy for 25 years, holding a wide range of leadership positions, including division chief of the Defense Threat...

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration “effective immediately,” a spokesman for the Department of Defense said Wednesday. “On behalf of the Secretary of War and Deputy Secretary of War, we are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy,” the spokesman, Sean Parnell, said on X. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

President Trump is replacing his Secretary of the Navy as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues as a key chokepoint in the war against Iran. John Phelan is leaving, effective immediately, and Undersecretary Hung Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy, the Pentagon said Wednesday in a surprise announcement. No reason was given for his departure. “Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.” Cao, a Navy veteran and failed Virginia Senate candidate, is well-liked by the president. The...

It's hard to say whether or not Trump is prepared to restart kinetic action against Iran, or continue his indefinite cease-fire...indefinitely. No doubt Trump likes it that way. While I hate that every time a security studies guy or gal talks about military action, they always quote Clausewitz or Sun Tzu, I have to say that Trump is the most Clausewitzian and Sun Tzu-style military leader we have had in a long while. By that I mean that Trump understands that war is an extension of politics, and that military success relies as much on deception as good tactics. I...

The Iranian regime folks are not happy campers right now. They're being squeezed by the U.S. blockade that's costing them an estimated $435 million a day. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained, that's going to cause their Kharg Island operation to be "shut in" soon. That's the money that sustains the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that would then be cut off. Meanwhile, the U.S. is even seizing its ships, like the MV Touska, that tried to run the U.S. blockade with some bad materials aboard that could have helped their missile program. So what are the regime's options? They...