Page 18: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2006)

18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

Eye on the Navy

In FY 2007, 14 ships will be delivered to the Navy that include: four Amphibious

Transport Dock ships (LPD) - (Hurricane Katrina impact may delay two ships to FY 2008), three Dry Cargo and Ammunition ships (T-AKE), three

Guided-Missile Destroyers (DDG), one

Amphibious Assault ship (LHD), one

Attack submarine (SSN), and one

Oceanographic Survey ship (T-AGS).

Also, the first of its class Littoral

Combat Ship (LCS) will be delivered, built in less than two years. This is the payoff of previous years' investments toward buying naval capabilities for the future."

The plan provides for transformational warships, like the multi-mission DD(X) destroyer and the focused-mission

Littoral Combat Ship. "The FY 2007 shipbuilding plan sup- ports the Navy's vision of a new genera- tion of ships with higher speed, more persistence and precision, and reduced manpower and life-cycle costs. The

Navy's challenge is to build a fleet of the future that possesses the capability and capacity to meet joint demands for naval forces across the spectrum of operations from major combat operations to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," Winter said.

There are challenges with building fewer and more expensive ships.

These goals are attainable, say Navy officials. One of the officers in charge of executing the plan, Rear Adm. Barry

McCullough, director for Surface

Warfare, says the Navy must set achiev- able requirements, and stick to them.

The Navy Secretary doesn't want to tell the shipbuilding industry how to divide up the available work. Winter told attendees at the Navy Leagues Sea-

Air-Space Expo in Washington this

April that he is "looking for industry to come back to us with executable options, not just options focused on their own self-interests."

Capt. Edward Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Ret.), is a senior technical director with

Anteon Corporation, Washington, DC.

He supports the U.S. Navy's Surface

Warfare Directorate. The view expressed in this article are his own.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen speaks to members of the

Brigade of Midshipmen during the Forrestal Lecture Series at the U.S. Naval

Academy. The CNO talked about service, change and leadership to help enhance the education, awareness and appreciation for the social, political and cultural dimensions of the nation and the world. U.S. Navy photo by Chief

Photographer's Mate Johnny Bivera (RELEASED)

This Month in the Navy

May 1, 1898 - Battle of Manila Bay, Adm Dewey defeats Spanish at Manila, Philippines

May 3, 1949 - First Navy firing of a high altitude Viking rocket at

White Sands, NM

May 4, 1942 - Battle of Coral Sea, first carrier vs. carrier battle, begins 1961 - Pilot CDR Malcolm D. Ross, USNR, and medical observ- er LCDR Victor A. Prather, Jr., ascended in two hours to over 110,00 feet in Strato-Lab 5, a 411-ft. hydrogen filled balloon launched from from the deck of USS Antietam. This was the high- est altitude attained by man in an open gondola. Tragically, Prather drowned during the recovery.

May 6, 1916 - First ship-to-shore radio telephone voice conversa- tion from USS New Hampshire off Virginia Capes to SECNAV

Josephus Daniels in Washington, DC

May 7, 1942 - Carrier aircraft sink Japanese carrier Shoho during

Battle of Coral Sea

May 8, 1911 - Navy ordered its first airplane, Curtiss A-1,

Birthday of Naval Aviation 1945 - VE - Day, Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies

May 9, 1926 - LCDR Richard Byrd and Chief Machinist Mate

Floyd Bennett make first flight over North Pole; both receive

Congressional Medal of Honor.

May 10, 1775 - Force under Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold cross Lake Champlain and capture British fort at Ticonderoga,

New York. 1949 - First shipboard launching of LARK, guided missile by USS

Norton Sound. 1960 - USS Triton (SSRN-586) completes submerged circumnav- igation of world in 84 days following many of the routes taken by

Magellan and cruising 46,000 miles.

May 11,1898 - USS Marblehead cut trans-oceanic cable near

Cienfuegos, Cuba, isolating Cuba from Spain.

May 13,1908 - Pearl Harbor Navy Yard was officially established in the Territory of Hawaii. 1964 - Organization and deployment of world's first all nuclear- powered task group, USS Enterprise, USS Long Beach, and USS

Bainbridge, to Sixth Fleet

May 14, 1836 - U.S. Exploring Expedition authorized to conduct exploration of Pacific Ocean and South Seas, first major scientif- ic expedition overseas. LT Charles Wilkes USN, would lead the expedition in surveying South America, Antarctica, Far East, and

North Pacific.

May 17, 1973 - First woman to hold a major Navy command,

Captain Robin Lindsay Quigley assumes command of Navy

Service School, San Diego, CA. 1987 - USS Stark (FFG-31) struck by Iraqi Exocet missile in

Persian Gulf, killing 37 Sailors. 21 were wounded.

May 18, 1775 - Benedict Arnold captures British sloop and renames her Enterprise, first of many famous ships with that name 1798 - Appointment of Benjamin Stoddert as first Secretary of the

Navy

May 19, 1912 - Navy establishes North Atlantic Ice Patrol fol- lowing RMS Titanic disaster

May 20, 1943 - Establishment of Tenth Fleet in Washington, DC, under command of Adm. King to coordinate U.S. antisubmarine operations in Atlantic

May 21, 1850 - Washington Navy Yard begins work on first cast- ings for the Dahlgren guns 1944 - During preparations for the invasion of Saipan an acciden- tal ordnance blast on LST 353 sets off cataclysmic ammunition explosions at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, killing 163 and injuring 396. Six tank landing ships (LST-39, LST-43, LST-69, LST-179,

LST-353, LST-480), three tank landing craft (LCT-961, LCT-963,

LCT-983), and 17 track landing vehicles (LVTs) are destroyed in explosions and fires.

May 22, 1958 - Naval aircraft F4D-1 Sky Ray sets five world speed-to-climb records, 22-23 May 1967 - New York City reaches agreement to purchase Brooklyn

Navy Yard, ending 166 years of construction and repair of naval vessels.

May 23, 1939 - USS Squalus (SS-92) sinks off Postsmouth, NH, with loss of 26 lives.

May 24, 1939 - First and only use of Vadm. Allan McCann's

Rescue Chamber to rescue 33 men from sunken USS Squalus 1941 - Authorization of construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary shipping for Navy

May 26, 1944 - USS England sinks fifth Japanese submarine in one week 1952 - Tests demonstrate feasibility of the angled-deck concept conducted on simulated angled deck on USS Midway

May 28 1917 - First underway fueling in U.S. Navy, USS Maumee fuels 6 destroyers in North Atlantic. LCDR Chester W. Nimitz served as

Maumee's executive officer and chief engineer. 1980 - 55 women become first women graduates from the U.S.

Naval Academy. (Source: www.history.navy.mil)

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