(CNN) — South Korea and the United States will conduct a joint anti-submarine warfare exercise starting Sunday, the U.S. military announced Friday.

The exercise, the second in a series of combined maneuvers, is scheduled to end Thursday. It will be held in the waters west of the Korean Peninsula.

Units from the U.S. Navy will include the guided-missile destroyers USS Curtis D. Wilbur and USS Fitzgerald and the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious. Also participating will be a fast attack submarine and P-3C Orion aircraft.

The exercise is the second to be held since the March 26 sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in which 46 sailors drowned. A multinational investigation blamed North Korea for the sinking, but the communist nation denied any involvement.

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MANILA, Philippines—On the USS George Washington, men in Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses and women in cool tops and sandals are waiting patiently for their turn to board the ferry that will take them to shore.

Looking more like an airport than a nuclear warship, the USS George Washington anchored off Manila Bay yesterday so its 5,000-strong crew could enjoy a much-deserved four-day holiday.

Sunny weather welcomed American soldiers, who were anxious to walk on land and fulfill their mission—to have fun.

“First thing I’ll do is go to Jollibee!” said 20-year-old airman apprentice Miguel Pua, a Laguna-born sailor who left the Philippines when he was 6.

He is among the sailors of Filipino descent who make up a third of the supercarrier’s crew.

“Then I’ll eat Filipino food like adobo, sinigang and balatong (mongo bean soup)—my favorite Filipino food that my lola (grandmother) used to cook,” added Pua, a Hawaiian resident who joined the Navy four months ago.

Shop, eat, enjoy

Escorted to Philippine shores by the Philippine Navy, the 100,000-ton supercarrier arrived from Singapore at daybreak yesterday with its fleet of three other ships: The cruiser USS Cowpens and destroyers USS John McCain and USS Campbell.

Ferry boats transported sailors by the hundreds from the USS George Washington to the fleet’s landing site at SM Mall of Asia’s bayside park where an enclosed area served as a transit station complete with foreign exchange booth,

“They are ready to shop, shop, shop and eat, eat, eat. They enjoyed themselves last year and I think some of the shop owners are looking forward to seeing them again,” said Capt. David Lausman, the carrier’s commanding officer.

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Credit: US Navy

Navy ships, aircraft ready to avoid threat from Hurricane Earl

13NEWS / WVEC.com

Posted on September 1, 2010 at 10:28 AM

Updated today at 10:39 AM

NORFOLK — Navy ships and aircraft from North Carolina to Maine are ready to get underway to get out of Hurricane Earl’s path, if conditions warrant.

Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic set Hurricane Condition Three Wednesday morning.

Other operations are operating as usual as commands make hurricane preparations. Preparations include securing all hazards throughout the installations, removing debris from drainage areas and sandbagging low lying area.

USS Cole is due into Naval Station Norfolk Wednesday, a couple of days, early from a seven-month deployment.

Commander, U.S. Second Fleet, set Sortie Condition Charlie for all U.S. Navy ships as ships are prepared to get underway within 48 hours if necessary.

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YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Decades after hijackers took his life, the namesake of the destroyer USS Stethem was promoted to master chief petty officer in a ceremony aboard the ship here Tuesday.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Dean Stethem was posthumously promoted 25 years after Lebanese hijackers aboard TWA Flight 847 singled him out because of his military status, killing him when their demands were not met.

Stethem’s brother, retired Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Stethem, accepted the honor on Robert’s behalf, according to a Navy news release.

Months ago, the USS Stethem commander, Cmdr. Hank Adams forwarded the promotion request to the master chief petty officer of the Navy after the ship’s chiefs’ mess recommended the honor, the news release said.

Robert Stethem, 23, a Navy Seabee diver, was returning from an assignment when his flight was hijacked by Shiite Muslim extremists of Hezbollah, or “Party of God.” He was shot in the head and thrown on the tarmac at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon.

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Security forces killed a Taliban official with “direct ties” to the insurgent network involved in the recent kidnapping and murders of two U.S. Navy sailors, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said on Tuesday.

Afghan and coalition troops killed Bilal, “a highly active Taliban facilitator,” in Logar province on Monday.

Bilal was linked to the Taliban network that abducted and killed Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley and Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove in July, an ISAF news release said. It is not yet known what role, if any, Bilal played in the sailors’ kidnapping. The insurgents’ full name was not provided.

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HONOLULU (AP) — The US federal government has turned to a 130-year-old Hawaii sugar grower for help in powering the Navy and weaning the nation off a heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

It will spend at least $10 million over the next five years to fund research and development at Maui cane fields for crops capable of fueling Navy fighter jets and ships. The project also may provide farmers in other warm climates with a model for harvesting their biofuel crops.

Hawaii has become a key federal laboratory for biofuels because of its dependence on imported oil as well as its great weather for growing crops. Factor in the heavy military presence at places such as Pearl Harbor, and the islands become an ideal site for the government to test biofuel ideas on a commercial scale.

“Hawaii is kind of the perfect storm of opportunity,” said Tom Hicks, the Navy’s deputy assistant secretary for energy.

The Office of Naval Research is funding the five-year program at Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar, a company dating to the 1870s that now runs the last sugar plantation in the state. HC&S’ expansive 35,000 acre (14,164 hectare) fields offer an opportunity to test how various crops perform.

The Navy aims to use biofuels for half of its fuel needs by 2020. To meet this goal, it’s been pouring money into algae, sugar and other crops that could become alternatives to fossil fuels.

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Iran’s navy on Aug. 8 took delivery of four new mini submarines of the home-produced Ghadir class, media reports said.

The navy already owns seven submarines of this type which weigh 120 tons and were first launched in 2007.

Iran has described the Ghadir as stealth submarines, hardly detectable by sonar and aimed at coastal operations in shallow waters, notably in the Gulf.

The vessel is based on North Korean models of the Yono class and can shoot torpedoes, but their main tasks appear to be moving commandos, laying mines and reconnaissance missions, experts say.

Iran’s inventory of submarines patrolling Gulf waters also includes up to three Russian-built Kilo class diesel submarines bought in 1990s and a Nahang, an Iranian-built light sub weighing 500 tons that was first launched in 2006.

In 2008 Iran started building a new submarine named Qaem which is due to be launched within days, Iran’s army chief Ataollah Salehi said last week, describing it as “semi-heavy” and capable of operating in the high seas such as the Indian Ocean or the Gulf of Aden.

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HANOI, Vietnam — An American warship docked Tuesday in central Vietnam where the former foes planned to conduct naval training in a sign of growing military ties amid new warnings from China for the U.S. to stay out of its backyard.

The USS John S. McCain’s port call comes as the U.S. and Vietnam celebrate 15 years of normalized diplomatic relations following a bloody war that remains an open wound for many veterans. The two governments, while ideologically different, have embraced on a number of issues, including a recent stance against China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea.

China on Tuesday told the U.S. and South Korean navies to keep out of the Yellow Sea, where it claims exclusivity.

The allies have planned another round of joint military war games following last month’s drills in the Sea of Japan, which China also criticized.

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LONDON, Aug. 9 (UPI) — A helicopter from the Navy ship USS Kauffman prevented a pirate attack on a ship crossing the Gulf of Aden, a NATO report from London said Monday.

The helicopter was doing surveillance in the area when it spotted a suspect vessel, and it prevented a possible attack on the ship MV Ice Explorer, the report said.

Officers aboard the Kauffman ordered the helicopter crew to pursue the pirate skiff, from which weapons and other objects were tossed into the water, the report said.

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