Allen's Interests

'Fighting Bob'

My good friend and former shipmate, Bob Stockton, is now the author of several books. His latest work, "Fighting Bob" is highlighted in this short video-

 

Forrest Fotos Website Remodeled

With great help from the folks at  jR Customization, my photo site at ForrestFotos.com has been completely renovated. I would love for my friends, family, and anyone else who is interested to take a look. Please let me know if you have any trouble navigating the site as there are few bugs to be worked out. I am aware of an existing problem when the Home page is viewed on an iPad. However, the site has yet to be tested with other tablets and every type of browser software.

ForrestFotos.com includes sections containing photographs from my Navy travel in the 1970's, recent travel, sports, nature, landscape, military, lighthouse, auto, ships, and family photos as well as other themes. The "Photography" section includes some of my brother Steve's photographic art as well as some of my first attempts at infrared, high-dynamic-range, and monochrome techniques.

Thanks, in advance, for your feedback !  

 

Back on the Signal Bridge

I spent a few days on the Carolina coast last week. I stopped at Wilmington to go aboard the battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55) which is now a memorial there. Of course, I shot a few photos of the ship. Here are several of those photos.

View from the fantail looking forward over turret 3

 

 Foremast and superstructure. Note the ship's callsign flags (NIBK)

As a former Navy signalman, I enjoyed spending some time on the North Carolina's signal bridge where I shot the following photos-

Flag bag (signal-flag container)

24" Signal Light

While I was there, while leaning on the port flag bag and using my cell phone, I called my old shipmate, Bob Stockton, and said "Stockton, this is Forrest on the signal bridge." It was just like old times.

I have posted more photos of the battleship on my photo site at ForrestFotos.com. I'd love for you to take a look.

The Navy's Next-generation Destroyer

CNET, August 4, 2010:

PORTSMOUTH, R.I.--When someone says that a new Naval vessel will be "the centerpiece of seapower for the next 50 years," it's tempting to be skeptical. But with the U.S. Navy's next-generation Zumwalt-class destroyer, known as DDG 1000, it's worth keeping an open mind.

With the Zumwalt, the Navy is aiming for a much larger, much more efficient, much quieter and hard-to-detect destroyer geared toward the water-borne battlefields of the future.

As part of Road Trip 2010, CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman visited defense giant Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems facility here for a lengthy discussion of the DDG 1000 and the ways it is expected to break new ground in naval warfare.

Seen here is a rendering of the Zumwalt class destroyer, the design of which is being led by Raytheon, but which also features work by partners at BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northop Grumman, and of course, the Navy.

The ship is being built at the Bath Iron Works, in Bath, Maine.

Click here to read the related story on the U.S. Navy's next-generation destroyer, the DDG 1000, and click here to check out the entire Road Trip 2010 package.

 

This new class of destroyers makes my former ship, the destroyer U.S.S. Putnam (DD-757,) look pretty old-fashioned. Here is a 1960's-era photo of the Putnam-

Wobble-proof Navy crane can offload cargo at sea

 (Credit: Office of Naval Research)

Crave from CNET, by Tim Hornyak, June 3, 2010:

The U.S. Navy has completed testing on a new automated ship crane that can safely perform ship-to-ship cargo transfer while at sea and compensate for surging waves, eliminating the need for a secure deep-water port in emergency or combat situations.

The Large Vessel Interface Lift On/Lift Off (LVI Lo/Lo) Crane can also facilitate standard supply transfer to ships in choppy seas. Developed by the Sea Warfare and Weapons Department in the Office of Naval Research along with Oceaneering International, the crane has sensors and cameras as well as motion-sensing algorithms that let it automatically shift with the rolling and pitching of the sea, making it much easier for operators to center the crane over cargo and transfer it.

The ONR finished testing the crane during trials in the Gulf of Mexico. It successfully transferred 128 containers from one ship to another amid waves of up to 1 meter (3.28 feet), according to an ONR release. Normally, ships require a sheltered harbor with calm waters to prevent cargo from swinging violently.

Standard 20-foot containers, Humvees, and other heavy cargo can be quickly and safely offloaded at sea with the crane. In military operations, 10 people are needed to operate standard cranes, but the LVI crane needs only three--one in the crane house and one on each ship.

Future development and use of the crane is unclear, but a demonstration version of it is installed on the SS Flickertail State, a crane ship based in Newport News, Va. The crane is available to support U.S. humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations, according to ONR.

Crave freelancer Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots." He has been writing about Japanese culture and technology for a decade.

New ships wage battle to be Navy's new breed, Mayport-bound

Not your father's Navy! The Navy has changed in many ways in the thirty-plus years since I left the service. I find the new class of ship discussed in this article very intriguing.

Mc2(Aw) Gary Granger

The Florida Times Union, By Timothy J. Gibbons, April 6, 2010

To operate these littoral combat ships, the crews have to be 'hybrid sailors'.

ABOARD THE USS INDEPENDENCE - The first time Chief Petty Officer Gary Thomas took his place on the bridge of the Navy's newest ship, he remembers, he felt a little nauseous.

It wasn't nerves or anything like that. The chief engineman was just more used to being below decks, where most vessels don't sway as much.

"As an engineer I had never stood watch on the bridge before," he said. "It's a lot different from being down below the waterline."

On this ship, multipurpose monitors allow engineers to oversee the entire operation from a seat on the bridge rather than having to stand watch in each engine space.

That's not the only difference for the 40 "hybrid sailors" serving as crew of the Independence, the second variant in the Navy's new littoral combat ship class.

Compared to the crews on most ships in the fleet, those aboard the Independence go through more training, do a broader array of jobs and rely more on technology.

However, the most different thing about the Independence - or at least the most noticeable one - might simply be the ship itself. While the crew of the Independence is similar to that of the other littoral combat ship variant, the vessel is anything but.

The 419-foot-long ship comes with a flight deck bigger than two basketball courts, the largest ever on a surface combatant. The bridge seems akin to something from "Star Trek," with vast arrays of glass overlooking a central control post where the officer of the deck can operate the ship with a multifunction joystick.

The sea frame itself - a trimaran based on a commercial ferry design - is unique in the Navy. So is the all-aluminum construction, a detail constantly brought to mind by the shiny foil coating the inside of the vessel to raise the melting point of the metal.

The Navy will choose between this ship and the USS Freedom, the littoral combat ship variant that recently set off from Mayport Naval Station on a mini-deployment, as it decides which vessel should eventually make up one-sixth of the fleet.

Whichever is chosen, a good number of them will be stationed at Mayport, which the chief of naval operations called the class' primary East Coast home port.

But the crew of the Independence wasn't focusing on the future during the two days it spent at sea this past week while traveling from Key West to Mayport.

Instead, it was a chance for the men and women to hone their proficiency at handling the array of jobs that comes with being "hybrid sailors," as well as an opportunity to do things like launching a boat and dropping the anchor, which they had not yet done in the open ocean.

Getting those jobs done with a crew about a quarter of the size of the one on a frigate can be daunting, with sailors jumping between unrelated tasks.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Bunch, for example, had barely removed the gear he wore for a fire-fighting drill when he was jogging to the ship's massive mission bay for the boat-launching exercise.

For Bunch, a boatswain's mate, working on the Independence requires him to handle things he otherwise would have left behind as he rose through the ranks.

"Instead of delegating jobs, I do a lot of it myself," said Bunch, who had been helping lower the ship's anchor earlier in the day.

The tradeoff is that other jobs, including much of the ship's maintenance and many administrative tasks, get pushed off the ship to contractors or the shore-based squadron overseeing the class.

Also missing from the crew's portfolio are most of the combat-related jobs that the crews handle on other ships.

On both types of littoral combat ships, those duties are the responsibility of teams that come along as part of various mission packages. The idea of swappable packages focused on things like fighting submarines or surface ships or finding mines is key to the littoral combat ship concept, with the plan that as different capabilities are needed, they can be brought aboard.

"This is what makes us unique," Lt. Phil Garrow said during the voyage, gesturing at the Independence's massive mission bay area. "We have space to accommodate weapons we haven't even designed yet."

For many of the sailors, figuring out how things should be done on a unique ship is what led them, they said, to push for an assignment to the new ship class.

"Usually, everything is set in stone," said Petty Officer 1st Class Willie Smith. "This gives me the chance to have my input cascade throughout the class for years."

 

Mayport will be home for new Navy LCS ships

Jacksonville base could have 17 combat ships by 2020.

Jacksonville Times-Union, by Timothy J. Gibbons, MAR. 11, 2010:

WHAT’S AN LCS?

The littoral combat ship is a new Navy combatant, designed to go fast and operate in shallow, near-shore waters. The ship differs in two major ways than most other war ships: Rather than relying on a large number of personnel, the ship combines a more experienced crew with a great deal of technology and automation. Second, the vessel is designed to handle three missions — fighting submarines, finding mines and waging surface warfare — with specialized modules for each type of mission being swapped on and off the ship.

The Navy has had two version of the littoral combat ship built and plans to decide later this year which variant it will commit to. The first ship, the USS Freedom, deployed last month from Mayport. The second ship, the USS Independence, will stop by Mayport before deploying late this month or early next month.

 Mayport Naval Station will be the primary homeport on the East Coast for the Navy’s newest class of ships, the service’s highest ranking officer said Wednesday, meaning the base would not suffer the personnel losses expected as its older ships are retired.

By 2020, Mayport could be home to 17 littoral combat ships, with the first one arriving six years from now.

By the time it arrives, the base is slated to have lost the 13 frigates that make up the bulk of its fleet, shedding thousands of sailors in the process.

Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of Naval Operations, discussed the LCS homeporting decision during an appearance before a House military construction subcommittee in Washington.

“They’re recognizing how strategic Mayport is,” said U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., a committee member. “I think the long-range future of Mayport is bright.”

It’s unclear exactly how many sailors the new ships would bring to the base: Although littoral combat ships only have about 40 full-time crew members — compared to about 200 on a frigate — each vessel is expected to have multiple crews assigned them, with some personnel afloat while the rest are training.

In addition, the small crew size means that some tasks typically handled aboard a ship — from ordering supplies to taking care of paperwork — are done by personnel on land.

The shore command would also be bolstered by the people needed for training operations, particularly important because the ship is designed to switch between different mission requirements.

Overall, that could mean more personnel ashore and active in the local economy than is the case now.

“It’s going to be a big deal,” said John Meserve, a former commanding officer of the base. “We’ve been thinking that these are the perfect fit for this coast forever.”

Roughead alluded to that fit as well, telling the subcommittee that “this ship is optimized for operations in areas like the Southern Command” — the Caribbean and the waters around South America.

That area is rife with the shallow, littoral waters the ship is designed to operate in and heavy with drug runners the speedy ship hopes to chase down.

The USS Freedom, the Navy’s first littoral combat ship, left for its initial deployment to that area in mid-February and seized a quarter-ton of cocaine a week later.

The Navy said Wednesday evening the Freedom had stopped another go-fast vessel, this one carrying 1½ tons of cocaine.

“The value of the speed of the ship has been validated,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a Navy spokesman. “The deployment is going very well.”

The second littoral combat ship, the USS Independence, is expected to have its crack at Caribbean drug smugglers toward the end of the month.

Coming on the heels of the Navy’s decision to base a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Mayport, the homeporting announcement is seen as a blow to Norfolk, where the bulk of naval assets on the East Coast reside.

“They didn’t want to talk about it until they were pretty confident about the carrier decision,” said retired Rear Adm. Fred Metz, a Virginia resident.

Metz has argued that the Navy has not addressed the full cost of moving a carrier here but has said that basing littoral combat ships at Mayport makes sense.

Discussing the LCS homeporting, he said Wednesday, was a way of gauging the reaction in Virginia.

“I think this is a trial balloon to see if anybody here is going to fight about it,” he said.

If they are, they’ll have plenty of time.

The LCS program has had its share of delays, with the Navy scrapping its procurement process and started over earlier this year.

Current plans are for the Navy to buy another ship like the Freedom this year, plus a second copy of the Independence. Later this year, the Navy plans to commit to one version and then build about 15 copies of it through 2014. Eventually, the Navy says it wants 55 of the vessels.

timothy.gibbons@jacksonville.com

First Aircraft Carrier Operations

I spent several years of my Navy career aboard aircraft carriers such as the U.S.S. Intrepid, U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the U.S.S. Boxer. I also served aboard the destroyers U.S.S. Putnam and U.S.S. Charles F. Adams and spent many hours of plane-guard duty (closely following carriers during flight operations to be available quickly to rescue pilots whose planes crashed during landings and launches.) Thinking back, that seems like a long time ago. I was especially interested to read that forty years earlier Eugene Burton Ely (October 21, 1886 - October 19, 1911,) the aviation pioneer, was credited with the first shipboard aircraft take off and landing in 1910.

First airplane takeoff from a warship - Eugene B. Ely flies his Curtiss pusher airplane from USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), in Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the afternoon of 14 November 1910. USS Roe (Destroyer # 24), serving as plane guard, is visible in the background. 

First airplane landing on a warship: Eugene Ely landing his plan on board the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, 18 January 1911 

You can read more about Ely and naval aviation at Wikipedia.

 

My Forty-Fourth Super Bowl

My Forty-Fourth Super Bowl

   Okay, this will give away how old I am. Except for a couple of years that I was at sea with the Navy, I have watched every Super Bowl on TV. (While at sea, we caught radio broadcasts of the Super Bowls.) I remember the excitement of the first Super Bowl game that matched the NFL champion against the upstart AFL champion for the first time. All of us who considered ourselves 'experts' thought that the NFL's Green Bay Packers would blow away the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs. After all, the Green Bay Packers had been in existence since the early 1920's competing in the National Football League, while the Chiefs and the new AFL were established in 1960.

   On January 15, 1967, Helen and I were in front of our black and white 15" TV to watch the "First World Championship Game," as it was called. Although, Kansas City lost 35-10, they played a respectable game. We were also there in front of our now larger 18", but still black and white TV in 1969, to see the Jets beat Baltimore for the first ever win by an AFL team.  The rest, as they say, is history.

  Needless to say, Helen and I were delighted when, in 1993, Jacksonville (our home since 1970) was awarded an NFL franchise.

  We owned season tickets for the first seven years. Now, we continue to be Jags fans, never missing a game on television. We long for the day that they make their first Super Bowl appearance. Being lifelong Red Sox fans, we are very patient, and have complete confidence that next year will be "the year."

Bob Hope - Thanks For The Memories

Many of us who were around for the early days of television have fond memories of the Bob Hope USO specials that he put on for the troops around the world each Christmas for many years. I was lucky enough to see his tour perform aboard the U.S.S. Shangri-La in Naples in the early 1960's. 

Bob's (adopted) son, Kelly, came through boot camp in San Diego in the late 1960's while I was training recruits there. Of course, Bob attended his son's graduation ceremony. When Kelly's company passed the reviewing stand, the band changed the music from its traditional march to "Thanks For The Memory" in honor of Bob.

The photos in this video with Bob Hope and Shirley Ross singing Bob's theme song will bring back memories to all of us who are old enough to remember and a tear to many of our eyes.