posted on May 01, 2009 00:08
FIRST US SHIP SUNK IN WWII FOUNDOFF AUSTRALIA
Researchers mapping the sea floor off Victoria have uncovered the rusting wreck of the first American vessel to be sunk during World War II. The City of Rayville, which was carrying a cargo of lead, wool, and copper from South Australia to New York via Melbourne, was lost off Cape Otway after striking a German mine on 8 November 1940. The Rayville was the second ship to be sunk by one of 100 mines laid by the German carrier Passat in Bass Strait. Twenty-four hours earlier, the British steamer SS Cambridge was destroyed off Wilsons Promontory.
DOVER PHOTO BAN WILL END
The Pentagon’s new policy allowing media coverage of American war dead as they arrive in the United States took effect in April, ending an 18-year ban. The first coverage of deceased military members arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware has begun. Family members will have the final say on whether to allow photos of the
coffin bearing their deceased Sailor, Soldier, Airman, or Marine.
FORMER GOVERNOR NOMINATED TO LEAD NAVY
President Barack Obama recently nominated former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to be Secretary of the Navy. Mabus, age 60, is a Democrat and campaigned extensively for Obama last year. If confirmed, Mabus would succeed Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter. Mabus served in the Navy from 1970-72 as a surface warfare officer on the Newport, RI, based USS Little Rock. He was governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96 under President Bill Clinton.
U.S. VESSELS ARRIVE IN BAHRAIN AFTER COLLISION
The submarine USS Hartford and amphibious vessel USS New Orleans that collided in mid- March in the Strait of Hormuz bordering Iran arrived at a Bahrain port to be assessed for damage. There was no damage to the USS Hartford’s atomic propulsion unit, but the other vessel suffered a ruptured fuel tank, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons (113,700 litres) of marine diesel fuel. The collision did not affect shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
MONEY SHORTAGE MEANS LESS FLIGHT TIME FOR PILOTS
The Navy’s budget masters are slashing costly real-world flying hours for air wings across the Service, the latest setback for aviators who prefer glass cockpits to highfidelity computer screens. For aviators, the cuts likely will mean more emphasis on flight simulators, a shift that was under discussion long before the current budget crisis.
The increased budgetary pressures create a tension between Pentagon officials and pilots.