1.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
2.
Osprey-class minehunter
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The Osprey class are a series of coastal minehunters designed to find, classify, and destroy moored and bottom naval mines from vital waterways. They use sonar and video systems, cable cutters and a detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control. The Osprey class are the second largest minehunters to be constructed entirely of fiberglass. Their primary mission is reconnaissance, classification, and neutralization of all types of moored and bottom mines in areas, harbors. Twelve minehunter ships were built for the U. S. Navy by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, the ships were commissioned between 1993 and 1999. The ships of class were named after various types of birds. The 12 ships are 187 feet 10 inches long,34 feet 7 inches wide, when carrying a full load they displace 904 tonnes. They have four decks, and have a complement of five officers, four petty officers. They are armed two.50 caliber machine guns, all of the major equipment is suspended from the main deck in glass-reinforced plastic holders, so that in the event of an undersea explosion, it will not be damaged. They use an AN/SLQ-53 deep sweep mine countermeasures system and it also uses an AN/SQQ-32 Variable Depth Sonar, which is tethered to the front of the bridge, to detects and identifies mines using multiple ping processing. Two AN/UYK-44 computers are used to classify and detect mines. For surface radar purposes, an AN/SPS-649 is used and they also use the AN/SLQ-48 mine neutralization system, which is tethered to the ship by a 1. 07-kilometre long cable. They have two AN/UYQ-31 operator data terminals, which are identical and they use a single bow thruster, which generates 180 shaft horsepower, in order to run silently. They have a max speed of 12 knots, and an operational range of 1,500 nautical miles. All of these ships were decommissioned in 2006–07, the Hellenic Navy received two of the Osprey class from the US Navy, Heron, renamed Calypso and Pelican, renamed Euniki. Two more were transferred to the Egyptian Navy, Cardinal, renamed al Sedeeq and Raven, the sale of Oriole and Falcon to the Republic of China was also authorized. General Services Administration announced in April 2014 that hull numbers MHC-51,54,56,57,58 and this contradicted earlier information announcing the sale of some of these vessels to foreign operators. The minehunting role that was to this class will be transferred to Littoral Combat Ships that are equipped with a Mine Counter-Measure model. S. government publication, is in the public domain, the entry can be found here
3.
German Navy
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The German Navy is the navy of Germany and part of the unified Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the Bundesmarine from 1956 until 1995 when Deutsche Marine became the name with respect to the 1990 incorporation of the East German Volksmarine. It is deeply integrated into the NATO alliance and its primary mission is protection of Germanys territorial waters and maritime infrastructure as well as sea lines of communication. Apart from this, the German Navy participates in peacekeeping operations and they also participate in Anti-Piracy operations. The German Navy traces its roots back to the Reichsflotte of the era of 1848–52. The Reichsflotte was the first German navy to sail under the black-red-gold flag, in 1956, with West Germanys accession to NATO, the Bundesmarine, as the navy was known colloquially, was formally established. In the same year the East German Volkspolizei See became the Volksmarine, during the Cold war the all of the German Navys combat vessels were assigned to NATOs Allied Forces Baltic Approachess naval command NAVBALTAP. With the accession of East Germany to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 the Volksmarine along with the whole National Peoples Army became part of the Bundeswehr. Since 1995 the name German Navy is used in international context, as of 16 December 2016, the strength of the navy is 16,137 men and women. A number of forces have operated in different periods. The German Navy is also engaged in operations against international terrorism such as Operation Enduring Freedom, presently the largest operation the German Navy is participating in is UNIFIL off the coast of Lebanon. The German contribution to this operation is two frigates, four fast attack craft, and two auxiliary vessels, the naval component of UNIFIL has been under German command. The navy is operating a number of development and testing installations as part of an inter-service, among these is the Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters, an affiliated centre of Allied Command Transformation. The COE CSW was established in April 2007 and officially accredited by NATO on 26 May 2009 and it is co-located with the staff of the German Flotilla 1 in Kiel whose Commander is double-hatted as Director, COE CSW. The displacement of the navy is 220,000 tonnes, in addition, the German Navy and the Royal Danish Navy are in cooperation in the Ark Project. This agreement made the Ark Project responsible for the strategic sealift of German armed forces where the charter of three roll-on-roll-off cargo and troop ships are ready for deployments. In addition, these ships are kept available for the use of the other European NATO countries. The three vessels have a displacement of 60,000 tonnes
4.
Naval ship
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A naval ship is a military ship used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose, generally, naval ships are damage resilient and armed with weapon systems, though armament on troop transports is light or non-existent. Naval ships designed primarily for naval warfare are termed warships, as opposed to support or shipyard operations, submarine – self-propelled submersible types regardless of whether they are employed as combatant, auxiliary, or research and development vehicles which have at least a residual combat capability. Amphibious warfare – ships having organic capability for amphibious assault and which have characteristics enabling long duration operations on the high seas, combat logistics – ships that have the capability to provide underway replenishment to fleet units. Mine warfare – ships whose primary function is mine warfare on the high seas, coastal defense – ships whose primary function is coastal patrol and interdiction. Sealift – ships that have the capability to provide material support to other deployed units operating far from home base. Support – ships, such as oilers, designed to operate in the ocean in a variety of sea states to provide general support to either combatant forces or shore based establishments. Service type craft – navy-subordinated craft designed to provide support to either combatant forces or shore-based establishments. In rough order of tonnage, modern naval ships are commonly divided into the following different classes. There is also much blurring / gray areas between the classes, depending on their use, history, and interpretation of the class by different navies. Official Website of the United States Navy, heres the Entire U. S. Navy Fleet in One Chart. Official Website of the United States Navy, *United States Naval Recognition Training Slides-Grand Valley State University Archives and Special Collections
5.
Naval mine
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A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, Naval mines can be used offensively—to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour, or defensively—to protect friendly vessels and create safe zones. Mines can be laid in many ways, by purpose-built minelayers, refitted ships, submarines and their flexibility and cost-effectiveness make mines attractive to the less powerful belligerent in asymmetric warfare. The cost of producing and laying a mine is usually anywhere from 0. 5% to 10% of the cost of removing it, parts of some World War II naval minefields still exist because they are too extensive and expensive to clear. It is possible for some of these 1940s-era mines to remain dangerous for many years to come, Mines have been employed as offensive or defensive weapons in rivers, lakes, estuaries, seas, and oceans, but they can also be used as tools of psychological warfare. Offensive mines are placed in enemy waters, outside harbours and across important shipping routes with the aim of sinking both merchant and military vessels. Defensive minefields safeguard key stretches of coast from enemy ships and submarines, forcing them into more easily defended areas, minefields designed for psychological effect are usually placed on trade routes and are used to stop shipping from reaching an enemy nation. They are often spread thinly, to create an impression of minefields existing across large areas, a single mine inserted strategically on a shipping route can stop maritime movements for days while the entire area is swept. International law requires nations to declare when they mine an area, the warnings do not have to be specific, for example, during World War II, Britain declared simply that it had mined the English Channel, North Sea, and French coast. Chinese records tell of naval explosives in the 16th century, used to fight against Japanese pirates and this kind of naval mine was loaded in a wooden box, sealed with putty. General Qi Jiguang made several timed, drifting explosives, to harass Japanese pirate ships, although this is the rotating steel wheellocks first use in naval mines, Jiao Yu had described their use for land mines back in the 14th century. The first plan for a sea mine in the West was by Ralph Rabbards, the Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel was employed in the Office of Ordnance by King Charles I of England to make weapons, including a floating petard which proved a failure. Weapons of this type were apparently tried by the English at the Siege of La Rochelle in 1627, American David Bushnell developed the first American naval mine for use against the British in the American War of Independence. It was a watertight keg filled with gunpowder that was floated toward the enemy and it was used on the Delaware River as a drift mine. In 1812 Russian engineer Pavel Shilling exploded a mine using an electrical circuit. Russian naval specialists set more than 1500 naval mines, or infernal machines, designed by Moritz von Jacobi and by Immanuel Nobel, the mining of Vulcan led to the worlds first minesweeping operation. During the next 72 hours,33 mines were swept, the Jacobi mine was designed by German born, Russian engineer Jacobi, in 1853. The mine was tied to the sea bottom by an anchor, a cable connected it to a cell which powered it from the shore
6.
Minesweeper
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A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to engage in minesweeping. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, although naval warfare has a long history, the earliest known usage of the naval mine dates to the Ming dynasty. Dedicated minesweepers, however, only appear in the record several centuries later, to the Crimean War. In the Crimean War, minesweepers consisted of British rowboats trailing grapnels to snag the mines, despite the use of mines in the American Civil War, there are no records of effective minesweeping being used. Officials in the Union Army attempted to create the first minesweeper but were plagued by flawed designs, minesweeping technology picked up in the Russo-Japanese War, using aging torpedo boats as minesweepers. In Britain, naval leaders recognized before the outbreak of World War I that the development of sea mines was a threat to the nations shipping, sir Arthur Wilson noted the real threat of the time was blockade aided by mines and not invasion. A Trawler Section of the Royal Navy Reserve became the predecessor of the mine sweeping forces with specially designed ships and these reserve Trawler Section fishermen and their trawlers were activated, supplied with mine gear, rifles, uniforms and pay as the first minesweepers. The dedicated, purpose-built minesweeper first appeared during World War I with the Flower-class minesweeping sloop, by the end of the War, naval mine technology had grown beyond the ability of minesweepers to detect and remove. Minesweeping made significant advancements during World War II, combatant nations quickly adapted ships to the task of minesweeping, including Australias 35 civilian ships that became Auxiliary Minesweepers. Both Allied and Axis countries made heavy use of minesweepers throughout the war, historian Gordon Williamson wrote that Germanys minesweepers alone formed a massive proportion of its total strength, and are very much the unsung heroes of the Kriegsmarine. Naval mines remained a threat even after the war ended, after the Second World War, allied countries worked on new classes of minesweepers ranging from 120-ton designs for clearing estuaries to 735-ton oceangoing vessels. The United States Navy even used specialized Mechanized Landing Craft to sweep shallow harbors in, as of June 2012, the U. S. Navy had four minesweepers deployed to the Persian Gulf to address regional instabilities. Minesweepers are equipped with mechanical or electrical devices, known as sweeps, mechanical sweeps are devices designed to cut the anchoring cables of moored mines, and preferably attach a tag to help the subsequent localization and neutralization. They are towed behind the minesweeper, and use a body to maintain the sweep at the desired depth. Influence sweeps are equipment, often towed, that emulate a particular ship signature, the most common such sweeps are magnetic and acoustic generators. There are two modes of operating an influence sweep, MSM and TSM, MSM sweeping is founded on intelligence on a given type of mine, and produces the output required for detonation of this mine. If such intelligence is unavailable, the TSM sweeping instead reproduces the influence of the ship that is about to transit through the area. TSM sweeping thus clears mines directed at this ship without knowledge of the mines, however, mines directed at other ships might remain
7.
Sonar
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Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels. Two types of technology share the name sonar, passive sonar is essentially listening for the sound made by vessels, active sonar is emitting pulses of sounds, Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of targets in the water. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar, Sonar may also be used in air for robot navigation, and SODAR is used for atmospheric investigations. The term sonar is used for the equipment used to generate. The acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from low to extremely high. The study of sound is known as underwater acoustics or hydroacoustics. In the 19th century a bell was used as an ancillary to lighthouses to provide warning of hazards. The use of sound to locate underwater in the same way as bats use sound for aerial navigation seems to have been prompted by the Titanic disaster of 1912. S. Revenue Cutter Miami on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland Canada, in that test, Fessenden demonstrated depth sounding, underwater communications and echo ranging. The so-called Fessenden oscillator, at ca.500 Hz frequency, was unable to determine the bearing of the due to the 3 metre wavelength. The ten Montreal-built British H class submarines launched in 1915 were equipped with a Fessenden oscillator, during World War I the need to detect submarines prompted more research into the use of sound. Although piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers later superseded the electrostatic transducers they used, lightweight sound-sensitive plastic film and fibre optics have been used for hydrophones, while Terfenol-D and PMN have been developed for projectors. By 1918, both France and Britain had built prototype active systems, the British tested their ASDIC on HMS Antrim in 1920, and started production in 1922. The 6th Destroyer Flotilla had ASDIC-equipped vessels in 1923, an anti-submarine school, HMS Osprey, and a training flotilla of four vessels were established on Portland in 1924. The US Sonar QB set arrived in 1931, by the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Navy had five sets for different surface ship classes, and others for submarines, incorporated into a complete anti-submarine attack system. The effectiveness of early ASDIC was hamstrung by the use of the charge as an anti-submarine weapon. This required a vessel to pass over a submerged contact before dropping charges over the stern. The hunter was effectively firing blind, during which time a commander could take evasive action
8.
Explosive material
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An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may be composed of a single ingredient or a combination of two or more. Materials that detonate are said to be high explosives and materials that deflagrate are said to be low explosives, Explosives may also be categorized by their sensitivity. Sensitive materials that can be initiated by a small amount of heat or pressure are primary explosives. A wide variety of chemicals can explode, a number are manufactured specifically for the purpose of being used as explosives. The remainder are too dangerous, sensitive, toxic, expensive, unstable, in contrast, some materials are merely combustible or flammable if they burn without exploding. The distinction, however, is not razor-sharp, though early thermal weapons, such as Greek fire, have existed since ancient times, the first widely used explosive in warfare and mining was black powder, invented in 9th century China. This material was sensitive to water, and it produced copious amounts of dark smoke, the first useful explosive stronger than black powder was nitroglycerin, developed in 1847. Since nitroglycerin is a liquid and highly unstable, it was replaced by nitrocellulose, TNT in 1863, smokeless powder, dynamite in 1867, World War I saw the adoption of TNT trinitrotoluene in artillery shells. World War II saw a use of new explosives. In turn, these have largely replaced by more powerful explosives such as C-4. However, C-4 and PETN react with metal and catch fire easily, yet unlike TNT, C-4 and PETN are waterproof, the largest commercial application of explosives is mining. In Materials Science and Engineering, explosives are used in cladding, a thin plate of some material is placed atop a thick layer of a different material, both layers typically of metal. Atop the thin layer is placed an explosive, at one end of the layer of explosive, the explosion is initiated. The two metallic layers are forced together at high speed and with great force, the explosion spreads from the initiation site throughout the explosive. Ideally, this produces a metallurgical bond between the two layers and it is possible that some fraction of the surface material from either layer eventually gets ejected when the end of material is reached. Hence, the mass of the now welded bilayer, may be less than the sum of the masses of the two initial layers, there are applications where a shock wave, and electrostatics, can result in high velocity projectiles. Thus, explosives are substances that contain an amount of energy stored in chemical bonds. Consequently, most commercial explosives are compounds containing -NO2, -ONO2 and -NHNO2 groups that
