Cota 1061

Three decommissioned vessels from the United States Navy will be transferred in coming months to Peru and Chile once the US Congress approves the operation which is expected to happen at the end of the month, according to defence affairs publication “Enfoque Estratégico”.

Peru should be receiving two Tank Landing Ship units belonging to the Newport class which can transport a full 400 men battalion plus support vehicles.

The two vessels are “LST-1182 USS Fresno” and “LST-1191 USS Racine”, which were commissioned in 1969 and 1971 and have been decommissioned since 1993.

Chile will receive an oil tanker Class Henry Kaiser which was delivered to the US Military Sealift Command, MSC, in 1987 and decommissioned in 1996.

The Chilean Navy has an only bunker, “Araucano” which was built in Denmark 41 years ago. However the US vessel is more of a “logistic” unit since it can transport other liquid fuels, dray cargo, spares and ammunition.

With some minor modifications this vessel could also transport troops or be equipped as a repair and maintenance work shop.

According to Chile’s Navy commander Admiral Rodolfo Codina purchase, refurbishing and re-equipment of the vessel will demand an estimated 50 million US dollars.

The US Navy Henry Kaiser class belongs to the fleet of replenishment oilers of which 16 were constructed between 1984 and 1996.

Source: Mercopress

25 September, 2008 [ 17:25 ]

Living in Peru

A Chilean naval delegation arrived in Arequipa to coordinate the meetings that navy officials from Peru and Chile would hold in the next weeks to interchange information on security and pollution in border zones.

The Chilean rear-admiral Francisco Guzmán Vial, Commander of the Fourth Naval Zone, led the group, which last Monday made an official visit to the provincial mayor of Arequipa, Simón Balbuena Marroquín.

Guzmán ruled out emphatically that in these meetings, armed activities would be discussed.

In turn, the Peruvian rear-admiral Carlos De Izcue Arnilla, commander of the Third Naval Zone, who participated in the official visit, pointed out that among the actions coordinated by officials of both naval entities, the most outstanding one was the development of a fuel spillage practice in the border zone of Peru and Chile.

He indicated that this activity would be led by Ilo Port Authorities and Arica (Chile) under the supervision of the Third Naval Zone in coordination with the Fourth Naval Zone.

News source: ANDINA

Peruvian Navy

On June 27, the General Commander of the Navy, Admiral Carlos Gamarra Elias, arrived on an official visit to the city of Rome in Italy, to hold professional and protocol meetings with the chief of staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral of Squad Paolo La Rosa, as well as for technical talks with key officials and executives of companies belonging to the Society FINMECANNICA.

On June 30, aboard the aircraft carrier “Cavour”, next to be commissioned by the Italian Navy, Commander General of the Navy participated in the Second National Meeting of Submariners which was chaired by Admiral Paolo La Rosa and with the participation of Admiral Dino Nascetti, Director General of Armaments and Naval Constructions of the Ministry of Defense of Italy, as well as other civilian and military authorities.

During this event, were displayed systems installed in this new aircraft carrier, which will replace the flagship, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.” The “Cavour” is a unit that has a hangar of 134 metres and 2500 sq metres to accommodate 24 tanks and a good amount of light vehicles. Its autonomy will be 7,000 nautical miles at 16 knots.

In parallel, during this meeting, the company Alenia White HEAD SISTEMI SUBACQUEI (Wasser) made the presentation of its book entitled “Wasser-133-year history”, which has embodied the beginnings and development of this leading company, linked to industry of submarine weapons.

On July 1, in the city of Livorno, headquarters of the Naval Academy, Commander General of the Navy submitted its protocolar salute to Division Admiral, Raffaelle Caruso, Director of said studies centre, with whom he toured the facilities accompanied by Defense Attache to the Embassy of Italy in Peru, Admiral Roberto Nieto and the Peruvian naval cadets, Samuel Ibarra and Carlos Bejarano, whom since 2006, follow studies at the Naval Academy.

Moreover, in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, Admiral Carlos Gamarra Elias and Mrs Giannina Stromsdorfer Gamarra submitted its protocol greet to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who took this opportunity to send a blessing to the Peruvian people and members of the Navy of Peru.

During the official visit, in the cities of Rome, Livorno and La Spezia, the General Commander of the Navy, held meetings with key executives from leading companies, suppliers of weapons systems and electronics, such as Wasser, OTOMELARA, SELEX Galileo , MDBA, SELEX COMMUNICATIONS, Elettronica, among others, where the companies displayed systems and equipment of latest technology, as well as different projects that are currently in development.

The Peruvian Navy (MGP, per its initials in spanish) is interested in acquiring two Landing Ship Tank (LST) Class Newport from the US Navy.

Newport class tank landing ships are an improved class of American tank landing ship (LST), intended to provide substantial advantages over their World War II-era predecessors. Of the twenty completed, four were sunk as targets, four were retained as inactive reserves and the rest were sold to foreign navies.

Twenty ships of the Newport tank landing ship class were built to replace the traditional bow door design LST.

The Newport class has higher speeds and trimmer lines than the LSTs of World War II. The vessels have two huge derricks used to extend and retract a bow ramp. That 110-foot (34 m) ramp has a 75-ton capacity.

The Newport class is the first amphibious ship to be fitted with an internal side propulsion unit located below the waterline near the bow. The bow thruster allows the bow to be pushed from side to side while the stern remains nearly stationary. This class of LST also has a stern gate. It allows them to load and launch amphibious assault vehicles, and permits sterngate marriages with Landing Craft Utility (LCU) units.

According to the United States Congress, MGP has been given the good to go to receive two Newport class amphibiou ships as follows:

(a) Transfers by Grant- The President is authorized to transfer vessels to foreign recipients on a grant basis under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j), as follows:

…

(4) PERU- To the Government of Peru, the NEWPORT class amphibious tank landing ships FRESNO (LST-1182) and RACINE (LST-1191).

LST-1182 USS Fresno, built by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, commissioned in 1969, decommissioned in 1993, Inactive reserve since 4/08/1993.

LST-1191 USS Racine, built by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, commissioned in 1971, decommissioned in 1993, Inactive reserve since 10/02/1993.

General characteristics

Type: Tank Landing Ship
Displacement: approx. 4,793 tons light loaded,
8,500 tons fully loaded
Length: 522 ft (159 m)
Beam: 70 ft (21 m)
Draft: 17.4 ft (5.3 m)
Propulsion: 6 ALCO diesels (3 per shaft)
16,000 shaft horsepower;
800 hp GE bow thruster.
2 Hydraulically Controlled Variable Pitch Reversible Props and 1 Variable Pitch Bow Thruster
3 ALCO/GE Generators (750 kW, 1201 A each)
Speed: 20+ knots (37+ km/h)
27 knots (50 km/h) confirmed in 1991.
Troops: Marines - approximately 400 including officers and enlisted, when embarked
Complement: Navy - 14 officers, 210 enlisted.

Sources:

1/ US Congress
2/ Militaryphotos.net
3/ Wikipedia
4/ Navybuddies.com

Last modified Wed., June 25, 2008 - 05:58 PM

The Mirror

By MCSN Omar A. Dominquez, Fleet Public Affairs Center, Pacific

UNITAS 49-08, an annual multinational exercise conducted to enhance interoperability and mutual cooperation between Navies, began off the coast of Callao, Peru on June 21. The exercise, hosted by Peru this year, brings together nations with common interests in the Americas, and includes Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and the United States. Mexico is also participating in this year’s Atlantic phase of UNITAS as an observer.UNITAS, now in its 49th consecutive year, strengthens relationships between partner nations through at-sea operations under numerous maritime scenarios.