USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) as the ship transits the Strait of Gibraltar on Dec. 4, 2018. US Navy Photo
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of a series; please also see U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marine Corps Operations.
If 2018 made anything clear, it’s that the U.S. Navy noticed the increased Russian submarine activity in the Atlantic and won’t let it go unaddressed.
According to the Google translation of a Ukraine Ministry of Defense timeline, “Armored artillery boats ‘Berdyansk’ and ‘Nikopol’ were attacked by the enemy. Harbor tug ‘Yana Kapu’ was also forced to stop. Ukrainian ships are seized by Russian Special Forces. There is also information about two wounded Ukrainian sailors.” Ukraine Ministry of Defense photo.
Russian maritime forces have fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels that were attempting to sail from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov. Read More
Screen capture from video of a Su-27 conducting an unsafe intercept of a Navy EP-3E Aries II over the Black Sea on Nov. 5, 2018, US Navy Image
A Russian Su-27 intercepted a U.S. EP-3 Aries II aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea today, the Navy announced. Read More
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71), right, approaches the Lewis and Clark-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) for a replenishment-at-sea in the Mediterranean Sea, Oct. 6, 2018. Ross, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is on its seventh patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests Europe and Africa. US Navy photo.
THE PENTAGON – U.S. and NATO ships are focused on conducting freedom of navigation operations in Europe to push back against a Russia that is increasingly harassing commercial shipping and introducing new anti-access weapons into the theater, according to the head of U.S. naval forces in Europe. Read More
USNS Carson City (T-EPF- 7) entering the Black Sea on Aug. 15, 2018. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
Expeditionary Fast Transport ship USNS Carson City (T-EPF-7) transited the Bosphorus Strait and entered the Black Sea last week, a first for the entire class of Military Sealift Command-operated ships. Read More
USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) entering the Black Sea. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
Two U.S. Navy ships are among the naval forces in the Black Sea this week to participate in an international military exercise co-hosted by the U.S. and Ukraine.
A P-8A Poseidon assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 flies over the Chesapeake Bay. US Navy Photo
A Russian Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker conducted a safe but unprofessional intercept of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, according to several press reports. Read More
USS Ross (DDG-71) departs the Black Sea via the Bosporus on Feb. 28, 2018. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71) departed the Black Sea Wednesday, after nearly two weeks of conducting maritime security operations.
USS Carney (DDG-64) transits the Bosphorus Strait on Feb, 17, 2018. US Navy Photo
Under cover of darkness, U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71) slipped through the Bosporus Strait and into the Black Sea on Friday. The next day USS Carney (DDG-64) joined Ross. Read More
US Navy image of a Russian Su-27 fighter closing in on a EP-3E surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea on Jan. 29, 2017.
The Navy released additional video footage of a fully armed Russian Su-27 fighter intercepting a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea on Jan. 29, 2017. The new footage clearly shows the armed fighter came within five feet of the Aries II during the encounter. Read More
