IRINS Makran passes through the Great Belt strait in Denmark en route to the Baltic Sea on July 22, 2021. Photo by @shipoholic used with permission
This post has been updated with additional information from the Danish Armed Forces.
Iran’s largest warship is now in the Baltic Sea – a first for the Iranian Navy – according to photos from ship spotters provided to USNI News. Read More
Surviellance ship Kareliya (SSV-535)
A Russian Navy surveillance ship has spent the last several days lingering off the coast of the western coast of Hawaii, USNI News has learned. Read More
The following is the May 19, 2021 Department of Defense Inspector General investigation, Evaluation of the Readiness of the U.S. Navy’s P-8A Poseidon Aircraft to Meet the U.S. European Command’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Requirements. Read More
Marines with Marine Rotational Force Europe 21.1 (MRF-E), Marine Forces Europe and Africa, conduct a live-fire range using Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV) in Blatindan, Norway, March 16, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo
Russia’s heavy investment in new ballistic missile submarines and long-range precision strike weaponry signal the Kremlin’s will to challenge NATO’s ability to reinforce the High North in a crisis, Norway’s top diplomat said Friday. Read More
Illustration of Belgorod submarine. H I Sutton Image used with permission
Russia’s latest super-sized submarine, Belgorod, has been a conundrum for interested observers. While its existence is far from secret, Moscow has gone to great pains to keep certain key details out of the public domain. While navies traditionally hide the screw, or propeller, from the cameras, in Belgorod’s case the reverse was true: the screws were on display at the 2019 launch ceremony, but no photographs of the forward section were ever published. Read More
Motor Tanker (M/T) Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel who fast roped aboard the ship from an Iranian Sea King helicopter as it hovered above on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
Like the U.S., international navies grappled with not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but regional security concerns from China’s naval expansion and operations in the Pacific to Iranian and Russian operations in the Middle East. Read More
HI Sutton Image used with permission
Last week, the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Samah entered the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal. After a few miles, the 900-foot-long ship stopped reporting its position and destination. Evidence suggests the ship sailed to Syria, escorted by two Russian Navy ships, including a destroyer. Read More
USS Porter (DDG-78) enters the Black Sea on July 19, 2020. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
Naval drills led by the U.S. and Ukraine kicked off today in the Black Sea, while Russia called for a series of nearby snap naval drills. Read More
Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don heading for the Mediterranean Sea. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet recently has been deploying its submarines to the Mediterranean, despite a decades-old international treaty which many thought would prevent those deployments. Read More
Russian students listen to a Russian naval officer in the Annapolis National Cemetery, Md. USNI News Photo
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In the back corner of a cemetery, just down the road from the U.S. Naval Academy, is the grave of Nikolay Demidoff. He was a Russian sailor who died during a little-remembered episode more than 150 years ago when Russia was one of the only friends Washington had. Read More
