Years ago I challenged the commanding officer of the ship I was on to the thought that our dependents should not know WHEN a US Navy vessel might leave port. You know the phrase “Loose Lips, Sink Ships” That phrase came out of WWII when it was a real deal IF the anticipated departure or arrival of a naval vessel in a port could compromise it’s location making it vulnerable to harmful actions by the enemy.
Back when I challenged our skipper, it was 1982 and we were on a US Navy hydrofoil based and home-ported at Naval Station Key West in Key West, FL, USA. Our PHM squadron (decommissioned in 1993) used the Trumbo Point Annex as home for the six US Navy hydrofoils.
While the skipper was well meaning, I pointed out to him that the Cuban military (as well as the Russian military at their side in 1982) knew hours BEFORE we were to depart Key West because our operating procedures had us turn on our radar 8 hours before departures. If you know something about radar, you should know that each ship has a radar transmit signature. So not only did the Cuban military know we were preparing to leave Key West, they knew WHICH ship was leaving.
Fast forward to today when I was using You Tube live-stream to view Key West’s Mallory Square. I noticed in the chat that someone had seen a LCS ship (US Navy Littoral class) leave Key West.
The chat theorized that it was the USS Billings because someone else said the USS Sioux City (LCS-11) was in the Middle East. Well, just because the USS Billings LCS-15 is based in Mayport, FL does not mean she was in Key West, so I piped up on the YouTube chat (I think it was my first, and last time ever) that using this internet site (VesselFinder) I had determined that it WAS the USS Sioux City LCS-11 that was departing today.
No sooner had I left for a minute or two did I find my comment REMOVED from the chat, it must be that the military monitors this YouTube channel OR YouTube is real good holding up its end of the bargain being under the employ of the US government.
I doubled down and found a site (USCarrierDotNet) that tracks the whole US fleet not quite in real time but gives us CSI guys a chance in knowing what our tax dollars are being used for, in this case to go south in the Caribbean to intercept “illicit” drug trafficking. Here is a blurb from the US Navy as to what it’s primary mission is these days:
USS Sioux City (LCS-11) deployed over the weekend to U.S. Southern Command to aid in conducting counter-narcotic missions, the Navy recently announced.
Sioux City, a Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship commissioned in 2018, will have a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment (LEDET) aboard, in addition to an MQ-8B Fire Scout and MH-60S helicopter for aerial missions.
“Sioux City’s operations will involve practical exercises and exchanges with partner nations, supporting U.S. 4th Fleet interoperability and reinforcing the U.S. position as the regional partner of choice,” according to a service press release.
I had also found it’s loose itinerary so far from this link:
August 30, USS Sioux City (Gold), with an embarked Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22 Detachment, departed Mayport for its first operational deployment in support of counter-illicit trafficking operations.
September 4, The Sioux City moored at N/S/I Mole Pier on Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., for a two-day port call; Moored at N/S/I Mole Pier again from Sept. 9-11 and Sept. 16.
I also found out info from VesselFinder that corroborated this:
I also found a press release from Key West Naval Air Station that supports the presence of USS Sioux City (LCS-11) in Key West the past couple weeks:
With ALL this information, why edit/erase a comment about the ship leaving Key West? Seriously, is this our tax money at work?
It reminds me of the last time I was in Key West on the ‘Brilliance of the Seas’ (Royal Caribbean) and we were “allowed” to dock at the same mole pier that the USS Sioux City LCS-11 was moored to these past two weeks. Rumor had it that the new US commander at Naval Air Station Key West was not fond of having “civilians” on the base, and picture taking while on the shuttle to the town was strictly forbidden .. but camera shots from the cruise ship weren’t .. but I can’t post them because WordPress says their server is busy or resources are not available .. or maybe my picture is too large. Really? 3.9MB?
OK, here is a screenshot:
So much for the ‘secret’ military antenna and alternative surveillance small ship forces based here … Google maps can get you all that info:
Here are the special ops small boats:
.. and the barracks I stay in the late summer and fall of 1982 (now retrofitted with solar panels!):
Bet you can’t fly a drone over that property .. ROFL
I guess the bottom line is that you can count on government bureaucracy to make the government as inefficient as possible, pretend that it can keep everything a secret, but then do it all wrong.
Maybe it is still a sore spot with me that the state-of-the-art hydrofoil squadron I was a part of in the early 1980s would be squandered and decommissioned way too early in their life-cycle, and on the way to a 300-ship navy where “bigger is better” was a detour that set this country’s small ship technology way back while fumbling with things like F-35s, Littoral-class ships and Ford-class aircraft carriers that are still not ready for prime time after billions of dollars spent in projects coming in years late.
If some politician or naval commander like Admiral Elmo Zumwalt could have pushed for the small and nimble squadrons, we would be decades ahead in small/remote ship development. If we were not an empire, then maybe these types of projects would have gained traction.
.. and just like that 6 days ago I hear:
“One of the ways you get [to a larger fleet] quickly is moving toward lightly manned [ships], which over time can be unmanned,” Esper said then. “We can go with lightly manned ships, get them out there. You can build them so they’re optionally manned and then, depending on the scenario or the technology, at some point in time they can go unmanned.”
Who knows … maybe they are finally back to the drawing board ..
Maybe I am retro .. but these look better .. $60M in 1981 USDs:
Peace out
-SF1