Top News of the Week Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2014

Britain’s Only WW2-Era Submarine Reopens to Public

HMS Alliance – Britain’s only WW2-era submarine – reopens to the public today after a three-year restoration project. Around £7m has been spent revamping the boat at the RN Submarine Museum in Gosport, making her appear brand new both inside and out. 

UK Submarine Searches for Missing Malaysian Plane

The Trafalgar Class submarine has arrived in the southern Indian Ocean to help with the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that went missing on 8 March.   With her advanced underwater search capability, HMS Tireless will be able to contribute to the attempts to locate the missing plane.

USCG Cutter Gallatin Decommissioned

In a decommissioning ceremony Monday at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Coast Guard bid farewell to its last East Coast-based high endurance cutter: the Gallatin.

HMAS Toowoomba Joins International Search for MH370

The Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Toowoomba departed Fleet Base West near Perth on 29 March, to join the international search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.   The Anzac-class frigate has been diverted from other operational tasks to join the search.

American Aircraft Carrier Drops Anchor in Spain

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) arrived in Palma, Spain for a scheduled port visit, April 3.   The port visit is designed to continue Naval Forces Europe-Africa’s efforts to strengthen maritime partnerships with European nations to improve maritime safety and security in the region. 

German Frigate Hessen Meets with Civilian Cruise Liner at Sea

It’s not every day that passengers on board a civilian cruise liner would get so close to a warship on operations that they could wave to each other, but this is just what happened last week when the German cruise liner, AIDAdiva, with over 2,000 passengers on board, met German frigate FGS Hessen at sea.