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Ships with New Zealand connections – HMS Driver was a Driver-class wooden paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. She is credited with the first global circumnavigation by a steamship when she arrived back in England on 14 May 1847

She embarked for the East Indies and China in March 1842. She served some time in China (losing her original commanding officer) before being ordered to New Zealand in September 1845. She was damaged by a storm en route, necessitating repairs to her engine and boiler and other parts of the ship.[3] During her circumnavigationContinue reading “Ships with New Zealand connections – HMS Driver was a Driver-class wooden paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. She is credited with the first global circumnavigation by a steamship when she arrived back in England on 14 May 1847”

USS Wichita, a unique 8 in ‘heavy’ variant of the Brooklyn class light cruisers: she saw distinguished WW2 service, including in 1942 as an Arctic convoy escort (notably to the ill fated PQ17) and at the Operation Torch landings in North Africa; thereafter in the Pacific, notably at the battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944.

USS Wichita, a unique 8 in ‘heavy’ variant of the Brooklyn class light cruisers: she saw distinguished WW2 service, including in 1942 as an Arctic convoy escort (notably to the ill fated PQ17) and at the Operation Torch landings in North Africa; thereafter in the Pacific, notably at the battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944.Continue reading “USS Wichita, a unique 8 in ‘heavy’ variant of the Brooklyn class light cruisers: she saw distinguished WW2 service, including in 1942 as an Arctic convoy escort (notably to the ill fated PQ17) and at the Operation Torch landings in North Africa; thereafter in the Pacific, notably at the battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944.”

Engine fire forces B-52 bomber to make emergency landing at Minot AFB

A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron takes flight from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 7, 2024, in support of a bomber task force mission. The aircraft and crew are deployed from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. (Capt. Stephen J. Collier/Air Force)   A single-engine fire forced a B-52H StratofortressContinue reading “Engine fire forces B-52 bomber to make emergency landing at Minot AFB”

Australia to more than double naval surface fleet, grow defense budget

Australia’s Hobart-class destroyers are to receive upgrades at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. (Gordon Arthur/Staff) CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — The Royal Australian Navy will have its largest fleet since the end of World War II if it implements recommendations from a new independent review of its surface combat ships. The government’s “Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet”Continue reading “Australia to more than double naval surface fleet, grow defense budget”