Free Republic

LOS ANGELES - President Bush cannot exempt the Navy from environmental laws banning sonar training that opponents argue harms whales, a federal judge ruled Monday. Navy officials did not immediately respond to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper. Mark Matsunaga, spokesman for the Navy's Pacific Fleet, headquartered in Hawaii, said officials needed time to review it before commenting. The president signed a waiver Jan. 15 exempting the Navy and its anti-submarine warfare exercises from a preliminary injunction creating a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California. The Navy's attorneys argued in court last week that he was within...

Sunday, February 27 at 8 p.m. ET! In this thrilling episode you’ll go to war aboard the destroyers of World War II. Their crews nicknamed these ships “tin cans” because they lacked armor. The hundreds of destroyers and the 300,000 brave souls that sailed aboard proved invaluable in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. "War Stories" host Oliver North talks to several sailors who survived a punishing typhoon in December of 1944. Evan Fenn tells how he barely escaped the USS Monaghan as it was overwhelmed and capsized by seas towering near 80 feet. You’ll meet another sailor whose ‘tin...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Navy is pulling two more of its Trident nuclear submarines from Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in coastal Georgia, relocating them to Washington state to beef up its arsenal in the Pacific. When the submarines USS Louisiana and USS Maine ship out in October 2005, Kings Bay will have lost half its Trident submarine fleet — five of 10 — since 2002. By contrast, the Navy has increased the number of nuclear submarines at the Naval Submarine Base Bangor near Bremerton, Wash. Subs based at Bangor include the Persian Gulf and Korean Peninsula in their...

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will deploy in September a guided missile destroyer to the Sea of Japan equipped with newest missile defense tracking technology. “As part of the President’s directive to accelerate the fielding of a [ballistic missile defense] Initial Defensive Operations capability … the Navy will deploy in the Sea of Japan, beginning this September, and on a virtually continuous basis thereafter, a guided missile destroyer to serve as a Long-Range Surveillance and Tracking platform,” Navy Secretary Gordon England said Monday at the Missile Defense Conference in Washington. The yet-to-be-identified destroyer will be a Pacific Fleet asset,...

Fleet Week San Francisco 2003 Navy Ships sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and other military and civilian aerobatic aircraft performers provide over four hours of aerial entertainment in the world's most breathtaking venue during Fleet Week when the Bay Area pays tribute to the men and women of our nation's Navy and Marine services. A Gavin Fleet Week design© 1998 Gavin Fine Art & DesignAll Rights Reserved Come to Fisherman's Wharf and celebrate Fleet Week and the US Navy's birthday with an assortment of exciting family oriented activities...

The Northern Mariana Islands are to become part of a United States military build-up in the Pacific. Saipan is currently home port for two US cargo ships, deployed to carry military equipment, but over the next few months up to eight military freighters will be based in Saipan. They will join a US aircraft carrier battle group that is being shifted to the Pacific, adding to the existing bomber squadrons and submarines based in Guam. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Governor's spokesman, Peter Callaghan, says the cargo ships in Saipan strengthen the US military's rapid-response capabilities. "I...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- With five of six carrier battle groups deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Pacific Fleet was nearly tested to its limits. The ability to deploy the fleet's assets -- ships, subs and personnel -- quickly has given Navy leaders a great sense of pride. "That's a phenomenal undertaking," Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Walter Doran said in his historic Pearl Harbor office. "That underlines the commitment we have made over the last couple of years in short-term readiness and maintenance. And it talks very, very highly about training and the readiness capability of the sailors." However, it...