The British Navy escaped a recent budget review with only minor cuts as the war in Afghanistan continues to squeeze royal defense coffers. In mid-December the Ministry of Defence announced that two ships, the Sandown-class minehunter HMS Walney and the coastal survey ship HMS Roebuck, pictured here, would be withdrawn from service and retired early. Walney, based at Faslane, Scotland, entered service in 1993 and is to be retired in 2010, seven years earlier than planned. Roebuck, based in Plymouth, was commissioned in 1986. Although expected to serve until at least 2014, she will also be retired later this year. The Royal Navy's highest visibility projects, including the Queen Elizabeth
class aircraft carriers, have survived the budget ax for the time being, though additional military reductions can be expected in the future. Other defense cuts impacting British maritime forces include early-2010 retirement for the Royal Air Force's Nimrod MR2 patrol aircraft. The service entry date for the follow-on Nimrod MFA4 has been shifted forward to 2012, and the RAF's V/STOL Harrier force will be reduced by at least one squadron.
This past December, the Dutch government signed a contract with Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding to construct a new joint support ship for the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy). The new vessel will provide underway support and strategic sealift to replace the aging Zuiderkruis, a 17,000-ton Poolster-class underway replenishment vessel pictured here that entered Dutch service in 1975. The joint support ship, to be built at Damen shipyard in Galati, Romania, and outfitted at Vlissingen, Netherlands, will displace 28,000 tons, making her the largest ship ever built for the Dutch Navy. Expected to enter service in 2014, the vessel will have a top speed of 18 knots and measure 205 meters in length with a 30-meter beam. The ship's crew is to consist of 150 sailors with additional space available on board for 150 support personnel and aviation staff. She will have deck landing spots for two Chinook-sized helicopters and hangar storage capacity for as many as six rotary-wing aircraft. Defensive armament will consist of two 30-mm close-in gun systems.
Two Japanese destroyers were involved in a collision on 4 December 2009, barely one month after the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force's helicopter-carrying destroyer Kurama suffered extensive bow damage in a 27 October collision with a South Korean container ship. The 5,350-ton (full load) Takanami-class destroyer Onami, pictured here, and the 4,300-ton (full load) Asagiri-class destroyer Sawagiri, were taking part in antipiracy training off the southern coast of Shikoku when the incident occurred. Damage to both vessels was reportedly minor, as the Onami suffered broken railings at her stern while the Sawagiri received a 23.6-inch-diameter hull puncture in her bow. No personnel were injured in the accident, although both destroyers were forced to return to their respective bases at Yokosuka and Sasebo to assess the damage and investigate the incident.