Man's Effect on the Sea. In its February 15 issue, the Journal of Science published an article outlining the current state of the world's seas, as affected by man. In sum, no part of world's oceans has not been affected by man's hand, or more pointedly, by man's destructive habits, and only four percent of the world's oceans remain undamaged. Forty percent are "strongly affected." (Sources: AP, BBC, NY Times)

Fishing and Its Effect on the Sea. In November 2006, an article in the journal Science stated that, unless steps are taken, the world's stocks of fish will be depleted in fifty years. An estimated one third of sea fish stocks are already depleted. In February 2008, scientists at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting suggested that fuel subsidies to bottom-trawler fishing fleets be stopped in order to restrict bottom-trawling. This form of fishing is the most damaging to fish stocks and to the sea bottom. Many marine scientists believe that bottom-trawling must be done away with entirely in order to avoid depleting fish stocks entirely. Industrial fishing, much of it bottom-trawling, also affects the livelihoods of many local fishermen. In Guinea, for example, industrial fishing fleets often operate illegally in Guinea waters, depleting stocks and depriving local fishermen. Illegal fishing on an industrial scale is increasingly an international problem. Over-fishing is also a significant contributor to the destruction of coral reefs. (BBC, IRIN)

Local Destruction of Fish Stocks. In developing nations I have seen harbors and the waters immediately adjacent almost devoid of sea life due to pollution and over-fishing, in some cases by "DuPont fishing"-the use of explosives to kill fish. The explosives not only kill fish, but incidentally and in combination with pollution, reefs as well. The effect of pollution is not limited to the harbors of developing nations. In the 1980s when I was stationed at Coronado, many divers and fisherman would not eat fish taken from San Diego Bay or adjacent to the harbor mouth, out of concern for toxins in the fish, noting that fish taken there often exhibited unusual growths on their skins. (Source: author)

Scalloped Hammerhead. The BBC reports that over-fishing, driven by the demand for shark fins, has pushed the scalloped hammerhead to the brink of extinction, and this unique fish will be added to the list of endangered species. The hammerhead's plight was recently taken up at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. It is not the only shark in peril: many large ocean predators are being over-fished to the point that their species are endangered. The shortfin mako and the long-tailed thresher have also been over-fished to the point of extinction. The blue shark, among many others, is declining in number. Sharks are killed not only by deliberate fishing, but also incidentally in fishing nets. (Source: BBC, 18, 22 Feb 2008)

Update on Sonar and Sea Mammals. Late on February 29, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the US Navy's appeal of an order banning high-power sonar within twelve miles of the Southern California coast. President Bush had originally ordered the US Navy to ignore the restrictions, but a Federal judge subsequently ordered the Navy to comply, thus the Navy's appeal. The sonar restriction is intended to minimize harm to marine mammals. The US Navy has devoted a website to the issue of sonar and marine mammals at www.navy.mil/oceans/index.asp. The Natural Resources Defense Council discusses the issue at www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp. (Source: AP)

Update on Antarctic Whale Hunt. Japan continues its Antarctic whale hunt in the name of research, although the flesh from whales killed for "research" will end up on Japanese tables. Elements of Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, including the vessel Steve Irwin (labelled by the Japanese whaling community as a terrorist vessel), continue to shadow and harrass the Japanese whaling flotilla. According the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), the outcry against whaling is not worldwide, but Western, implying either a cultural misunderstanding, or racism, or both. The ICR fails to note that Japan is one of only three nations still actively whaling, and the only Asian: Norway and Greenland are Western. All three nations hunt legally, Japan under the "scientific" exception, Norway under formal objection to the moratorium, for example. Licenses are also granted to various aboriginal groups. Observers note that Japanese whaling exists to support its whaling communities, some of which have been whaling for four centuries: the "whaling industry seems to enjoy a protected status, mainly as a tradition to be defended against foreign interference" (Martin Fackler, NY Times, February 21, 2008). In spite of a worldwide moratorium on whaling, more than two thousand whales are hunted and killed each year. For a Japanese explanation of the need to kill whales for scientific research, see the ICR's website, which some might describe as a pro-whaling propaganda piece, at http://www.icrwhale.org/QandAResearch.htm - 11 See also http://www.greenpeace.org/usa and whaling.jp (Sources: BBC, icrwhale.org, author's)

Mercury in Dolphins and Whales. Although mercury is being found in increasingly high levels in dolphin and whale, Japanese authorities have, according to the BBC, apparently been reticent to warn their public about the danger. Both whale and dolphin continue to be sold for food in Japanese markets. Dolphin is prized as sashimi, for example. Several Japanese fishing villages still rely on whaling and dolphin fishing for their livelihoods. (Source: BBC)

Pygmy Sperm Whale. A pygmy sperm whale was stranded and in critical condition in the Florida Keys on February 23. Rescuers transported the whale to a rehabilitation center. (Source: AP)

Ocean Preserve. Kiribati, an island nation in the South Pacific, has declared a 164,200 square mile marine wilderness protected zone. (Source: NY Times)

Midway Atoll Reopening for Tourists. Closed six years ago, Midway will open again for small tourist groups in March, 2008. The Midway Atoll is part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (the largest US marine conservation preserve), and was the center point of the Battle of Midway during WWII. (Source: NY Times, 27 Jan 08)

Antarctic Marine Life. Great Britain's first deep sea ROV (remotely operated vehicle), Isis, recently made dives in the Antarctic to depths of 2.2 miles. Operating from the RSS James Clark Ross near Marguerite Bay, the ROV made fifteen dives over three weeks, identifying and observing ancient meltwater channels, as well as various undersea life. The expedition was also concerned with the potential effect of global warming on life in Antarctic waters, and the survey revealed the extent of marine life to be much greater than expected. Scientists predict that global warming, by increasing the average temperature of southern seas, will bring non-native sharks, crabs, and other predators into Antarctic waters, which will in turn threaten unique local marine life. (Source: BBC 16, 20 February 2008)

James Clark Ross, for whom Isis' support ship is named, was a nineteenth century explorer of the Antarctic. From 1839 to 1843 he commanded the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, for which he named Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, the two volcanoes discovered during the voyage of exploration. His expedition also discovered and explored the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf, and other geographic features of the southern continent. (Source: various encyclopedia)

Shark Attack

An Austrian tourist, Markus Groh, died on February 25 of wounds received from a shark attack in Bahamian waters where he was participating in a dive designed to put divers in close proximity to sharks. The predators were drawn to the site via "chumming," a process in which dead fish and fish offal are dumped into the water. In general, the threat to swimmers and divers from shark attacks is grossly exaggerated, particularly by the news media, as well as by popular films, novels, and television documentaries designed more to entertain than to inform. For example, while there may be instances of Navy SEALs being attacked by attacked by sharks, I am aware of none, in spite of the hundreds and even thousands of times each individual SEAL enters the water for a swims and dives over the course of his career, and in waters and at times of day considered high risk for shark attacks. Swimming or diving in water "chummed" for sharks, however, does significantly increase the likelihood of shark attack, especially among sharks familiar with divers. Divers interacting with sharks in these conditions should exercise caution. (Sources: Huntsville Times, author's)

The Prehistoric Sea

Largest Pliosaur on Record. The BBC reports that a pliosaur found in 2006 on Spitspergen in the Arctic Sea is the largest on record, and would have measured fifty feet long. Pliosaurs are a form of plesiosaur-a large prehistoric reptile of the sea, or sea monster, in other words-with a short neck, enormous head, and immensely powerful jaws. Palaeontologist Richard Forrest suggested that a large pliosaur could pick up a small car in its jaws, and bite through it. (Source: BBC)

Storms.

Tropical Storms. Cyclone Ivan battered Madagascar on February 17, with an intensity equivalent to that of Hurricane Katrina, and Cyclone Gene struck the Fiji Islands on January 29.

Shipwrecks and Rescues

Racing Vessel Capsizes. The French trimaran Groupama III capsized in ten foot swells and thirty knot winds on February 18 off the east coast of New Zealand during the Jules Verne Round the World Yacht Race. All ten crew members were rescued by helicopters, unharmed. The rescue was coordinated by the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre after notification by French authorities. Catamarans and trimarans are more susceptible to capsizing, but often have greater speed than monohulls. (Source: Reuters, author's)

Collision at Sea. The Japanese Aegis guided missile destroyer Atago struck the fishing boat Seitoku Maru on February 19, cutting her in two. Her two-man crew-father and son-are missing and presumed lost. The Atago is based out of Yokosuka, Japan. The Japanese Navy is constitutionally designated as a defense force, but does support the war in Afghanistan by refueling US and other coalition warships in the Indian ocean. In November 2007, the upper house of the Japanese legislature voted to suspend refueling operations, but the lower house overrode the upper in January 2008. The Japanese opposition party believes the refueling operation violates the Japanese constitution, and that it lacks a UN mandate as well. (Sources: BBC, NY Times)

Shipwrecked Fisherman. A shipwrecked Australian fisherman, Michael Williams, swam for ten hours to shore after having drifted at sea for more than twenty hours, clinging to some of the flotsam of his sunken trawler. The Australian Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service plucked a second fisherman, John Jarrett, from the sea thirty hours after the wreck. As of February 28, rescuers were still searching for the trawler's captain, Charlie Picton. The trawler struck a reef on February 27, and sank. (Source: BBC)

IMB Award for Heroism at Sea. In 2007 the International Maritime Bureau established an annual award for heroism at sea, and presented the first award to Second Officer Mustafa Topiwala of the Bahamas-registered bulk carrier Searose G, and to Captain Zvonimir Ostric, a trainer aboard the ship. During a gale, the crew of the Searose G rescued nine crew members of the Maltese-flagged ship Teklivka in the Mediterranean. Second Officer Topiwala, assisted by Captain Ostric, rescued nine of the Teklivka's twelve man crew. At one point Second Officer Topiwala even leapt into the storm sea in order to rescue stricken crewmen. Eight other individuals or organizations were also nominated for the award. See www.imo.com.

Pilots Eject Over Gulf of Mexico. Two USAF F-15 fighter aircraft collided in mid-air approximately thirty-five miles south of the Florida Panhandle on February 20. Both pilots ejected. One was spotted in the water by a Coast Guard search jet, whose crew directed a fishing boat to his location. He was later hoisted from the fishing vessel by a Coast Guard helicopter. The second pilot, 1st Lieutenant Ali Jivanjee, was pulled from the water by a Coast Guard helicopter, but died later at Eglin Air Force Base due to his injuries. On February 1, a Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 crashed at sea. Its pilot ejected safely, and was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. On February 23, the two pilots of a B-1 bomber ejected safely just after takeoff from Guam, in the Pacific. Eleven days earlier, a Navy EA-6B Prowler went down in the ocean near Hawaii. All four of her crew ejected safely and were rescued by the US Coast Guard. Pilots ejecting from aircraft are sometimes already injured from the circumstances forcing them bail out, are often injured by the powerful forces they are subjected to during ejection, and once they are in the water are subject to the hazards of the sea. All US Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force pilots are trained in survival at sea. (Source: AP, NPR, various other news feeds, author's)

Sunken Vessels

U-Boats Found. Divers have discovered one of three U-boats (U-19, U-20, and U-23) scuttled in the Black Sea at the end of WWII. The small Type II-B submarines, of roughly 280 tons each, belonged to a six submarine flotilla shipped overland to the Black Sea, where they destroyed over 45,000 tons of Russian shipping. Three of the submarines were lost in action. (Source: independent.co.uk)

Vessels From the Age of Sail

Money for Restoration. The Heritage Lottery Fund in the UK awarded $19.7 million for restoration of the Cutty Sark, the famous clipper ship severely damaged by fire last year. The Fund also awarded $41.4 million to build a museum to house the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship. The Mary Rose sank in 1542, and was raised from the seabed in the Solent in 1982. (Source: NY Times, 26 Jan 08)

Mary Rose Preservation. The Diamond synchrotron-a donut-shaped electron microscope the size of five soccer fields-in South Oxfordshire, England, is being used to examine sulfur compounds in the Mary Rose's timbers. Scientists and conservators from the Mary Rose Trust, the National Museum of Scotland, the Daresbury Laboratory, and the University of Kent hope to discover whether the sulfur compounds, which can turn to sulfuric acid when in contact with oxygen, will threaten the timbers over time. The synchrotron spins electrons at high speed, causing them to emit light "10 billion times brighter than the sun," which in the case of the Mary Rose is then focused on slivers of wood taken from her timbers. (Source: BBC, 08 Feb 08)

Cruise Liners

Queen Elizabeth 2. On her final world voyage before being decommissioned later this year, the Queen Elizabeth 2 crossed paths with the Queen Victoria in a festive Sydney Harbor, Australia. In her nearly forty years at sea, the QE2 has sailed six million miles and carried two and a half million passengers. After decommissioning, she will become a hotel in Dubai, UAE. The Queen Mary, one of the most famous of the early passenger liners and sister ship to the original Queen Elizabeth, was retired to a similar fate in 1967 in Long Beach, California. Her first hotel rooms in this capacity opened in 1972. (Source: BBC 25 Feb 08, queenmary.com)

Outbreak of Nonovirus. The Ryndam, a Holland America cruise ship, suffered its fourth outbreak of norovirus in the past year, this time sickening 104 passengers and six members of the crew. The virus causes vomiting and diarrhea, lasts one to two days, and is noted for its occurence aboard cruise liners. (Source: AP)

Technology

Robotic Glider. A torpedo-like robotic glider is being tested in the Caribbean by scientists from the Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute. The glider, which has no batteries or other fuel for propulsion, is intended for ocean surveys. Propulsion energy is derived from temperature differences in the ocean. However, batteries are required to operate the glider's instruments.

Maritime Security

Oil Rig Hoax. On February 11, 161 of more than 500 workers on the Flotel Safe Scandinavia oil platform in the North Sea were evacuated before a bomb threat was determined to a false report that began as a joke. Both the RAF and the Special Boat Service (Britain's elite naval commandos) were called in. A woman was detained by security forces; she had apparently dreamed that a bomb was on the platform. (Source: independent.co.uk)

Special Boat Service. An independent unit of the Royal Marines and organized under Great Britain's Special Forces, the SBS is the maritime special operations branch of the British military. Founded during WWII, the SBS's original motto, Not by Strength, By Guile has been changed to By Strength and Guile. SBS units are currently serving in Afghanistan, and in 2007 reportedly killed Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's senior military commander. (Source: various news reports, et al)

North Korea Seizes Russian Ship. The North Korean coast guard boarded and detained a small Russian cargo ship, the Lida Demesh, as she sought refuge from a storm. The ship was carrying a cargo of automobiles from Japan to Vladivostok, and is expected to be released eventually. Some observers suggest the ship may have sailed too close to a missile test site. In 1968 North Korea attacked and captured the USS Pueblo, an intelligence ship, killing one sailor. The Pueblo remains in North Korean hands. North Korea has also seized fishing vessels over the years, claiming they were violating territorial waters. Regarding seizures, vessels that stray too close to high security areas of any nation are often detained. Commercial shipping and other private vessels are good cover for intelligence operations, and all nations have a right to be wary of them when they approach high security areas or are otherwise suspicious because they are sailing outside of normal shipping lanes and routes. (Source: BBC, CNN, author's, et al)

In an exception to the usually frigid relations between the US and North Korea, the USS James E. Williams (DDG-95) came to the assistance of North Korean fishermen fighting off Somali pirates in November 2007. Historically and traditionally, sailors have usually come to the aid of other mariners in time of need, even of their enemies. No matter their nationality or political philosophies, all mariners have one enemy in common, the hazards of the sea. (Source: various news feeds, author's)

Modern Piracy

ICC Piracy Report. The month of February was a relatively quiet one. Pirate attacks were small scale and generally limited to the petty theft or attempted theft of ship's stores. Many attacks failed after ships' companies sounded the alarm and mustered. See http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php (Source: icc-ccs.org)

Slavery and Human Trafficking

International Slavery. Trafficking in people-modern slavery-continues to be an international humanitarian problem. Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Nigeria, and Thailand, along with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and other nations, are the primary sources of the slave trade. Many persons are enslaved unwittingly, and many travel by sea, often in unsafe vessels or inhumane conditions, or both. Vessels are often dangerously overloaded, and at times human cargoes have been left to fend for themselves at sea. According to the UN, approximately 2.5 million people are enslaved at any given time, and of them 1.2 million are children. An estimated forty-three percent of persons enslaved have been forced into the sex trade. Destination countries include many, if not most, modern industrialized nations, but developing nations are often destinations as well. Children, for example, are forced to labor for fishermen on Ghana's Lake Volta. While many nations have ratified the UN's Anti-Trafficking Protocol, many have not. World navies are generally not tasked directly with anti-trafficking, but are often involved in its suppression, usually as a result of rendering assistance at sea. See also http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/index.html (Source: BBC, unodc.org, et al)

Modern Naval Warfare

Flyovers Recall the Cold War. On February 12, one Tu-95 Russian bomber flew over the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), while another circled some fifty miles away. Navy fighter aircraft were deployed to intercept and escort the Russian aircraft. During the Cold War, particularly during the Vietnam era, Soviet flyovers of US carrier battle groups was common. Invariably, fighters-usually F-4 Phantoms-were dispatched to intercept the Soviet bombers, and would fly close alongside, among other reasons so that Soviet photographs of the US carriers would also include US aircraft, and similarly, so that the US Navy could demonstrate that American aircraft had intercepted the Soviet aircraft long before they might have become a threat. (Sources: BBC, NY Times, author's father)

US Navy Cruiser Shoots Down Satellite. On February 20, a flotilla of US Navy Aegis warships in the Pacific-the USS Lake Erie (CG-70), USS Decatur (DDG-73), and USS Russell (DDG-59)-shot down a large, malfunctioning US spy satellite about to enter the upper atmosphere. Months prior to this date the US government, stating that dangerous hydrazine fuel (and perhaps sensitive equipment as well) might survive reentry, assembled a team of scientists to determine the feasibility of shooting down the satellite. The Lake Erie was outfitted with two modified SM-3 missiles, and the Decatur, acting as backup, with one. (Each missile costs approximately $10 million apiece, before modification.) The Russell's mission was to provide additional tracking data. Overall command of the missile shoot was held by the US Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska. The Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser which has participated in numerous anti-ballistic missile tests over the past six years, was designated as the flagship, and fired the missile that destroyed the satellite. Only one missile was necessary, and government scientists are confident that the hydrazine tank was destroyed. Rough seas were initially a concern, but the seas were only two to three feet at the time of the shot, some six hundred miles west of the Hawaiian Islands. Some observers have expressed concern that the failing satellite was used as an excuse to test US ability to shoot down satellites in orbit, and may lead to an arms race. Further, some scientists are concerned that the debris-some three thousand pieces-still in orbit may damage other low altitude satellites. Criticism of the shoot continues, with various scientists and observers still questioning the need to shoot the satellite down, noting that the hydrozine was probably not frozen, and that larger satellites have fallen through the atmosphere without raising similar concerns.

The need to shoot down the satellite was according the US government legitimate, but also certainly, if incidentally, provided the opportunity for a practical test of US anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile capability, gave the US a public affairs coup regarding its missile defense program, provided a brief diversion from the US military's primary focus on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and demonstrated US ability to carry warfare into space. Both Russia and China raised concerns about the US action, although in 2007 China shot down one of its old weather satellites, using a ground-based missile. China has even asked to see data on the satellite's destruction, although this is probably more political posturing than anything else. In 1985 the US shot down an old solar laboratory satellite using an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile fired from an F-15 fighter aircraft. The US destruction of its satellite by missile may also derail international attempts to ban weapons in space. The US, hoping to place missile shields in space, has generally opposed such a ban, and other nations may see the destruction of the satellite as a legitimate reason to develop their own space weapons systems, or use it as an excuse to do so. The fact that the satellite was shot down from a warship--a mobile seagoing platform, in other words--may spur additional interest in navies and naval weapons systems, given their mobility, and thus relative difficulty to locate and destroy. Of greatest concern is the ability to destroy intelligence, communication, and navigation satellites in time of war. (San Diego Union, NY Times, AP, Huntsville Times, author's, et al)

DDGs and CGs. Guided missile destroyers are officially "multi-mission [Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW)] surface combatants." Guided missile cruisers are officially "multi-mission [Air Warfare (AW), Undersea Warfare (USW), Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) and Surface Warfare (SUW)] surface combatants capable of supporting carrier battle groups, amphibious forces, or of operating independently and as flagships of surface action groups." CG armament includes Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Aegis-fitted DDGs and CGs are also used as mobile ballistic missile defense platforms. The days of cruisers and destroyers with a primary armament of naval guns and torpedoes have long passed. The term destroyer is derived from "torpedo boat destroyer," and the class itself came into being in the late nineteenth century as the solution to swift torpedo boats. The term cruiser goes back to the seventeenth century, and referred then to a man-of-war that "cruised," that is, searched a designated area for the enemy, typically enemy merchantmen, as well as privateers, pirates, and small men-of-war. These old cruisers were often frigates in the latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and Sixth, Fifth, and Fourth Rates in the seventeenth and early eighteenth. Today the term refers to a much larger surface combatant, in class subordinate only to the now inactivated battleships. (Sources: various including navy.mil, author's works)

USS Cole, USS Nassau Deploy to Lebanon. The USS Cole (DDG-67), a guided missile destroyer, and the USS Nassau (LHA-4), a Tarawa-class general purpose amphibious assault ship carrying approximately two thousand Marines, associated helicopters and landing craft, and AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft, were ordered to the coast of Lebanon near the end of February, a US government official reported. An unidentified third warship has also been ordered to the area. On October 12, 2000, the Cole was severely damaged by a small boat suicide attack that left seventeen sailors dead and thirty-nine wounded. The Cole was transported back to the US for repairs on the open deck of the semi-submersible salvage ship MV Blue Marlin. (Sources: various news feeds, author's)

The ability to deploy substantial force by sea is the principal virtue of any large navy. In the case of many, the requirement to act independently is the origin of the a naval captain's broad authority and discretion at sea. Added to the dangers of the sea, it combines to form plain-speaking among naval seamen, and their capacity for effective independent action. These virtues remain intact, in spite of modern command, communications, and control technology. (Source: author)

Littoral Warships (LCSs). The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program has been slowed. According to some Navy officials, the delays are due to the need to evaluate the existing prototypes before constructing more LCSs, although some observers, including navy officers, suggest cost overruns and funding limits are the cause. To date, only two of the vessels, the prototypes Freedom (LCS-1) and Independence (LCS-2), have been delivered. The small ships are designed for littoral or "brown water" warfare, in particular for maritime special operations and various interdiction missions. The Israeli Navy is also interested in procuring these vessels. The last time the US Navy placed so much emphasis on littoral warfare was during the Vietnam War. (Sources: San Diego Union-Tribune, jpost.com, author's)

New Virginia Class Submarine. The US Navy has taken delivery of the attack submarine North Carolina (SSN-777) from the Northrup Grumman facility at Newport News, Virginia. The North Carolina (which will not carry the designation USS until she is commissioned on May 3, 2008) is the fourth Virginia-class submarine. The class is designed both for blue water and littoral operations, including support of naval special warfare, and incorporates numerous high technology innovations, including photonic masts in place of optical telescopes. The USS Virginia, USS Texas, and USS Hawaii have already been commissioned and are in service. (Sources: Military.com, et al)

Inactivated Submarine. The USS Augusta (SSN-710), a Los Angeles class attack submarine, was inactivated in February at Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. The Augusta was the fifth US warship to bear the name, the first being a fourteen gun brigantine commissioned in 1799. (Military.com)

Terrorism.

Beirut Marine Barracks Bomber Killed. Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, a Hezbollah commander wanted by the US and other nations for terrorist attacks including the bombing of the USMC barracks at Beirut in 1983 in which 241 service members were killed, the bombing of the American embassy in Beirut in 1985 in which 63 people were killed, the kidnapping, torture, and murder of CIA station chief William Buckley in Beirut in 1984, the hijacking of a TWA flight in 1985, the kidnapping and murder of Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins, USMC, in 1988, the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1996 in which 29 people were killed, and numerous other acts of violence and terrorism, was killed in Damascus, Syria on February 12 by a car bomb. To date, no one has taken responsibility for the assassination, although the governments, intelligence services, and armed forces of several nations, including those of the US and Israel, will shed no tears over his death. Given the tight security in Syria, there is even speculation that Syria itself was involved in the assassination, although such speculation may be deliberate disinformation designed to sow suspicion and doubt. The most likely actor in the assassination is Israel's Mossad, perhaps with intelligence provided by the US via suspected Iranian defector General Ali Reza Asgari, who had previously assisted Mughniyeh. Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has accused Israel of the killing, and has vowed revenge. Many observers expect that Hezbollah will indeed retaliate. (Sources: NY Times, BBC, et al)

During the hijacking of the TWA flight, terrorists murdered US Navy diver Robert D. Stethem, who was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Not long after Petty Officer Stethem's death, his brother Kenneth volunteered for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. If memory serves, Kenneth Stethem did not meeting the standard of part of the medical exam, so he appealed to and received a waiver from the Secretary of the Navy, completed training, and became a Navy SEAL. In 1995, the USS Stethem (DDG-63), a guided missile destroyer named after Petty Officer Stethem, was commissioned into the US Navy. (BBC, NY Times, author's)

Maritime Terrorism. The most significant act of modern maritime terrorism was the hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro by the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) in 1985. Led by Muhammad Abbas, better known as Abu Abbas, the five terrorists murdered wheelchair-bound American tourist Leon Klinghoffer, and dumped his body overboard. According to Abbas, the sixty-nine year old Klinghoffer had been inciting passengers against the terrorists. While some might question the wisdom of Mr. Klinghoffer's actions, none can question his courage. Abbas and the four other terrorists surrendered soon after to Egyptian authorities, who set them free. Abbas intended to fly from Egypt to Tunisia aboard a commercial aircraft, but US Navy F-14 Tomcats intercepted the aircraft and forced it to land at the NATO airbase at Sigonella, Italy. Navy SEALs surrounded the plane, but after a standoff with Italian forces were ordered to permit them to take Abbas into custody. Some commentators have suggested there was a dangerous showdown between American and Italian forces, but in fact the SEAL unit maintained its station per orders until it received orders otherwise from US authorities. Before long, the Italian government released Abbas, who returned to Tunisia only to be expelled due to political pressure, yet soon after was given refuge by Saddam Hussein. Abbas was captured in Iraq by US Special Forces in 2003, and died in custody in 2004. He had been convicted in absentia in Italy, and sentenced to consecutive life terms. In the US he had been indicted for piracy, hostage-taking, and conspiracy. (Sources: CNN, NY Times, author's)

Naval Special Warfare

Three Navy SEALs, One EOD Killed. On February 4, Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officers Nathan Hardy and Michael E. Koch were killed in action in Iraq by small arms fire during counter-insurgent operations. According to CPO Hardy's family, his grandfather served aboard PT-109 with then Lieutenant John F. Kennedy. Petty Officer 1st Class Louis A. Souffront, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialist attached to a Navy SEAL unit in Iraq, was killed by a bomb during combat operations in Iraq on February 7. Six Navy SEALs were wounded in the blast. Senior Chief Thomas J. Valentine, a Navy SEAL, was killed on February 13 during a parachuting training exercise in Arizona. Highly decorated, his awards include three Bronze Stars. As noted in last month's newsletter, SEAL operations are hazardous, and training deaths are fairly common. Some observers estimate that two to three SEALs die in training each year. Active combat operations significantly increase the risk to life and limb. (Sources: Military.com, dailypress.com, author's)

The USS Grayback, and the Last Navy SEAL to Die in Vietnam. On February 25, 2008, Lieutenant Spence Dry, a Navy SEAL who died in 1972 during a failed attempt to rescue US POWs during the Vietnam War, was finally awarded the Bronze Star. Warrant Officer "Moki" Martin, a member of Lt. Spence's platoon and a man well-known and well-regarded in the SEAL Team community, will receive the Bronze Star in March. Details of the mission, in which SDVs (swimmer delivery vehicles, now referred to as SEAL delivery vehicles) were launched from the USS Grayback (SS-574) can be found at http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/02_26-30/NAV. The Grayback was later involved in a diving accident in which five Navy members died. The tragedy led to changes in the way Navy lockout trunks and similar systems are operated.

Ephemera

Corrections to Books. Errata as well as notes and other comments on The Sea Rover's Practice and The Buccaneer's Realm are now posted on their respective pages at www.benersonlittle.com

Film Version of the Alatriste Novels. Arturo Perez-Reverte's Alatriste novels have finally made it to DVD in a format viewable on standard US DVD players. Although the film contains only two fairly brief nautical scenes-one of Spanish soldiers returning from Flanders, the other of the boarding of a Dutch merchantman-it is worth watching for its gritty, swashbuckling flair. The film has not been released on DVD in the US, but is available from Mexico via ebay and other online sellers, where it has been released in a dual NTSC region 1 (US and Canada) and region 4 (Latin America) DVD. The novels, although short, are also highly recommended. Three of the five have been released in the US to date, with one more to be released later this year, and the fifth next year.

Recommended Film of the Month. Given that whaling has been in the news for the past few months, Moby Dick (Warner Bros., 1956, directed by John Huston, screenplay by Ray Bradbury) is appropriate. I do recommend reading the book first, as it is perhaps the best novel written in the English language. That being said, most people not only have not read it, but, unfortunately, will not read it. The film is a reasonably faithful adaptation, more so than most films are to the novels they are based on. It captures both the spirit of whaling adventure, as well as the themes of man versus nature, of extreme obsession, and of the nature of the universe itself. Gregory Peck is at his best as Ahab.