Logbook 2002

Week 49 Change of Command
December 2nd there was a change of command on KNM Skjold. 
Commanding offiser Liutantant Commander Rune Andersen who has been in command since 17th of April 2001 and who has been responsible for the US deployment withdrew.
Liutantant Commander Trygve C Nøkleby hoisted his command as the third commanding officer of Skjold.

Week 40-52 Naval base Haakonsvern
The vessel and her crew entered a calm period with focus on maintanace and crew leave. A some of the crew members from the US deployement moved on to new assignments. The vessel would like to thank all crew and external personell who contributed to the success of our deployment.

Week 39 Reykjavik - Vestmanneyar – Faeroy islands - Norway
The voyage so far has been smooth and we reached Reykjavik on time for a well-deserved weekend.  We departed Monday for Vestmanneyar in good condition and further to The Faeroes on Tuesday. Here we embarked journalists frem the national TV network TV2.

The offshore installations in the North sea were the first signs of the motherland and in the morning hours on the 27^th the mountains of the west coast rose up over the horizon. 21 FPB Squadron escorted us to Haakonsvern naval base. They had brought journalists, family members and guests to the arrival. Well secured in the FPB harbor Rear admiral Jæger, Rear admiral Sandbekk and Commodore Grytting mustered the crew to welcome everybody home and recognize the achievements.   13 months of extraordinary experiences had come to an end and finaly we where back home. 

Week 38 Nova Scotia - Cape Breton - Newfoundland -Labrador - Greenland
After departure from Halifax we chased the remains of the hurricane Gustav. This resulted in several short stops to stay in between a series of low pressures. We generally proceeded slow speed during dark hours due to the risk of encountering ice.  During daylight high speed was necessary to keep the storms at safe distance.

The pictures below are all from Greenland who showed the best of it this time. It is truly astonishing to operate in these wild and ragged areas.  The weather turned on us before we left Greenland and we had to fight our way trough an area of strong gales and heavy seas to avoid being weather-bound  in Ammassalik the next couple of days to let the storm pass. 

Week 37 Halifax
We had planed the stay in Halifax due to national requirements we could not meet earlier. The Norwegian Consul Steinar Engeseth had arranged a great program for us. Skjold got a lot of attention with very positive reports on four major TV channels. We arranged open ship for visitors, receptions for official guests, honoring of the fallen sailors from WW2 and attended an arrangement at the residece of  the Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Myra Freeman.

Newport, R.I.
We passed the world again on our next stop in Newport, Rhode Island. The official farewell with Navy Warfare Development Command took place in Newport. NWDC has been responsible for the evaluation of Skjold in USA.

Week 36 New York
First port of call after the departure was New York. It is a very powerful experience to approach Manhattan with a Norwegian Littoral combat ship. With one day pierside there was time for the crew to see the sights. The Norwegian consul, the Master of the World(The ResidenSea) visited us for lunch. Our visit aboard The World on her maiden call in NY was very memorable.

Departure
The last day before the departure the farewell ceremony was taking place at Special Boat Squadron TWO. The squadron has been hosting us during the deployment and many good relations have been built through one year of intensive and successful cooperation. The Squadron is a very professional unit with outstanding representatives for U.S. Navy. Skjold has been a fully integrated part of Special Boat Squadron TWO for 12 months and it was very emotional to pull out for the last time. Our sincere thanks to the personnel at Special Boat Squadron TWO.

Week 33-35 Maintenance and preparations
The last three weeks prior to departure have been focused on maintenance and preparations for the return trip to Norway. One of the gas turbines has been replaced with support from Rolls Royce. Among other activities there was time for a visit aboard USS Harry S Truman and firing practice on one of the worlds largest ranges. We also carried out a short trip up the James River with a group from the Department of Defense   

Week 32 - More signature testing / RAS
We have completed a week of signature testing from airborne sensors. The left picture shows the helo that was used for this. We have also completed testing of our rig for replenishment at sea. To the right you see the last official Skjold- gadget.

Minister of Defense visit
On Sunday the 28th of July the Norwegian Minister of Defense, was on board. We hosted a BBQ for her and other guests from SACLANT, the Norwegian Embassy and SBR2.  

Week 30 - Millennium Challenge / UAV operations
As a part of the exercise Millennium Challenge we have been operating UAVs to collect target information for other units

Wedding and visit from WW2- veterans.
Our senior enlisted, Chief John Salton has confirmed his marriage to Denise, and the Skjold crew was there to celebrate. We have also  had a very interesting and pleasant visit from two WW veterans. Bill Costello and Sam Goddess were skippers on two of the PTs in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 12.

Week 29 - Washington D.C. ....again
There is quite a lot of interest in Skjold from Pentagon and the Congress and we have been another trip to D.C. to present the vessel to political and military officials.  We have also completed one week of hydro acoustic signature testing.

Week 28 - Signature testing
This week we have completed a thorough test program to verify the radar and IR signature of the vessel.

Uke 23-27 Norwegian Chief of Naval Staff visit / new crewmembers       

Maintenance in Little Creek, UAV experimentation and crew changeover has been the main activities lately. We also had a visit from the Norwegian Chief of Naval staff. Three of the conscripts that has been with us since we left Norway has left and three new ones are here to take over.

Week 20-22 Washington DC
Our second visit to the Capitol was a great success. We had a lot of distinguished visitors from the US political and military leadership as well as representatives from the defense industry. The Secretary of the Navy, Mr Gordon England visited us Tuesday last week. In total 300 VIPs visited Skjold during our program in DC and we did a lot of demo trips on the Potomac River. The Norwegian Constitution Day was celebrated at the Norwegian Embasy on the 17th of May.  

^{Upon returning to Little Creek we were visited by Deputy SACLANT, Admiral Ian Forbes and other Admirals from the SACLANT staff.}

Week 17-19 CNO Visit/Maintenance
Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Vern Clark paid a visit to Skjold this week. After receiving a brief on the vessel the Admiral controlled the ship at a speed of 54 knots on a trip out to the Chesapeake Bay. The rest of the week we did regular maintenance and preparations for the trip up to Washington DC.

Uke 10-16 Caribbean deployment :

Little Creek-Cape Canaveral-Bahamas
On our way south we had a stop at Cape Canaveral where we met Naval Ordnance Test Unit. This unit has been central in all the big missile-programs since the beginning of the cold war. From Cape Canaveral we went on to Nassau, Bahamas. The American Embassy provided us with excellent service during our visit. The XO and the 1. Engineer even had time for a quick dive among the local sharks.  

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba  
We had a really pleasant stay at Cuba. The officers and the crew on US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay were very helpful, and showed a lot of interest in the ship. 

Puerto Rico
Our stay in Puerto Rico was a success. We did lots of experimental training together with Naval Special Warfare Unit 4, and a platoon of Seals. There was even time for a break in-between and we did a port visit to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. On our way back we celebrated HNoMS Skjold Third anniversary underway north of Cuba. Not bad for a Norwegian FPB. The following message were sent out to our friends in the US Navy.

Week 8-9 Maintenance/Dry-docking
We have been dry-docked at Newport News Shipbuilding for routine maintenance. The dry-dock is normally used by aircraft-carriers, and was more than big enough as you can see below.

Week 6-7 Joint Task Force Exercise, phase two
During the second phase of the JTFEX we joined the opposing forces. Skjold managed to stay undetected until the attack was completed. We were actually the last opfor unit that was detected and attacked by the battle group, and that was not until after we had delivered all our weapons.  

Week 5 (Jan 28 -Feb 10) Preparations
This week we have been busy preparing for the next phase of JTFEX 02-1. A few birthdays have been celebrated lately, and the cook treats us well as usual. Two of the crew members have been promoted to Able Bodied Seamen. Our new XO is captured in a focused moment on the bridge. Commander Second Fleet, VADM Cutler Dawson and CNO's Executive Panel visited us this week.

Week 3-4 (Jan 14-27) Joint Task Force Exercise 
We participated in JTFEX 2-1 which was the last preparation and evaluation of the JFK Battlegroup before it leaves for a 6-months deployment. After returning to Little Creek we were visited by the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Mr Pete Aldridge and his Norwegian counterpart Mr Gunnar Heloe. VADM (USN) Michael Mullen and RADM (RNoN) Jan Reksten visited us at the same time.

Week 1-2 (Jan1-13 ) Maintenance/preparations
The crew returned on 6 January after a well deserved Christmas holiday. We are leaving for JTFEX on 14 January so this week we will be busy preparing for the exercise. Below are a few pictures from a previous photo-ex together with the PCs from Special Boat Squadron TWO.