Australian Navy gets 62 day Christmas break

The Guardian reports that the Royal Australian Navy (except for deployed units) will get two months off for Christmas.

Commanders have ordered all ships not on overseas operations to return to port over the holiday, while docked vessels would have only a skeleton crew to maintain on-board security.

Royal Navy in Firefight with Pirates

The Times reports that a Royal Navy boarding party has traded small arms fire with Somali pirates. No RN personnel were injured and the pirate vessel was subsequently boarded.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.

Naval Reserve benefits from current economy

The Windsor Star has an article about how the Canadian Naval Reserve is hoping for an increase in recruits given the current state of the economy.

Combat Deafness

The Times has an article about how increasing numbers of British servicemen are being effected by deafness after tours in combat.

Nearly one in ten soldiers serving with one regiment have hearing defects that could bar them from further frontline service and affect their civilian job prospects, The Times has learnt.

Old Canadian subs to be scrapped

The Chronicle-Herald reports that three old Canadian submarines are to be scrapped. The submarines, which date from the 1960s have been tied up at a dock for the past seven years.