The Shrunken Royal Navy

[Michael Hodgson]

Nowadays we call the vessels HM Rubber Dinghy ...

[KeithMacdonald]

On 25/05/2021 at 21:39, Ohmisterporter said:

News of the unmanned AI controlled submarines that are being tested for the RN, and an interesting look into the submarine building hall at Barrow. Surprising what is going on out of public gaze with our defence equipment procurement. Hope this is of interest.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56993035

 

Definitely, thanks.

 

While reading that BBC article ..

 

Quote

"We built it off the back of the Nvidia chip because it's highly energy efficient," says Mr Thompson. Just like a tiny but powerful Raspberry Pi device used to teach schoolchildren basic programming tasks this approach takes up very little power. And keeping power consumption to the bare minimum is critical to making the submarine's battery last.

 

.. just for a moment, I wondered to myself: Is it solar powered? Doh!

 

 

[Chris hndrsn]

On 23/03/2021 at 12:41, J. S. Bach said:

Do not forget that the USA gave up its strategically important naval base at Subic Bay in the Philippines.

And I thought the Philippines would not renew the leases for Subic Bay and Clark AFB

[KeithMacdonald]

On 28/12/2020 at 13:06, The Stationmaster said:

But they've only got 80,000 square sea miles ot patrol so if you're a politico who doesn't understand maths or the sea and uses a school atlas to decide policy it's obvious they can manage it.  isn't it?

 

And how few ships we've got left.

 

It reminds me of the talk given by Rear Admiral Chris Parry: Falklands War and the Importance of Naval Corporate Memory

 

Quote

 

When the Argentinians invaded in 1982, most politicians didn't know where the Falklands were. They had this vague impression they were somewhere between the Orkneys and Norway.

 

When Sir Henry Leach (First Sea Lord) first went to see Thatcher, she said I want you to get there within three days.

Sir Henry said "We can't", Thatcher said "Why not?" - "Because it's eight thousand miles away"

 

"In that case, I want you to send the Ark Royal" - "You can't, Prime Minister"

"You've said it again First Sea Lord - you can't say can't to a Prime Minister - why can't you send it?"

"Well, you scrapped it three years ago Prime Minister"

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

On 21/06/2021 at 02:32, pete_mcfarlane said:

This reminds me of the 1960s, when RN carriers heading to/from the Far East used to have a crack at the rebels in Aden for a few days. 

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british-carrier-to-strike-targets-in-syria-and-iraq/

Here is how CNN reported sorties by VFMA-211 (Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211) as part of CSG-21.

 

Unrelated to the CSG-21 mission, it seems that issues with "rebels in Aden" are unresolved.

 

I note that USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) is part of CSG-21. This is a ship with a very emotional naming history:

Quote

It is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the five Sullivan brothers – George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan, aged 20 to 27 – who lost their lives when their ship, USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese submarine in November 1942 in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. This was the greatest military loss by any one American family during World War II.

Very much a "Gold Star" family.

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Ben B]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57583363

 

Just shown up on my news feed, Russian military forces may have put a shot across the bows of HMS Defender in the Black Sea (or several shots , and an aircraft-dropped bombing run, if the Russians are to be believed).

 

EDIT

 

Or not; more Russian blustering according to the MoD, and the latest updated BBC reports.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Ben B
Updated following a news update on bbc site

[Ian Hargrave]

For more information,go onto the BBC News App.. The warship in question was/is on ….at least on the face of it……on    some sort of courtesy visit to friendly NATO(  ? ) allies in the Black Sea and to Istanbul. You will hear a report from the Beeb’s own correspondent who just “happened “ to be on board to record the incident for us …cue the sound of Russian jets overhead……with the usual assertion  that they were on course in international waters.

 

   Twisting the bear’s tail and gathering valuable intelligence on Russian military capabilities which IMHO was pre planned and playing tit for tat with Putin who thinks nothing of sending an aircraft carrier into the Dover Straits.Apart from regular incursion by Russian aircraft and submarines of course. Now let’s see if our USN friends do the same.

 

[friscopete]

I hear the navy primed its elastic bands ready to counterfire but they were rotten due to being WW1 issue post office rejects .

[The Fatadder]

I guess the big thing here is that what we (and the rest of the world) would call Ukrainian waters around Crimea the Russians call their own.  So it was quite possible that both sides are "right"

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

I guess the big thing here is that what we (and the rest of the world) would call Ukrainian waters around Crimea the Russians call their own. 

The Russians have long been bullying the Ukrainians in the Sea of Azov. (Recent story here.) 

 

Ukraine has an extensive coastline on the Sea of Azov, but the opening to the Black Sea is effectively under Russian control.

 

3 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

Now let’s see if our USN friends do the same.

I don't know what the USN has there now, but the USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) was in the Black Sea in January and tweeted this SU-24 flyby.

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

The warship in question was/is on ….at least on the face of it……on    some sort of courtesy visit to friendly NATO(  ? ) allies in the Black Sea and to Istanbul.

HMS Defender was in Odessa* on June 21 and was enroute to Georgia when intercepted off Cape Fiolent (near the Russian naval base of Sevastopol). CNN version here. Russian claim is that HMS Defender navigated 3km inside the 12 mile / 22.2 km boundary of international waters.

 

* Potential Ukrainian entry to NATO was a topic of a recent high-profile international meeting.

[Jonboy]

4 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 Now let’s see if our USN friends do the same.

 

pictures on the Metro website show USS Laboon alongside our vessel and the Russian vessel in the distance….

[burgundy]

Can anyone explain why or how we are planning to send two patrol boats to the Far East? I thought that the constabulary boats were intended for patrol around the UK (and Falklands), protecting British Haddock and defending us from illegal immigrants. What use are they likely to be in potentially a rather more hostile environment? 

Best wishes 

Eric  

[Gibbo675]

On 23/06/2021 at 16:41, The Fatadder said:

I guess the big thing here is that what we (and the rest of the world) would call Ukrainian waters around Crimea the Russians call their own.  So it was quite possible that both sides are "right"

Hi Fatadder,

 

Interestingly the legal process by which Russia claimed Crimea was the same as was used by western interests to wrest Kosovo from Serbia back in the day.

 

Back on 23 of February 2008 Vladimir Putin described the declaration of independence by Kosovo as a "terrible precedent" that will come back to hit the West "in the face."

 

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/putin-calls-kosovo-independence-terrible-precedent-20080223-gds2d5.html

 

So as reported by the Australians, by using the rules dreamt up by the western powers which set precedent at the UN, Russia played the same card with Crimea, quite simple really.

 

UNSCR 1244 makes for interesting reading also.

 

Gibbo.

[OnTheBranchline]

On 22/06/2021 at 14:35, KeithMacdonald said:

 

And how few ships we've got left.

 

It reminds me of the talk given by Rear Admiral Chris Parry: Falklands War and the Importance of Naval Corporate Memory

 

 

Yes, but what about St George's Island?

[J. S. Bach]

A friend sent this about the USS Bonhomme Richard fire:

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1022514854/sailor-charged-arson-uss-bonhomme-richard-navy-san-diego

 

I know that this is really the Royal Navy thread but I thought that it was more appropriate here than the "Ships" thread.

Edited July 30, 2021 by J. S. Bach
to do a minor edit.

[alastairq]

2 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

A friend sent this about the USS Bonhomme Richard fire:

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1022514854/sailor-charged-arson-uss-bonhomme-richard-navy-san-diego

 

I know that this is really the Royal Navy thread but I thought that it was more appropriate here than the "Ships" thread.

 

 

This thread, perhaps? 

 

[J. S. Bach]

9 minutes ago, alastairq said:

 

 

This thread, perhaps? 

 

Thank you. I had forgotten that thread as it was not on my first page where all of my actively followed threads are. Oh, and the last post was 15mar so it had dropped off due to attrition. I went ahead and posted it there, too.

Edited July 30, 2021 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[Michael Hodgson]

6 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

A friend sent this about the USS Bonhomme Richard fire:

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1022514854/sailor-charged-arson-uss-bonhomme-richard-navy-san-diego

 

I know that this is really the Royal Navy thread but I thought that it was more appropriate here than the "Ships" thread.

If this happened a full year ago, why has it taken so long to charge this bloke?  Did it take the officers on duty that long to pass the buck?

If it was deliberate, I would have thought that might reasonably called treason?

To come back on topic to the ROyal Navy, I understand when the death sentence was repealed for murder, the powers that be omitted to include Arson in Her majesty's Naval Dockyards in the Act and that it technically still carried the death sentence for some years, although subsequently removed. 

[Ohmisterporter]

You may have missed this from UK Defence Journal about us gifting HMS Montrose and HMS Monmouth to the Greek navy. Part of a sweetener to persuade them to buy Type 31.  There used to be a long history of British warships being either gifted or sold cheaply to friendly nations, sometimes with years of life left in them. HMS Ocean comes to mind of course. 

 

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/two-british-frigates-to-be-gifted-to-greece/

[J. S. Bach]

17 minutes ago, Ohmisterporter said:

You may have missed this from UK Defence Journal about us gifting HMS Montrose and HMS Monmouth to the Greek navy. Part of a sweetener to persuade them to buy Type 31.  There used to be a long history of British warships being either gifted or sold cheaply to friendly nations, sometimes with years of life left in them.

The USN has done similar things, too.

 

And I suppose that the Soviet Navy had also done it.

Edited August 4, 2021 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[Ohmisterporter]

From navylookout.com. We had some discussion about the accidental sinking by collision of the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad last year.  The Norwegian accident investigation has been published and pulls no punches. Suggests that the ship could have been saved by closing watertight doors, although there were some unusual design features that may have added to the water ingress. Worth reading the report I hope it is of interest.

PS There is more interesting stuff in the report than in my quick summary.

 

https://www.navylookout.com/learning-the-lessons-the-loss-the-norwegian-frigate-helge-ingstad/

Edited February 9, 2022 by Ohmisterporter

[johnofwessex]

This article from the same site is interesting

 

https://www.navylookout.com/why-do-peacetime-naval-accidents-keep-happening/

[2750Papyrus]

Does anyone know what type of anti-ship missile the UK has promised to the Ukraine? 

[Legend]

48 minutes ago, 2750Papyrus said:

Does anyone know what type of anti-ship missile the UK has promised to the Ukraine? 

 

Well I'm not quite believing it , but there is a YouTube film that says we are sending Harpoon , but apparently truck launched !

 

I'm not really believing because as far as I'm aware not all Type 45s have Harpoon , so surely we would arm our own ships first . They really dont have much offensive weaponry . Secondly I didnt know Harpoon could be launched from a truck.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Legend