Queen Elizabeth arrived in Portsmouth this morning.. just... wow..
Wanted to get down there to see it in person but at half past seven arrival it was a little too early.. the following courtesy of the HMS Warrior web cam [clicky] There is something very apt about watching the arrival of the latest example of naval technology, from a web cam on a previous era's example of the same...
I don't doubt there will be much better pictures in the press and elsewhere... and I know all the news about lack of planes, and lack of sailors, and lack of engineers, and lack of everything else, and I don't care.. she is the leading edge of British Naval history and that should make us proud... and she is mucking huge.. 😀
...and home... bet the skipper sighed a huge sigh of relief..
Makes me proud.
ReplyDeleteThere was a terrific shot on the Beeb this morning as she sailed past HMS Victory. The size comparison between the two, then state of the art, warships was staggering.
Hear hear, Paul.. I think she shows we can still do some things right... "best of" with the physio..
DeleteA fine ship
ReplyDeleteMiles, definitively a "vessel constrained by draught".. :o)
DeleteAbsolutely.......maybe we should have four of them with appropriate escorts. Have always thought we should provide mostly to the naval needs of NATO, repurpose most of the army as really well equipped Marines and leave major fighting on land to the Germans, French and Spanish.
ReplyDeleteSteady on lewisgunner... it took them two years to dredge the harbour for this one.. :o)
DeleteShe is a thing of beauty and proves we can still build things here (given the chance).
ReplyDeleteMatt - you have it in one..
DeleteMore like the trailing edge of British Naval History. For the last 15 of the 35 years of my Naval career, I had a succession of blinkered senior officers telling me all would be well because "we're getting the Carriers". In the meantime, they willingly and very ably assisted successive governments in butchering the rest of the Fleet. Anyone who believes we can operate a Navy of 1 Carrier (there will never be 2 operational) which may or may not ever have an operational fixed wing aircraft and virtually no working, deployable Escort Group - is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land (together with a lot of short-sighted Admirals). Sorry - sore subject.
ReplyDeleteJeremy - mine's a naval family, so no need to apologise here - I hear what you say, and I alluded to it in the post, but she really is something.. Dan Snow had a few posts on FB today which were interesting, she's the "biggest, heaviest and longest British warship ever built"...
DeleteSo does that make the whole royal navy a whole 20 ships strong- including those with no planes and the ones whose engines blow up when you press "go". Lovely ship that she is I do wonder what use she will actually be after the political scum finish with here.
ReplyDelete