The Russian Type 11540 Frigate Neustrashimy seen outside the port of Le Havre today 5th July. She took her pilot before us and headed up the Seine towards Rouen for the Armada 2008 There was a bit of confusion when she was giving her details to the Pilot station, for starters she gave a draft of 9.8 metres. Her details on the Russian website Aeronatics gives 4.8m. The pilot station asked him to confirm his draft but he kept saying 9.8m? There was about 15 sailors on the focsle when she was heaving anchor and about 10 on the poop to take the pilot. All looking equally busy. When our pilot boarded he hardly had time to take off his jacket when he observed the Warship turning to port on the bend where she should have been going to starboard, we had to take evasive manouvres to avoid a close quarters situation. Our pilot spoke to his colleague on the warship, and there was plenty of air sucking and shoulder lifting, and “bateau de guerre” he had instructed the vessel to go to starboard but she turned to port instead….strange, then later she turned the wrong way again….very strange. There was no radar on the bridge either, so it was pilotage by compass and the Mark one eyeball method. Anyway she managed to steam away up the river before us escorted by a French navy patrol boat. Plenty smoke too.
Black & White photo of the LSL Sir Tristram which is permanently moored in Portland Harbour, and used for training purposes for the Royal Navy and other branches of the UK military apparatus. The name is painted out these days but it can be clearly seen on the bow and stern.
Front end view and below a rib passes ahead with 3 of the aforementioned military types on board.
Wikipedia has plenty more, about the Falklands and the Gulf and other stuff. I think if you asked the veterans of the Falklands about the Anglo/French carrier proposals, they wouldn’t be very positive after being on the receiving end of French military hardware, even if it wasn’t the French that they were fighting.
Or you play with a toy one?
According to leaks and reports here and there, the French and British Admiralties are in discussion about the possibility of sharing an aircraft carrier, more like the impossibility, French and British crew together on the same warship? It could be propelled by Nelsons revolving coffin , his own quote“You must hate a Frenchman as you do the devil”
However it certainly is an example of thinking outside the box, even if they appear to be completely out of their boxes, a few too many glasses of sherry perhaps? You could go further and forget about this sharing business altogether and build the carriers in China, everyone else is building their ships there why not warships too? Then they can have 2 or 3 for the price of one, they could even crew them from China too, just disband( or downsize) the military apparatus in Europe and outsource it.
Another alternative would be to buy a few from the cash strapped Yanks, it wouldn’t be too far away from buying from China seeing as how much China is owed from the US, but anyway the dollar at it’s current weak state must make an offer from the Brits of the Frogs for a few ships feasible, unless someone starts shouting about Freedom Fries again.
Or a completely different tack would be to think environment (and not build any at all !) and think recycling, and get out the spy satellite pictures of the ports around Murmansk or Google Earth there are a few disused ships lying around idle waiting for better weather that could be had for a gas pipeline deal or other, I’m sure they could be persuaded to help their old friends France and Britain.
At the end of the day when 2 old enemies start talking about sharing military equipment anything can happen.
HMS Gloucester
HMS Iron Duke
HMS Lancaster
Three warships passed our position today heading for sea all spick and span after the bad weather, there was no radio traffic and the AIS was switched off so no ideas about where they were going or what the mission was. Their silent passage was impressive with all the crew on deck and the white caps gleaming in the winter sun. A few days earlier there was plenty of chatter from one warship and the VTS at Southampton, now the other day at Rotterdam I blogged about being able to speak English on the VHF, well who better to give us a great example of perfect Queens English than the boys and girls of the Royal Navy?
Well it was English, but it must have been the competition for the most clipped and shortest time on air or they have some kind of military practice for short messages so they don’t get targeted by radio direction finders or something. There are things that are confusing when hearing such military tone and military speak ” This is coalition warship calling the vessel on a course of 225 speed 15knots in position etc. etc.” Since when have the Royal Navy started calling themselves “coalition warships”, and what happens when they use the half second grunts and bleats that are meant to be words but sound more like noises from a haggard or stall with the non-English speakers like the French? Probably more of the same back to them……
But I was happy to hear the calm and collected voice of Solent Coastguard on the VHF sounding very clear and concise, even if it was a bad weather forecast for more gales, they sounded good anyway.
These two Tarantul class ships looking fairly ready for action were sighted today on the way into Kaliningrad, I called them Pauks before but I have done a bit more research and I think I was wrong before.
Anyone who is extremely clever and can read cyrillic backwards will be able to know what these boats are named, please be my guest and leave a comment if you are such a person, respect in advance by the way!
The money in Russia is beginning to show it’s effect here in the Oblast, a bit more paint is evident and new coast guard patrol boats and tugs and the like. The coastal breakwater is being substantially repaired and there are more new and to the lay man functional warships. The big bear is obviously getting new fur.
Of course all things are not changing so fast, further on down the jetty a tug is moored and has been since I came here first more than 6 years ago, and was probably there before I ever knew about Kaliningrad, she is a floating power source and heating generator for a nearby factory, the pipelines that are attached to the tug look like they are of a fairly permanent nature.
UPDATE I have to go with Buck who so kindly left a comment earlier that the ships are Nanuchkas, not Tarantul or Molinya class also Russian Corvettes.
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