I'm going to pop down to Stokes Bay in Gosport to have a look. It's not often that you get chance to see something like this 100,000 ton aircraft carrier. Don't forget you binoculars. :Watching:
I remember one of our guys telling me about when they went over to Virginia on HMS Ocean, one of the UKs biggest military ships at the time. Ocean was dwarfed by a yank ship that rocked up next to it and the guy asked a US sailor what it was. 'Oh that's just one of our little refueling ships' was the reply!
Been there, seen it before, seems to be a regular off my coastal beach. All it means is my journeys become even more tedious than normal and all the twatchers turn up for hours of endless gawping
I was in San Diego last Friday and had a tour round USS Midway. Very interesting. Turned into a great day with the inevitable drunkeness. Ace!
The Midway is a little more interesting than a modern ship with all the historic aircraft on board. I did like San Diego, visited the bar/diner that was featured in Topgun as well. Yorkie
Big deal - American support? what BS. The only reason the Yanks have anything to do with UK squalor is the fact that if they lose a foothold in the European theater it is difficult to regain it. So what you have is the weak-tea English Army saying how great they are whenever America and Russia fall out and squabble for territory. We hardly need an Army with that muscle ready to defend its bases. Its a constant reminder that Britain only achieved stalemate in WW1 but America won it, then they lost WW2 and luckily America won that as well.
Two little dits about the USN - I was talking to an old guy a few years ago who had served on HMS MANXMAN. They were pottering about in the Atlantic and this American destroyer steamed past, and flashed them a message - "good morning, you've just been passed by the newest ship in the biggest navy in the world". CO of MANXMAN wasn't too chuffed, so they fired up their second bolier-room and set off in pursuit. As they went past they flashed a message back - "good morning. You've just been passed by the oldest ship in the best navy in the world". MANXMAN was an exercise mine-layer, converted from a destroyer and was the fastest ship the RN ever had, allegedly capable of 45Knts. Second one - When I was working at the training organisation in Plymouth we had an American destroyer in for a few weeks. They didn't like our damage control training (far too realistic for them with real water and real smoke) and their attitude was "damage control is just a failed warfare serial, and our defences never fail so we don't need to worry about it". I was going to remind them about USS COLE and USS STARK, but at that point one of the Hawk jets that do simulated missile attacks howled across Plymouth Sound fast and low, and had to pull up to get over their bow - they all stared at it wide-eyed and open-mouthed - no, they hadn't seen it coming on any of their fancy defence radars... Good lesson in why we teach damage control. Standard phrase in the British military - "Americans : all the gear, but no idea"...
I think that's just to make us feel a bit better. You don't need much idea with all the gear. And they've got shitloads of gear. I once read that the US military budget was more than that of the next 20 countries combined. The cold hard truth is that they could swat us like a pesky mosquito if they so wished.
all very true, except,, America did not win WW2,, they only came in flags a flying and buggles a blowing and kicked a german army which had already been beaten by the Russians , who incidentally had also beaten the Japanese in Manchuria and were rapidly closing in on Japan when the yanks unessasarilly and in desperation dropped their bombs on the civilian population . the yanks have never won a war since their own cival war
