Tuesday 1 March 2011

A Bridge Too Far?

What with half the Royal Navy dashing across the Med from Malta to Benghazi recently and the Hogday's off to The Med later this week, I thought I'd brush up on my warship recognition and boy did I get a surprise. Take a look at our latest destroyer, HMS Daring:
Now is it just me and my paranoia, or has the RN come up with the biggest PR coup in decades and stuck a Minaret on the bridge? I think it was commissioned during Tony Blair's watch, so you never know? You be the judge....


13 comments:

Old BE said...

Enjoy your hols!

Hogdayafternoon said...

Rioja cures colds, I hope:-/

CI-Roller Dude said...

I think you're right... where do they hide the real weapons? What happened to the old days when they had bigassguns on the deck?

If that went after some pirates or terrorist they might think:" Oh my, allah is with us now."

anon said...

Wow, thats a lotta super-structure. I wonder if it's tippy?

Hogdayafternoon said...

Roller-Dude: There's no bigger stick than the USS Iowa.

PG: I'm sure there's a reason for it! Probably gets a better link up to iGoogle. Anyway, Canada will buy it when we find out how expensive it is to run - it usually does ;)

TonyF said...

Nah, the 'big guns' are in the big black tube thingy that's full of seamen.


Submarine. That's the thing.

JuliaM said...

I've a bigger problem with that ship - every time I see it's name written down, my eye mistranslates it as 'HMS DarLing'...

JuliaM said...

Bloody iPhone autocorrect! Ignore grocer's apostrophe in that last...

Hogdayafternoon said...

POWWDERGIRL: Having thought about your comment, particularly in light of the recent investigations into the £gazillions wasted by the Ministry of Defence procurements branch over the years, I really do believe that someone in that department probably DID look at the finished article and, as they sucked on their pencil, said, "Well it's a nice enough shade of grey, but I do think it looks a bit tippy". LoL

TonyF: We NEVER mention those, you should know that! Shame on you ;)

JuliaM: I'm horrified. I'm amazed my software didn't auto-disconnect from yours.

el chupacabra said...

British ship names are the best.

Hogdayafternoon said...

el chupacabra: Hola!Welcome and thanks for dropping by.

Our Navy does throw in a few `iffy ones from time to time:Eg: HMS Indefatigable, whose SP's would probably ask the returning sailor to say the name 3 times as a test of his sobriety.

Anonymous said...

Believe it or not Hog, the 'islamic chanting tower' is part of the stealth system. The otherwise sleek lines also serve anti-radar functions, making the whole shebang look like a fishing boat on 'green screen'.
These babies are primarily anti-aircraft and do 0-30 in about 71 seconds. Mainly famous for the multi-gender large baths, sleeping and unmentionable functions of living designs. These won't suit homosocial islamists if a group of them even hijack one!
I'm in the Med next week too. I'll wave - you'll be on the other side, I'd guess. Low profile in and out business for me. Sue is laughing at 'low profile' - suggesting I'd be more visible doing the backstroke than a Type 45. I am now wondering how many camels I can trade her for!

Hogdayafternoon said...

Archy`: My trip to Espana was cancelled on the day of scheduled departure, due to a virus that has turned me into Mrs Hogday's personal nurse :(

Thanks for the info on the new whoreship. Radar signature ike a fishing boat? Is that why there's a beachcasting rod where a 4.5" gun used to be? I always wanted to join the Navy and now they're co-ed I'm missing out. I think I need to get back into low profile business. I'm ready to come back and fight! Wanna recruit me?