Back! (as in The Empire Strikes....)

Kind readers, the blog is back with a vengeance!

USS Missouri fires her main armament on the heads of some poor communist Korean devils, during the Korean War

Firing the introductory salvo are the breathtaking Iowa-class beauties, the USS Missouri, USS New Jersey and the USS Iowa of the United States Navy, the most fearsome and powerful battleships ever built.

This season will see more frequent posts, better photography (I hope...) and more book and film reviews as well as presentations of past classics.

USS New Jersey

All this of couse will be topped with the usual patronizing, authoritarian (and authoritative), holier-than-thou splenetic posts that I (and you as it seems) have grown so fond of.

Now...

Bring the aft turret about! Prepare for broadside! Range! On my mark!
Fire!

It's good to be back. :)

PS: This post is dedicated to anyone who has still any of the schoolboy left in him. Click to enlarge and notice the water displaced by concussion when each of these beauties fires her broadside.

PS II: To quote Rafael: "Superior Firepower!"


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Victory at the Falklands!

On 14 June 1982, the Falklands War ended with the surrender of the occupying argentinian forces that had garrisoned the Falklands capital, Stanley.

Those desolate and cheerless islands had been under uninterrupted British sovereignty since 1833.

In 1982, the argentinian junta of Leopoldo Galtieri, in an effort to divert public attention away from its oppressive practices, launched an invasion and occupied the Falklands.

The argentinians did not really believe that Britain would respond decisively because of the distance and the huge logistic difficulties that such an endeavour presented, especially after the crippling cuts of military expenditures that were undertaken to support the thatcherist economy doctrine.

However it was unthinkable that an insignificant country like Argentina would ivade and occupy Her Majesty's territories. Despite the enormous difficulties of the task, the British Prime Minister, the Iron Lady of Britain, the Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher (now The Baroness Thatcher , LG, OM, PC) decided to prove that Britannia still rules the waves.



The British task force assembled in the mid-Atlantic British island of Ascension and then, off to the Falklands!


The island of South Georgia was recaptured immediately (April 25) and the argentinian submarine Santa Fe was crippled and abandoned:

"Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God Save the Queen."

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Secetary of Defence, John Nott break the news of the recapture of South Georgia at 10 Downing Str. reporters crowd:

"Just rejoice at the news", the Iron Lady said.


In any case, the argentinian airforce outnumbered the aircraft of the British task force. The operations became progressively more difficult and the British lost a number of ships to Exocet missiles and air bombing.

Final moments and sinking of the HMS Antelope, her magazines exploding in the fires that followed her bombing by argentinian aircraft (video by some argentinian nationalist).


The HMS Sheffield burning.

Despite all that, Her Majesty's SAS commandos dominated land warfare, the argentinian navy never left port (to be discussed below) and the Harriers proved very tough opponents in air combat. The argentinian forces were doomed and the stupidity of the junta to challenge British supremacy caused its downfall after the war ended.

I will not go into lengthy details. I will simply note two things:

1. The modern strategic importance of the submarines.

The HMS Conqueror, a Churchill-class nuclear-powered submarine sank early in the conflict the ARA General Belgrano.

Final moments of the Belgrano. She is listing to port, her bow missing fore of gun turret no.1, after being hit by two torpedoes.

THE SUN cover misrepresenting the facts in the initial confusion. In fact, it was the cruiser that was sunk. (And another issue: Unions fighting thatcherist policy were boycotting the war:Hence the anti-union slogan of the times: "Call off the rail strike or we'll call an air strike!"

With the sinking of the Belgrano, the british submarine threat forced the argentinian navy to never leave port again for the duration of the conflict. How about that?

2. Even though the British had relatively modern anti-aircraft capabilities, they suffered heavy losses in ships and equipment. If all argentinian bombs that hit the ships exploded, the outcome of the war would have ben different. Indeed, the only system that can reliably provide fleet-wide anti-aircraft and anti-missile coverage is the US Navy AEGIS system. This is the strategic importance behind Taiwan's intentions to aquire AEGIS-able frigates from the US.


Anyway, in the end: Margaret Thatcher's first statements, with the crowd in the background singing "Rule Britannia!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFXOw_nAPh0

"We knew what we had to do and... and we went about it!"

Aaaaand.....

Della Jones and John Tomlinson, "Rule Britannia" with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. by Barry Wordsworth at the 1993 BBC Last Night of the Proms, at the Royal Albert Hall.



Cymru!!! (see her dress...)

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Run silent, run deep...

Some of you may think, because of my comments in the KMS Bismarck post, that I do not like submarines. Nothing could be further from the truth. I simply commented that their limitations at that time denied them a strategic role (Even convoy raiding became nigh impossible when His Majesty's navy employed more sophisticated methods in their convoy ASW escort). Now, powerful and reliable torpedos, cruise missiles, nuclear warheads, nuclear reactors and silent drives give modern submarines a multidimensional role with many strategic aspects (besides that of a silent nuclear weapons platform) as seen in the Falklands war, which will be my next post.

For the moment, let me just say that I am a sub person and many are the hours that I have spent on submarine simulators running real-time patrols... :)

Here are two videos: The first one is of the KNM Utsein (S 302 ), an Ula-clas diesel-electric submarine of the Royal Norwegian Navy (german design: U-Boot Klasse 210) test-firing a DM2A3 torpedo against the KNM Stavanger, an aged norwegian Oslo-class frigate that had been decommissioned in 1998. The test took place in 2001.

For the Ula-class submarines we read in Wikipedia:

"The Ula class submarines are among the most silent and manoeuverable submarines in the world. This, in combination with the relatively small size, makes them difficult to detect from surface vessels and ideal for operations in coastal areas. During the annual NATO Joint Winter exercise in 2004, the HNoMS Utvær had to be disqualified from the exercise because it kept the entire landing operation at bay. The Ula class submarines are regarded as both the most effective and cost-effective weapons in the RNoN."



The second video is a wonderful scene from the film Crimson Tide, when the Ohio-class submarine dives to commence patrol operations. Here is the ultra-cool dialogue:

- X.O., take her down.
- Take her down. Aye, sir. Control/Bridge: Sounding.
- Bridge/Control: Sounding: one-three-zero fathoms.
- Lookouts, clear the bridge.
- Clear the bridge. Aye, sir.
- Officer of the deck, prepare to dive.
- Captain down.
- Captain is down.
- X.O. Down.
- X.O. is down.
- Submerge the ship.
- Diving Officer, submerge the ship. Make your depth one-five-zero feet.
- Make my depth one-five-zero feet. Aye, sir. Chief of the watch, on the 1MC, DIVE, DIVE !
- Make your depth one-five-zero feet. Five degree down bubble.

The choir sings what seems to be an abridged version of the first two verses of the US Navy Hymn, "Eternal Father strong to save":

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Amen.

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KMS Bismarck (Schlachtschiff, 1939-1941) "Sink the Bismarck!"

Schlachtschiff KMS Bismarck

The sinking of the Bismarck (May 27, 1941) affirmed the superiority of His Majesty's Navy in the western theatre of operations during WW II and effectively ended any German hopes to implement sea control tactics.

Kriegsmarine WW II poster

The critical point in the Bismarck affair was her sinking of the battlecruiser HMS Hood, in joint action with the KMS Prinz Eugen. Even though the Hood had become obsolete, it was the flagship of the Home Fleet and a ship the british public was very fond of.

Wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill, with his keen wartime instinct (indeed, he was the architect of british sea superiority in the two great wars, when during his term as First Lord of the Admiralty he implemented the switch from coal to oil as fuel for the Fleet and the development of naval aviation) saw that this could be the beginning of a very negative trend.

If any German battleship were allowed to escape, then soon the Kriegsmarine, with the implementation of its shipbuilding program, would be more than a match for Home Fleet.

Churchill, with his "Sink the Bismarck!" directive allocated all the resources of Home Fleet to the chase of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen.

Bismarck, as seen from the deck of KMS Prinz Eugen

Prinz Eugen, a lucky ship to the very end, escaped but Bismarck suffered a lucky hit by an airplane-fired torpedo which jammed her rudder, irreversibly condemning her to a circular course. The british warships closed in and started pounding the Bismarck. After hours of unequal combat she sank, leaving very few survivors.

About 3000 shells and torpedoes were fired against her. About 1/10 hit. The result: Recent investigations by deep sea probes, beginning with Dr. Ballard's expedition show that the most probable cause of Bismarck's sinking was scuttling by her own crew....

Anyway, with the loss of the Graf Spee and the Bismarck the Kriegsmarine was restricted only to sea denial tactics with a fleet in being and unrestricted submarine warfare. The invasion of the Islands became a distant dream, but when, less than a month later, Barbarossa was launched, the German nation was about to discover the really great tragedies and horrors of war.

And since we are in a such a cheerful mood, let us end with a song:

In May of 1941 the war had just begun,
The Germans had the biggest ship,
They had the biggest guns.
The Bismarck was the fastest ship,
That ever sailed the seas,
On her deck were guns as big as steers,
And shells as big as trees.
Out of the cold and foggy night,
Came the British ship the Hood.
And ev'ry British seaman he knew and understood,
They had to sink the Bismarck, the terror of the sea.
Stop those guns as big as steers,
And those shells as big as trees.

We'll find that German battleship,
That's makin' such a fuss.
We gotta sink the Bismarck,
'Cause the world depends on us.
Yay, hit the decks a-runnin' boys,
And spin those guns around.
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down.

The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day.
The Bismarck started firin' fifteen miles away.
"We gotta sink the Bismarck" was the battle sound.
But when the smoke had cleared away,
The mighty Hood went down.
For six long days and weary nights,
They tried to find her trail.
Churchill told the people "Put ev'ry ship a-sail,
'Cause somewhere on that ocean,
I know she's gotta be.
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea".

We'll find that German battleship,
That's makin' such a fuss.
We gotta sink the Bismarck,
'Cause the world depends on us.
Yay, hit the decks a-runnin' boys,
And spin those guns around.
When we find the Bismarck, we gotta cut her down.

The fog was gone the seventh day,
And they saw the mornin' sun.
Ten hours away from homeland,
The Bismark made its run.
The Admiral of the British fleet said,
Turn those bows around.
We found that German battleship,
And we're gonna cut her down.

The British guns were aimed,
And the shells were comin' fast.
The first shell hit the Bismarck,
They knew she couldn't last.
That mighty German battleship is just a memory.
"Sink the Bismarck!" was the battle cry,
That shook the seven seas.

We found that German battleship,
Was makin' such a fuss.
We had to sink the Bismarck,
'Cause the world depends on us.
We hit the deck a-runnin' and,
We spun those guns around.
We found the mighty Bismarck,
And then we cut her down.

We found that German battleship,
Was makin' such a fuss.
We had to sink the Bismarck,
'Cause the world depends on us.
We hit the deck a-runnin' and,
We spun those guns around.
We found the mighty Bismarck,
And then we cut her down.

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Reflections on the Sea: Dune and Everloving by Moby

The vastness of the Sea, diminishing in size the vessels that cross her surface encompasses the view of human life drifting in loneliness. And something irresistible draws us to cross that vastnes, hoping for what?

From the surf at the beach to the wide ocean beyond:

___________________________________________________________________________

Paul opened his eyes. 'It's just one of Guerney Halleck's tone poems for sad times.'
Behind Paul, Jessica began to recite:

'I remember salt smoke from a beach fire  
And shadows under the pines -           
Solid, clean... fixed -                 
Seagulls perched at the tip of the land,
White upon green...                     
And a wind comes through the pines      
To sway the shadows;                    
The seagulls spread their wings,        
Lift                                    
And fill the sky with screeches.        
And I hear the wind                     
Blowing across our beach,               
And the surf,                           
And I see that our fire                 
Has scorched the seaweed'               

(Frank Herbert, Dune)




"Everloving" by Moby (Play, 1999)



PS:

Pride overcame Paul's fear. 'You dare suggest a duke's son is an animal?' he demanded.

'Let us say I suggest you may be human' (Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam)
___
'Humans must never submit to animals' (Lady Jessica)
___
'Humans are almost always lonely' (Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam)


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Silence and distance

Deus ao mar o perigo e o abismo deu,
Mas nele é que espelhou o céu.
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To the sea God gave gave peril and the abyss
But He also made Heaven to be mirrored in it.

Fernando Pessoa, Mar Português, Mensagem.

The Sea is an enchanting and unforgiving mistress. Her charms are matched only by the dangers that contact with her entails. She brands irrevocably anyone open to her wiles. Out there, the measure of a man's worth is constantly weighed against her seduction at the cost of his own life as well as the lives of his mates.

This mystique is what surrounds populations that come in close contact with the sea and makes them so different. The unmistakable air of cosmopolitan nobility combined with the far-reaching gaze into the sea in search of the beloved ones returning.

I will be returning to her as often as I can. It was about time I started from the basics...

For those that showed me what all this really means:

"Silence and Distance" (Andre Matos)

Been here for so long
On the morrow I'll dare
Silent and distant
Reaching out, unaware
Stealing the whispers
From my deepest request

And you watch me
Waiting for something new
My hands, as empty
As my body and soul
Could keep pretending
But in the heart I'd be gone...

Still stare at my face
But lost seem your eyes
Keep hold of the sails
Against the blue sky

Ooh, I'm intending
A way back to the sea
This emptiness burns inside
And leads on for endless miles

Don't let me go
Away across the sea,
It may be much more wide
Than what it seems to be

Oh, I'm still searching
The way back to be freed
The loneliness hangs around us
However we can't see

Now let me go
Away across the sea,
The waves can't be as high
As they pretend to be

And now I know
In my heart, I won't forget
The sails against the blue sky
That taught me how to live

... with no sorrow
And tomorrow we'll share
Silence and distance
'till our faults are repaired
You'll be the mistress
Who I'll never forget.

Για το Γιάννη, τη Μαριάννα, τον Πέτρο, τη Ματούλα, τη Μαρίκα, τη Δέσποινα... για τα χρυσά απογεύματα στο Μερσινίδι...