[Pekkerhead]

So come on Boris - any good anecdotes from the Navy days (other than the Jamaica one that is).

[Boris]

With service in Northern Ireland, Falklands and Gulf War 1, lots of medals and an ability ( recently revoked ) to drink copious amounts of alcohol, no doubt I could send Wembley stadium at full capacity, to sleep very easily with all the stories.

When listening to any service anecdotes one must have several things. Booze, a captive audience with no way of escape, an ability to believe the ridiculous, no will to live and of course a dictionary of service terms.

FYI - the Royal Navy dictionary is written by a Commander Rick Jolley MD RN. The famous field surgeon in the Falklands war seen doing operations accompanied by an unexploded Argie 500lb bomb. If you weren't there then you should have drifted of to sleep by now!

[srvblooze]

Personally, I think the whole fleet imbroglio is about the $939 million in missiles slated for sale by the US to Taiwan. An ill advised transaction I feel, since China owns a great deal of US debt and could really rock the boat (at least in the short term) if they so choose.

And, as an American, I figure we already have enough problems without messing up the rest of the world. Like having a fucking moron (heading up an administration full of criminals) in the White House, for one.

But that's just one expatriate's opinion. Thank God Bush will be gone in 422 days, one hour, eleven minutes and forty seconds or else I don't know how long I'd last before becoming an ex-patriot.

[Pekkerhead]

Originally Posted by Boris

With service in Northern Ireland, Falklands and Gulf War 1, lots of medals and an ability ( recently revoked ) to drink copious amounts of alcohol, no doubt I could send Wembley stadium at full capacity, to sleep very easily with all the stories.

When listening to any service anecdotes one must have several things. Booze, a captive audience with no way of escape, an ability to believe the ridiculous, no will to live and of course a dictionary of service terms.

FYI - the Royal Navy dictionary is written by a Commander Rick Jolley MD RN. The famous field surgeon in the Falklands war seen doing operations accompanied by an unexploded Argie 500lb bomb. If you weren't there then you should have drifted of to sleep by now!

No, I was a mere 10 year old when the Falklands kicked off. However, I did used to work with an ex-soldier from 3 Para who saw service on Mt. Longdon (and a few tours of N.I) and I found his stories pretty fascinating (and gruesomely morbid). No, I wasn't drunk and I could've escaped.

[PDLM]

What on earth was a sailor doing in Northern Ireland? (or were you one of those SBS types?)

[Boris]

Srvblooze
Politics of the playground. Us grownups will never understand it.

PDLM
All service arms serve where and when required. I was in NI for 6 months, taking the piss out of the army and understanding a group of asians who follow the regiment, called " Mukkas " .
They provided fast food and cash advances in the days before ATM.

[redwriter]

The Pentagon has protested to China about the denial of access to Hong Kong Harbor for three U.S. Navy ships last week, and says China's explanation so far has not been sufficient. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says the protest was contained in a summons to the military attaché at China's embassy in Washington, but Morrell says the attaché may not actually come to a meeting to discuss the issue.

The Defense Department is concerned that China refused to allow two mine sweeping ships into the harbor during a storm early last week, contrary to centuries of naval tradition. In addition, China turned away the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and its support ships when they arrived at the entrance to Hong Kong Harbor the following day for a scheduled port visit.

"It is baffling. It is regrettable. And we have not to date received a sufficient explanation as to why it took place," said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell.

This is a serious breech of International Laws, and puts a new strain on US vs China relations. Look for more fireworks between US and China in 2008.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by redwriter

This is a serious breech of International Laws

Bollocks. Any country can choose to allow or deny access to another country's military as it sees fit.

[Boris]

FYI - The International Law of the Sea is not an overriding document in lieu of National Law. Its generally assumed as more of a guideline for conduct. In fact if you think about it, it becomes obvious.

The UN is the guardian of international conduct and it has no legal position to empower anyone to do anything. It can only render an opinion on behalf of the community of Nation members by the means of resolutions. The same goes for the ILotS.

In this case its all politics and the comment " This is a serious breech of International Laws, and puts a new strain on US vs China relations. Look for more fireworks between US and China in 2008. " is pure jurno embellishment. Its all a firework flash in the night sky.

Take it from me, a person with many years experience of riding out storms in minesweepers, the last thing on the sailors mind would have been the state of relations between the US and China. They would have been rushing to the lee side of HK to use us as a breakwater from this storm, finding a bucket to throw up in and making sure the ship was tied down tight from itinerant flying objects as the ship plowed into waves bigger than the bow.

FYI - in my time in sweepers I was called the Chief ERA - Engine Room Access. I was poor sailor in these things and the access was warm and comfortable in the pure center of the ship , so movement was minimum at this point. Oh --- we also had seat belts on the toilets !!!!

[Boris]

As a follow up I have looked into this a little more deeply.
The two ships where USS Patriot and Guardian. Visiting Haiphong, Vietnam on Nov 14th. They are now arrived in their home base of Japan.

For ships of this size that hop is huge based on fuel and food. In this case they where refueled at sea ( RAS ) and would have loaded food the same way. To have the situation referred to as a need under ILOtS seems a bit harsh if the USN had done any true planning for the voyage. It is not preferable to replenish this type of vessel under normal peacetime conditions. Mitag ( the storm ) was well known and tracked so I would ask myself questions on the point of " harms way ".

Politics will use anybody and this rings alarm bells.