Thin Pinstriped Line

The wait is nearly over. Within the next few days, if all goes to plan, then HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH will slip and proceed from Norfolk Naval Base in the USA, put to sea and embark the F35 jet for the first time. A vision 20 years in the making will be realised. This is an exciting time for the Royal Navy, as the culmination of literally decades of work is brought to fruition as QE embarks her jets for the first time to make sure that the vessel can operate them safely and effectively at sea. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright It is important to realise that while this is an important step, it is not the culmination of the journey for the vessel, and that it does not mean that the UK will immediately regain a carrier strike capability. Rather it is better to see this as the beginning of the next stage of the life of the ship. These trials will provide invaluable amounts of data and lessons that will need to be considered and acted on as appropriate to ensure th...

Breaking news today that Royal Navy sailors occasionally drink alcohol and sometimes get drunk. That seems to be the headline news on some papers today, who are terribly seized about the fact that when HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH pulled into Mayport, Florida, six of the roughly 1200 crew present were arrested after a night out. The story appears to be that following a night out in town, where local proprietors complained they weren’t warned the Brits were coming (to be fair, neither were the staff of the White House in 1812), and that they didn’t tip very well (e.g. 10% or UK norms). To add insult to injury some of the crew got rather drunk and a few got arrested. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright This could the story of any of thousands upon thousands of runs ashore in the many centuries that the Royal Navy has been in the business of being the world’s premier war winning navy. The reality is that we ask a great deal of the young men and women who volunteer...

This week it was revealed that an Argentine survey vessel had been reported near the Falkland Islands, and that the local patrol ship HMS CLYDE had reportedly been sent to investigate. This simple story led to a barrage of negative news suggesting that the RN had ‘confronted’ the vessel which was apparently looking for oil. One of the greatest success stories in the last few years for British foreign policy has been the way a formerly tense and difficult relationship with Argentina has so rapidly been reset to become a genuinely productive one. Under the Kirchner regime, which used foreign policy gripes as a means of distracting attention from domestic woes, the relationship between Argentina and the UK was far less productive and strong than it could, or should, have been. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright The Macri led Government has led to a real change in this dynamic, with productive engagement occurring across the full breadth of the relationship. The...