Thin Pinstriped Line

The Royal Navy patrol ship HMS TRENT has arrived in Guyana for a routine port visit. The ship, which has recently arrived in the West Indies after sailing from Gibraltar has already called in at Barbados, and judging by her twitter feed also managed to enjoy a good Christmas at sea (hands to bathe in the Caribbean anyone?). She has now conducted a port visit that has made headlines due to the wider international situation. This has aroused both the ire of the Venezuelan Government and the ire of legions of ‘armchair admirals’ who continue their ongoing obsession with the fact that the Royal Navy has patrol ships that don’t carry the firepower of a Frigate, and that somehow   the ship is a ‘sitting duck’. In reality this is a situation which perfectly demonstrates both the proportionality of gunboat diplomacy and the importance of scaled escalation. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2021 Following a recent ‘referendum’ (of a highly questionable nature) the Venezuelan regime is now claiming a...

    It is the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas is over, the relatives have been seen and seen off, and presents have been provided. All that remains is to sit back, relax and digest the many delightful meals you’ve enjoyed from trifle at breakfast to plate after plate of ‘beige food’. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, for time has no meaning. For the author this is the ideal time of year to unwind, read and catch up on both Lego assembly and the painting of model soldiers while the weather outside is frightful. Enjoy this period while it lasts for January is just around the corner… One way to enjoy this time is to focus on pleasant activities like reading or listening to podcasts and audiobooks. This short blog is an attempt to capture some of Humphreys favourite books and podcasts of 2023 and why they are worth engaging with. The author has finished all of the books listened, but its important to note not all were published this year, nor are they listed...

  The Christmas season is upon us and as organisations head off on leave, those who are left holding the fort are already forced to dig ever deeper for content beyond “what to do with Turkey leftovers”. There have been a couple of articles in the news which can, at best, be described as scraping the bottom of the journalistic barrel in terms of reporting. The first is the manufactured outrage and anger in the Telegraph at the image of the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer MP sporting a British military combat jacket while visiting British troops in Estonia. Apparently, according to the author of the article, Sir Keir is a “disgrace” who does not know one end of a bazooka from another. Ignoring the minor problem that the Bazooka was a US Army weapon that first saw action some 80 years ago, so is almost as old as the average Telegraph reader, and which didn’t (to the authors knowledge) see widespread service in the British Army, we have to try to understand what the issue ...

  The Royal Navy has joined with international partners including France and the USA in deploying warships to combat the growing threat of Houthi led maritime terrorism in the Southern Red Sea. Over the weekend, HMS DIAMOND, a Type 45 destroyer made history as being the first of her class to fire missiles in anger, engaging and destroying a drone targeting merchant shipping. This engagement has caused both interest and debate by both media and ‘armchair admirals’, who have become overnight experts in missile engagements in conflict zones. The facts of the case publicly known are limited – we know that there has been a number of drones and missiles fired by Houthi militia at merchant ships in the Bab-al-Mandab and wider Southern Red Sea, probably coming from Yemen using Iranian provided technology. The Iranians have backed the Houthi for about a decade, helping support them during the ongoing conflicts in Yemens complex conflicts as well as wider conflict with Saudi Arabia. Over t...

News broke this week that off the coast of Ireland the RoyalNavy reportedly had to track and monitor the presence of a Russian submarine just outside of Irish territorial waters. The combination of a (presumably) Type 23 frigate and Merlin was used to politely suggest to the Russians to go and play in someone elses backyard. The Irish Navy was unable to send vessels to police the incident themselves due to a decision taken years ago to pay off vessels equipped with sonar and remove the capability from service. A risk that seemed sensible and pragmatic at the time has proven to have long term consequences. For Ireland the decision to not invest in sonar made perfect sense, the submarine threat was negligible and the skills and cost needed to maintain a truly effective ASW capability would have cost far in excess of anything the Irish Republic either needed or could afford without making swingeing cuts elsewhere. Maintaining a semblance of a capability would do little good either as ...

  The most powerful document in Government is an individual’s identity pass. It reveals who they are, confirms their identity and permits access to specific sites for work purposes. Every member of the armed forces possesses an official ID card, while everyone working on sites will (usually) be in possession of a site-specific pass. It is the one common unifying theme across all the Armed Services (regular and reserve), civilians and contractors will have in common – they should have an ID card or pass. The news therefore that the MOD has confirmed that 3800 passes have been reported as stolen or missing in 2023 has raised concerns in parts of the media.   The story, initially a Hansard question which was then picked up by the highly regarded UK Defence Journal and then republished with added comments in the Sun , has raised concerns that terrorists are able to use this information to conduct a terrorist attack. This included comments from Lord West, well known for leaving a ...

Late November and early December is a time of year in the UK when most peoples thoughts turn towards having a break. The prospect of multiple public holidays and the pleasing period known as ‘tweenmass’ when time loses all meaning and a glass of Sherry and a mince pie is scientifically acknowledged to be an acceptable breakfast option is an exciting one. The majority of people will be looking forward to a much deserved run down through parties and time with families and friends. For the Royal Navy though, the next few weeks promises to be anything but a quiet period following announcements this week that two separate but equally important short notice deployments are occurring. HMS DIAMOND - UK MOD © Crown copyright 2022 The first is the announcement that six RN vessels will be deploying to a sea area from the Channel to the Baltic to support deterrence patrols around areas of interest, to deter potential action on cables and patrol areas of interest to NATO allies. This deployment wil...