28 NAVY NEWS, DECEMBER 2010


Unwelcome cuts


THE RECENT Defence Review was, frankly, a disgrace, though sadly far


● Training in drill at HMS Raleigh in the 1970s


Apple-pie order at Raleigh


REGRETTABLY Andrew Lucas has the wrong Andrew in his letter (Legendary Men, November) as to my best knowledge Lt David ‘Shovelface’ Andrews retired some time ago, with his last job being that of security offi cer at HMS Drake. As a young killick I served with


him at HMS Raleigh, where he truly was a legend in


lifetime, master of the parade ground


and all areas


his own within


shouting distance of it. Woe betide those who failed to salute him from at least 200 yards on his marches to and from the drill shed and the wardroom, and certainly woe betide those who failed to march correctly after lunch... “the apple should be clasped into the left side, right arm swinging shoulder height!” I should know, for it was I who


THANK YOU for publishing my letter Onward Christian Soldiers (November) But what did the editor mean


by writing ...’but I suppose we prefer to bow to the rising sun”? I’ve asked my naval officer son if this is a well-known naval phrase or saying, but he said not. I can hazard a guess, but would


rather like to know exactly what the editor meant? – Chris Bond, Poole, Dorset


It was not a reference to the Japanese fl ag (pace, another reader) but a quote from Jane Austen’s great Naval


queen, ship and myth


Cleopatra,


IN ONE of October’s letters, there was a question about HMS Cleopatra being different from the other Leander-class frigates which were all named after mythical people. In mythology, Cleopatra was the daughter of Idas and Marpessa and married to Meleager. Hence fully mythological along with her sister ships.


Presumably some of the various


late Egyptian queens called Cleopatra were named from that mythological origin. I always assumed that many of the Leander-class frigates actually took their names from the World War 2 light cruisers, Cleopatra being the flagship of Admiral Vian at the Second Battle of Sirte, where they held off an Italian battleship.


Don’t pin your hopes on recognition


I WAS surprised to read about a deterrent patrol pin. As an ex-bomber rating of 12


forgotten, where now after doing 30 days you get recognition; we were constantly playing cat-and- mouse with the Russians, who are now our friends. So will we forgotten ‘deeps’ get


– Chris Sergeant, Bessacarr, Doncaster


anything for our service during the Cold War, or will we remain as we were in service, ‘undetected and unseen’?


Unseen,


years we were told that no Cold War medal or any recognition for Polaris submariners would be struck.


undetected and


carried said apple in a slovenly manner.ner But my favouriterit Lt Andrews’ dit? I was duty killick some time in 1981, in the goldfish bowl (QM’sM’’ caboosh) with


plel nn ur


e te


ck sh


ck 1, h


the QM and BM voucher to the letter which


h A £25 Amazon


at around 1945 when in walked Lt Andrews as Officer of the Day: “Right Quartermaster,


impresses or enlightens us the most.


rounds are complete and I’m just off over the wardroom, I don’t want to be disturbed unless the anchor starts dragging or we lose station with HMS Fisgard.” What a star! They don’t make them like that anymore.


– Cdr M T Harris, HMS Raleigh, Torpoint, Cornwall Ed’s literary pretensions


novel Persuasion: “Don’t talk to me about heirs and representatives,” cried Charles. “I am not one of those who neglect the reigning power to bow to the rising sun.” Mr Bond wondered why we don’t pen valedictories to senior people at the end of their illustrious careers. We tend to write about newly- appointed ones instead, hence the reference to bowing to the rising sun.


I admit it was obscure, but I do like to get Jane Austen into Navy News where possible – Man Ed


amuses,


from being the first such. If the first duty of any Government is the ‘safety of the realm’ as the politicians are always, rightly, telling us, then the MOD should not have been included in the review at all.


How can national defence be subjected to such ridiculous reductions? Yes, the nation has to


suffer cuts but doesn’t


anyone in the Government realise that our enemies don’t subscribe to that idea, and are delighted when we engage in the ‘slash and burn’ activities? They are more likely to attack when they see a nation lowering its guard – and that’s what most of the reviews I have witnessed since the end of WW2 have done. Not least when, in 1981, John Nott’s Defence Review meant that we entered the Falklands War with our newest aircraft carrier already sold to Australia and the other


teetering on the disposed of.


It was quite crazy and not only did we pay the penalty but that penalty for many Servicemen meant losing their lives. The idea that we can manage without seaborne power is utterly ludicrous. I heard


brink


a discussion chaired by Jeremy Paxman in which the same John Nott appeared. He was still against carriers despite the


near disaster he created in 1981 by trying to get rid of them. From this it follows that Defence Ministers should always, always be people who are fully behind the Armed Services, as Dr Fox the current incumbent appears to be, leaving attempts to destroy them to others in Cabinet, or perhaps by appointments of ‘advisors’ to undermine the work of the actual Defence Secretary. We should also beware of ‘defence


commentators/reviewers’ etc, who have emerged from the woodwork recently, particularly in that section of our press which is pacifist and/or liberal with a small ‘l’ by persuasion, whose main aim is to undermine the strength and morale of our Armed Forces and reduce Britain’s defence to that of a castrated mouse. – John Gilbert, by email


of being


...I CANNOT believe the powers-that-be are scrapping our flagship the Ark Royal after all the money they spent on her refit. This has got to be the first time in English Naval history a serving flagship has come to this end. Lord Nelson would turn in his grave.


As a member of a Navy family of many generations I am dumbfounded by this government’s approach to our country, culture of sea history and commonsense. I do hope the good people of our island


protest at these draconian cuts. – Gary James Turnham, Wells, Somerset


AS A great admirer of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, I feel compelled to write to express my very great dismay at the deep cuts forced on the Service by the latest defence review. I am a retired civil servant and I spent 43 years working with the RN and RM while I was serving in the Admiralty/Ministry of Defence.


In that time I was impressed by the dedication and professionalism of all in the Service.


and


I find it incredible that, in these uncertain potentially


dangerous times,


government of the day can impose any cuts at all on Defence.


I can only assume that the government felt safe in making these cuts, because the British public has no real interest in Defence.


Imagine the outcry if the same level of cuts had been applied to the NHS. – Keith Salmon, Grays, Essex


the


– Graham ‘Bungy’ Edwards, Manchester


● HMS Ark Royal photographed soon after the announcement of the SDSR by PO(Phot) Ray Jones


CONGRATULATIONS to Lt Catherine Ker, who has become the Navy’s first female Mine Clearance Diver. Clearance diving is a tough and risky job which requires courage and a cool head, in addition to physical fitness and specialist skills.


decompression illness than men.


The selection tests and qualifying courses are among the most demanding in the Navy, and we can be sure that no concessions were made to Lt Ker. It was only earlier this year that the ban was lifted on women training as clearance divers. There were several female ship’s divers when that branch existed, but clearance diving was banned on medical grounds, as it was thought females were at greater risk of


Once studies by the Institute of Naval Medicine concluded that was not the case, the door was opened to women to apply. Lt Ker was the first to go through and has set a great example. Where she blazed a trail, other women will surely follow,


December 2010 no.677: 56th year Leviathan Block, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH


Editorial


until their choice of specialisation is no longer remarkable or newsworthy. Now Lt Ker will join the MCM1 Squadron in Scotland as the operations officer responsible for detecting and disposing of sea mines. We wish her well in her career as a clearance diver. The course is famously tough, but it is good that the bar to success is no longer based on gender.


The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the MOD Managing editor:


Sarah Fletcher 023 9272 4194 Editor: Mike Gray 023 9272 5136 News editor: Richard Hargreaves 023 9272 4163 Production editor:


Helen Craven 023 9272 5067 Fax 023 9283 8845 edit@navynews.co.uk


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