Marine Pictures and Videos.

BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
And I thought the VLCC's I sailed on were big ... :eek: This thing comes in at double the size in terms of deadweight tonnage of the largest one I sailed on. Ugly looking beast but consider when she's fully loaded only the portion of the ship's hull painted black and up is visible, and they do look rather graceful. The great bulk of the ship is then underwater. (So they're the biggest submarines in the world as well ... :| )

BIGtanker.jpg
 
BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Took this pix on my first visit to China in 1973. (The People's Republic of China, any maps they saw on the bulkheads of the ship that said just 'China' they tore down and confiscated.) This was in Dairen, which you get to by going north up through the Yellow Sea. I believe it's called Dalian these days.
This was a very different China to that you see today. Mao Tsetung (Mao Zedong) was still in charge. I still have my little red book with his thoughts which we were all issued with. It was all very basic and thoroughly militarised, which is the way they seem to be going now. Back then even waiting at anchor (over a week) they put two soldiers onboard armed with shiny looking Chinese made Kalashnikovs whose first job was shutting down and sealing up my radio shack !! (Make no mistake, I wasn't going to argue ... :eek:)
I took this pix not realising that a camera and taking pictures ashore was not allowed. Fortunately nobody noticed or I might have been in trouble.
We were carrying grain from the USA believe it or not. I also did a couple of further visits there around that time on a Maersk ship carrying grain loaded in Vancouver, Canada.
China is now the second largest economy in the world, practically all of our goodies are made there. And now they are rich (economically that is) they are building up their military and seemingly becoming more aggressive. Another Cold War on the horizon ??
:?:

dairen1973b.jpg
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
In 1970, I had a day on HMS Hermes, long before it was refitted with the ski-jump for the Harriers, it was Sea Vixens and Gannets at that time. There may also have been Buccaneers.

This picture is generally how it was, but may be a bit earlier than 1970, I seem to remember Wessexes on the day.

R12-HMS-Hermes-007.jpg


Access to it was via a sort of fire-escape-style stairs dangling from a door on the side. The ship was totally stationary, but the sea was quite active, so our little boat was going up and down a good bit. Getting onto the stairs from the boat involved quite a high level of commitment. It was necessary to avoid getting the boat stuck under the bottom of the stairs at the top of the waves, so it involved launching yourself sideways across the gap at the 'right point' in the swell.

The deck seemed very exposed, on what was quite a windy day, with no visible railings around the sides, although you should end up in the nets below the edge if you did fall off (in most places) - but the lift was not able to have any fall arrest systems - if you fell off the edge of that, you just went down until something solid stopped you.

Hermes took a very long time to get into service, for various reasons, but seems to have been scrapped only recently, after passing on into many years of further service with the Indian Navy.
 
Chillybean

Chillybean

Well-Known Forumite
BobClay said:
China is now the second largest economy in the world, practically all of our goodies are made there. And now they are rich (economically that is) they are building up their military and seemingly becoming more aggressive. Another Cold War on the horizon ??
:?:

View attachment 10228
Click to expand...


Spent some time in Dalian myself in 2007 for an oil company that had signed an agreement with COSL Shipping. Myself and an American watched them finish off constructing a drilling rig as we were to be the first client, we had serious reservations about it being ready on time and it working efficiently. However, the Chinese threw manpower at it and it was launched on time and was towed on to location in the Yellow Sea close to the border with N.Korea. This is only time I've ever been on a drilling rig that has never had any down time for repairs, my American colleague was simply stunned and conceded that China was a super power. Not sure how Europe let alone the UK could compete militarily with the Chinese these days
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
BobClay said:
I've done that pilot ladder jump from a launch many times. It is definitely a bit hairy in any kind of sea. :|
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I would like to do it now. It was probably going about five to six feet, top to bottom.

Most of us were about 11 to 15 years old, apart from the old bloke who had organised the trip and slipped a fiver to the chap with the fishing boat we went out on.

'Risk' and 'assessment' were probably not words he had often used in the same sentence...

It struck me (afterwards) that some sort of floatation aid might have been useful, should one have fallen between the two vessels - and not been squashed between them and/or the base of the ladder.

I still have a Hermes hat band somewhere.
 
BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
I've spoken and worked with quite a few RN personnel and there appeared to be a high regard for HMS Hermes as an 'all rounder.' In particular her efforts during the Falklands campaign and she was no spring chicken at that time. This pix might interest @Gramaisc, in particular the aircraft on the deck.

HMSHermes.jpg
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
BobClay said:
I've spoken and worked with quite a few RN personnel and there appeared to be a high regard for HMS Hermes as an 'all rounder.' In particular her efforts during the Falklands campaign and she was no spring chicken at that time. This pix might interest @Gramaisc, in particular the aircraft on the deck.

View attachment 10230
Click to expand...
A few days after my visit, there was an attempt to launch a Sea Vixen. It had a huge engine failure at the exact moment of commitment to the catapult. It was flung off the front end and flopped onto the water, floating remarkably well - so much so that it was towed into Limassol harbour.

The driver sat on the left, with the nice canopy to look out through, but the other chap sat 'down a hole' to his right, with little direct information about the state of the outside world. He probably found the whole event less entertaining.

The marked out squares with the round corners are the lifts. When they were lowered, it was wise to be well aware of that fact.
 
BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Chillybean said:
Not sure how Europe let alone the UK could compete militarily with the Chinese these days
Click to expand...

I guess we will have to hope it will be another 'Cold War' i.e. a Mexican standoff with nuclear weapons acting as a deterrent. If they fail to do that (and I've always thought the 'deterrent' idea only works to prevent a World War style conflict) then we might have to learn to 'stay at home' in our caves and fashion some stone age tools.
 
Last edited:
BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Perhaps they'll try taking some of those boxes off her to lighten the ship. Question is .... HOW ? :eek:

Alternatively, plod around the Cape of Good Hope lads .... we had to do that when warfare closed the Suez Canal. (What's six weeks at sea between friends ?) ... :embarrass:
 
Last edited:
BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
One guy on a shipping site I visit suggested using explosives to blow off the bulbous bow, and stern section of the ship then towing her out. Sounded a bit drastic to me !! You could end up with a huge pile of scrap metal blocking the canal. :eek:
 
Chillybean

Chillybean

Well-Known Forumite
Here's one the American navy would love to get back, the USS Pueblo now residing in Pyongyang. North Korea's most prized war gain from the North Korean War. A must see whether you like it or not if visiting the country, choice is not an option! The BBC did a really interesting History podcast which told of the plight of the crew as POW's https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mmn69 . It's probably the only place in Pyongyang that gets good radio reception.
Pablo1.jpg
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Chillybean said:
Here's one the American navy would love to get back, the USS Pueblo now residing in Pyongyang. North Korea's most prized war gain from the North Korean War. A must see whether you like it or not if visiting the country, choice is not an option! The BBC did a really interesting History podcast which told of the plight of the crew as POW's https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mmn69 . It's probably the only place in Pyongyang that gets good radio reception.
View attachment 10252
Click to expand...
I remember that going on - 1968 - Vietnam was ramping up and Czechoslovakia happened in the middle of the detention period for the crew, plus the French riots and all sorts of other events - it all seemed ready to come apart.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top