Ferry caught up in a war game!

[nick0021]

I wouldn't mind betting that the capatin of the ferry had to change his under wear when he got home !


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6079974.stm

[bad livin']

Suspect, as BBC report, that the CO suspected an inject and acted accordingly....for right or wrong. This area is fairly tight and very well suited to simulated FIAC attack.

The ferries also seem to love playing chicken with pusser's greys.

[anotherthing]

According to a MOD source

the ferry was in no danger


Come on, it was a US warship and a friendly states ferry... of course it was in danger!!! :p

[Lazer-Hound]

According to a MOD source


Come on, it was a US warship and a friendly states ferry... of course it was in danger!!! :p

As much danger as if it had been relying on the "utterly, utterly useless" RAF for close air support?:hmm:

[Daysleeper]

Have you seen the quality of the bacon rolls on those ferries these days - sinking it would have been an act of mercy.

[Pontius Navigator]

Yeah, if he got the exercise freak wrong how much else did he have right?

[Mad_Mark]

So, yet again our dear American cousins are getting themselves into the press during Ex. Neptune Warrior (or JMC, as everyone still calls it) :D

Almost every time this exercise/course is held some poor unknowing civilian ends up on the reciving end of a threatening challenge from our colleagues from across the pond. Not only are ferries on the receiving end on Ch.16 but airlines (on the airways!) on 121.5 :ugh: And every time it gets into the press.

The idea is that this is a training exercise. The first week is a teaching tool, so no need to go rushing into things and end up making such mistakes. If they would only slow down and think before acting during phase 1 then they may actualy learn something - something that may be useful in the future when they don't have the time to think about it.

MadMark!!! :mad:

[FCWhippingBoy]

Even if we have changed the name from JMC, thank God someone correctly called it, EXERCISE NEPTUNE WARRIOR, unlike the Beeb who called it "OPERATION NEPTUNE WARRIOR" :ugh: :mad:

[Daysleeper]

The idea is that this is a training exercise. The first week is a teaching tool, so no need to go rushing into things and end up making such mistakes

I know I'm only a civy but I always though part of the point of training was so that people COULD make mistakes in a benign environment. Better an accidental challenge on a ferry where ego's is all thats bruised than a cock up when it counts.

[sonicstomp]

Daysleeper - Spot on....

I personally found it amusing....Part of me hopes the Ferry skipper put a PA out to the effect that all aboard should prepare for incoming fire! :E

[BEagle]

Threats of opening fire on unarmed civilian vessels made on international distress frequencies are hardly 'mistakes' - they are cock-ups of the highest order.

One wonders what particular RoE were being 'simulated' at the time.

Foreign ships taking part in JMC are normally expected to be fully worked up - this does not sound like a 'mistake' to me, it sounds like incompetence almost of the Iranian Airbus level.....

[Daysleeper]

Look Beagle you talk a lot of sense on here so I dont want to fall out but.

Threats of opening fire on unarmed civilian vessels made on international distress frequencies are hardly 'mistakes' - they are cock-ups of the highest order.

No actually opening fire would have been of the highest order. Selecting the wrong box to transmit on is really quite minor and a mistake which countless pilots do every year. Yes its embarrassing but no-one is really at any risk.

[BEagle]

Always assuming that it was such a mis-selection......

I hope you're right, but frankly I'm not at all sure. And yes, I have been 'challenged' by Red Crown on Guard when flying on airways on an international flight plan - presumably because there were 2 ac in the formation (as it said in the flight plan).

[microlight AV8R]

It would be interesting to look back over lets say the last 65 years and see how many military disasters could be attributed to the wriong frequency/crystals or similar cock-ups. Arnhem, Bravo two Zero etc.

I agree that training exercises provide the opportunity to learn from mistakes, but Beagle has a point also. The lesson to be learnt needs to be a fairly deep one, ie; think through the possible consequences of not transmitting a warning on the correct channel. I'd hate to be blown out of the water just because of a minor technical oversight.

Finally, a big thankyou to our colonial cousins for providing their usual high standard of entertainment, thus reinforcing our well acknowledged military superiority. BTW... Any lighthouses been challenged yet? :cool:

[West Coast]

"BTW... Any lighthouses been challenged yet?"

Another one who dearly wants it to be true.

[microlight AV8R]

First bite.

[brickhistory]

Finally, a big thankyou to our colonial cousins for providing their usual high standard of entertainment, thus reinforcing our well acknowledged military superiority. BTW... Any lighthouses been challenged yet? :cool:

Yep, you're right. You've definitely wired that quality over quantity thing.


Kitty Hawk
Kennedy
Eisenhower
Nimitz
Enterprise
Vinson
Roosevelt
Lincoln
Washington
Stennis
Truman
Reagan

All preceded by USS. And an air wing of around, what, 70-ish decent jets for each. :}

[Low Flier]

it sounds like incompetence almost of the Iranian Airbus level

Pattern recognition is a bitch!

[Navaleye]

Presumably the Americans would have claimed they were fired on by the ferry before taking defensive measures. :mad:

[ORAC]

Kitty Hawk
Kennedy
Eisenhower
Nimitz
Enterprise
Vinson
Roosevelt
Lincoln
Washington
Stennis
Truman
Reagan

Bush (http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/08/100wir_a3bushship001.cfm)

[GPMG]

My god, 10 Nimitz class carriers? You could have a serious party with that lot.

Hope the current bush gets something appropriate named after him, public toilet would be nice.

And Blair can use that tongue of his to clean them out.....just like old times.

[Pontius Navigator]

I know I'm only a civy but I always though part of the point of training was so that people COULD make mistakes in a benign environment. Better an accidental challenge on a ferry where ego's is all thats bruised than a cock up when it counts.

Common misunderstanding Daysleeper. Training is what you are supposed to do before you come to the party. Exercises are what you are supposed to do to try out tactics in a safe environment before you go to war.

[Pontius Navigator]

Kitty Hawk
Kennedy
Eisenhower
Nimitz
Enterprise
Vinson
Roosevelt
Lincoln
Washington
Stennis
Truman
Reagan
Bush (http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/08/100wir_a3bushship001.cfm)

ORAC, now we really could have fun - Carter?

[Sergio555]

ORAC, now we really could have fun - Carter?

Seems to me that a "USS Gerald Ford" could be funnier :}

[brickhistory]

Kitty Hawk
Kennedy
Eisenhower
Nimitz
Enterprise
Vinson
Roosevelt
Lincoln
Washington
Stennis
Truman
Reagan
Bush (http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/08/100wir_a3bushship001.cfm)

Even the CVN named for Bush the Elder was just commissioned, I didn't include it since she (he?) won't be operational for several more years at which time one of the oil burners is scheduled to be decommissioned, so the total would remain at 12.

Think Bush the Younger will have a minesweeper named after him since it will always run into things that go 'bang!'

[Daysleeper]

Common misunderstanding Daysleeper. Training is what you are supposed to do before you come to the party

Fair enough I was just taking my lead from

The first week is a teaching tool


Besides, being the Yanks I still doubt the ferry was in any danger - they'd probably miss and sink the Erskine bridge instead:}

[ORAC]

There´s a good navy type novel, Weapons of Choice with a future fleet including the USS Clinton..... the USS Hilary Clinton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_of_Choice_(book))that is.... :} :}

[Lazer-Hound]

So a radio operator forgot to change channels during an exercise and this clearly means the entire US armed forces are crap. Meanwhile running a destroyer onto a well-charted rock doesn't mean the RN is crap. Accidentally invading Spain whilst aiming for Gibraltar doesn't mean the RM are crap. Having to beg and borrow food and ammunition from allies doesn't make the British Army crap. And being described by someone who should know as "utterly, utterly useless" doesn't make the RAF crap. Hmm.:suspect:

[MattCollins]

Yeah, go patriotism:hmm:

[ORAC]

Segio555,

The Enterprise is scheduled to decommission in 2014-2015, to be replaced by CVN78. It has been proposed and agreed by the Senate to name it the USS Gerald R. Ford (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SP04211:). :E :E

[Pontius Navigator]

ORAC, will LBJ or RMN get a look in?

[Eff Oh]

So if the USN had sunk the ferry, would the RN have returned fire???? :E :}

[airborne_artist]

So if the USN had sunk the ferry, would the RN have returned fire????

No, Poodle Tony would have rung GWB and said he was ferry annoyed :E

[GPMG]

ORAC, will LBJ or RMN get a look in?

And what about USS Lewinsky? Apparantly she would be a big old tub of a submarine known for going down with lots of seam.......

[brickhistory]

USS H. Clinton? Most terrifying vessel on the ocean. Bit wide in the aft section as well.

USS Lewinsky? Put in mothballs. Kept running aground on old rocks and they were forever having to drydock her to scrape her flanks clean.

HMS Galloway? Understand it is the permanent display ship for the media? Not much use in a fight, but seems to garner lots of attention.

HMS Browne? Understand she is to be scrapped before she ever sets sail?

[Roadster280]

Aha - it's becoming clear why the two carriers are late. They weren't named HMS Blair and HMS Brown. If they had been, perhaps we'd be somewhat further along the acquisition path.

[brickhistory]

As opposed to HMS Gordon Brown , the most effective commerce raider ever deployed by the UK. :sad:

My apologies for the extra 'e' in my post.

[WhiteOvies]

BH,
UK is up to it's neck in Brown(e). Naming a ship after the Defence Minister would be a first for the UK though I think.

If she was sunk how many sailors would go down on the H Clinton or in a reverse twist on the Lewinsky?? :}

[Pontius Navigator]

in a reverse twist on the Lewinsky?? :}

Blow all . . .

Gerald Ford Clearly an FPB. High speed, up on the step, then along comes Gerald and . . .

[brickhistory]

If she was sunk how many sailors would go down on the H Clinton or in a reverse twist on the Lewinsky?? :}

Oh, that's just so wrong on so many levels!! :E

[BEagle]

"Hoo-rah, Captain, it mus' be a hostile - the commie motherf.....r is flyin' a goddam red flag!"

"Huh. Gee, I dunno. Hell, jus' go ahead 'n waste him..... Anythin' that ugly deserves to be blown away."

[brickhistory]

"Hoo-rah, Captain, it mus' be a hostile - the commie motherf.....r is flyin' a goddam red flag!"
"Huh. Gee, I dunno. Hell, jus' go ahead 'n waste him..... Anythin' that ugly deserves to be blown away."

Dang, BEagle, you have an uncanny knack for just nailing the American vernacular and mindset in your posts!

Is it from being around 'Mericans since your aide to Trenchard days? :cool:

[Archimedes]

ORAC, now we really could have fun - Carter?

USS Jimmy Carter is a Seawolf class SSN (SSN23). Carter was a nuclear engineer in the USN and the suggestion is that the USN took the opportunity to exploit this so that they wouldn't be forced to name a CVN after him (in the same way that they named a sub after Admiral Rickover to prevent elements of congress from foisting the name on them for a CVN).

Presumably USS Gerald R Ford will be unable to sail and launch aircraft at the same time...

[West Coast]

I think Beagle is a Mexican myself.


Roghead
A boat much, much smaller almost sank the USS Cole. With the number of radical Muslims in the UK growing and out of control, the warning was a prudent one.

[GreenKnight121]

Nato warship on the wrong wavelength gives Clyde ferry a warning
By Auslan Cramb
Last Updated: 2:10am BST 25/10/2006



A tiny passenger ferry was unwittingly caught up in a war games exercise when a US warship threatened to blow unidentified vessels out of the water.

The skipper of the 70-year-old MV Kenilworth received a sinister message broadcast on Channel 16, which is used for routine communications, as the ferry crossed the River Clyde.

The warship had already spoken to the ferry and requested it kept a 1,000-yard clearance. But the US radio operator then failed to switch back to the frequency designated for a Nato exercise.

As a result, the ferry heard the operator say: "Unidentified vessel approaching on my starboard side, please identify yourself. If you fail to do so, we will open fire on you with live ammunition".

The message was intended for Royal Marines who were "attacking" the warship in inflatable boats.

A source in Gourock, the ferry's home port, said the skipper radioed back saying "he was just a wee ferry".

He said: "If you have a battleship loaded with guns bearing down on you and threatening to shoot, it's quite scary."

The Royal Navy has since apologised for the error, which occurred on Monday as ships were leaving the Clyde for the two-week exercise, Operation Neptune Warrior.

It was not clear whether the USS Roosevelt, a destroyer bristling with surface-to-air missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes, or the USS Samuel B Roberts, a guided missile frigate, had issued the message.

They were both close to the ferry, which was carrying 12 passengers on the 10-minute crossing from Kilcreggan on the Rosneath peninsula to Gourock.

A Navy spokesman said: "There was no live ammunition involved and there was absolutely no danger of a ferry being blown out of the water. But I think the skipper has his after-dinner story sorted for the rest of his life."

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph






Note 1: "The warship had already spoken to the ferry and requested it kept a 1,000-yard clearance. But the US radio operator then failed to switch back to the frequency designated for a Nato exercise."

comment: accidental, not intentional


Note 2: "The message was intended for Royal Marines who were "attacking" the warship in inflatable boats."

comment: not meant for the ferry at all


So much for "those trigger-happy, war-mongering, arrogant Yankee" posts... oops, I forgot... reality means nothing to some people's nationalistic hatreds, does it?


:mad:

[BEagle]

no, brickhistiry - I am learnings culture of US and A from famous documentary filming produce by Borat Sagdiyev......













:p

[Kitbag]

'The Royal Navy has since apologised for the error'

Why?

USN can't find the right spokesperson perhaps?

[anotherthing]

Green knight 121 -

You miss the point of the majority of posts in this thread entirely - it's called satire.

Do you honestly think that people believe it was done deliberately - it was a mistake, of course it was. It was a very easy mistake to make when in an exercise with a myriad of other things going on.

There was never any question of the warship firing on the ferry -again - it was an exercise.

Humour - satire and sarcasm is something that we Brits tend to do better than any other nation.

America and Britain - 2 nations divided by a common language!! :O

[GPMG]

Roghead
A boat much, much smaller almost sank the USS Cole. With the number of radical Muslims in the UK growing and out of control, the warning was a prudent one.

Such rampant paranoia is a bit scary Westy even from an American.

Radical Muslims are not wuite as rampant as the media make out. If you believed the Sun, telegraph, Daily Racsist and express you would think that us whitey's are massivley outnumbered by a snarling mass off veil wearing heebi-jeebi's.

There are seriously very few radicals in this country but unfortunatly they make good news fodder so you would think that there is a bang-vest wearing toerag on every street corner.

Things are starting to clamp down and I think we have seen the worst of the problems by mad mulla's living within our borders.
People are getting sick and tired of it and thus the very slow wheels in government are starting to turn.

I hope the people with their fingers on the trigger arent quite as paranoid and fearfull.

[GPMG]

A source in Gourock, the ferry's home port, said the skipper radioed back saying "he was just a wee ferry".



US Skipper: Jees man those stone age jocks are shipping urine back and forth, do these people drink it?

US Sailor: No Sir I don't believe so, I didnt see one bottle of American beer being drunk whilst ashore.

[Sergio555]

The Enterprise is scheduled to decommission in 2014-2015, to be replaced by CVN78. It has been proposed and agreed by the Senate to name it the USS Gerald R. Ford (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SP04211:). :E :E

These people have a good sense of humour !!! :E

[ORAC]

There are seriously very few radicals in this country Not that it has anything to do with the ferry story, but that statement cannot go unchallenged. What would you consider as "very few"?

Scotland on Sunday (http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1563292006): MINISTERS fear they are losing the support of young British Muslim men in the war against terror, and have failed to keep them from the clutches of extremist groups......... The fresh focus on British-born extremism comes with officials warning that the threat is spiralling, with at least 30 plots and 1,500 suspected home-grown terrorists under surveillance by the security services.

It was also revealed last week that intelligence services believed Britain had become al- Qaeda's number-one target - and that it viewed the July 7 bombings as the start of a concerted campaign of attacks......

[brickhistory]

no, brickhistiry - I am learnings culture of US and A from famous documentary filming produce by Borat Sagdiyev......
:p


:ok:


So, 'Little Britain' is actually representative as well then?

[Wader2]

:ok: So, 'Little Britain' is actually representative as well then?

Unfortunately probably true although I confess to being unable to find the programme.:}

[GPMG]

.....................Bitty?

[Wader2]

:confused: .....................Bitty?

[Lazer-Hound]

'Little Britain' is a 'fly on the wall' documentary about modern life in the UK. One of the characters followed, Andy Pipkin, is an RAF Mover.

Yeah, I know!:)

[GPMG]

'Little Britain' is a 'fly on the wall' documentary about modern life in the UK. One of the characters followed, Andy Pipkin, is an RAF Mover.

Yeah, I know!:)

Your well out of order Lazer.

Andy Pipkin at least gets out of his chair now and then.

[brickhistory]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v150/roghead/2002_0724_104757AA.jpg


Where the he11 are you going to land your F-35, navalized Typhoon, or more likely, un-retired SHARs, on your new CV shown here on her sea trials? :E

[GPMG]

Dear Brick have you never heard of Improvise, adapt and overcome?

Bit of 'Harry Black' and some PSP and she'll be passing sea trials in no time.

[brickhistory]

have you never heard of Improvise, adapt and overcome?

I realize I'm mixing Services here, but doesn't that fancy Latin "Per Ardua Ad Astra" slogan mean just that? Or is it, "our stuff's old and not enough?" :}

[BEagle]

No - it means "I'll get my Air Rank (stars) through YOUR hard work"

That little boat is FAR too big to be the RN's next cockersP transport, sorry, I mean 'aircraft carrier'.

The First Sea Lord has recently said so:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/Gas2.jpg

"Them carriers will be lovely gay little things - isn't it? I know, because I'm the only admiral in the village!"

[West Coast]

Dang Beag's. I heard the RN was becoming more liberal but I didn't think it extended to its choice of uniforms. That Semen, err Sea man needs a haircut.

"You miss the point of the majority of posts in this thread entirely - it's called satire"

It didn't start that way. There was plenty of believers, some dearly wanting it to be true rather than accepting what was read in the beeb article. Says something for the BBC as well, unless of course they also like to print satire as news (or news as satire). Only after it was debunked did many (yes you beagle) decide, "then yes of course its satire"

Great little parachute this satire thing. Truth doesn't fit anymore, hey we have satire left.

[BEagle]

And that'll be her full Air Group sitting on the deck then?

[anotherthing]

I've been out of the RN for about 6 years now... remind me again plse... out of the two pictures of ships.... which one is the ferry?

[GPMG]

I wonder how many RPM Nelson is doing in his grave at nowadays.

[Zoom]

"BTW... Any lighthouses been challenged yet?"

Another one who dearly wants it to be false.








(Only 3 pages late with my 'satire'.)

[doubledolphins]

Just because I had to withdraw from NW this year. Knew something would go wrong without me!

[Gainesy]

Interesting views you have Roghead, you should get a webcam and make a few bob mate.

[Tired Old Man]

"BTW... Any lighthouses been challenged yet?"

Another one who dearly wants it to be true.

Heres one being Challenged :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5fsirKgyR4

Moral is dont mess with the Irish.:)

[Zoom]

TOM
Beautiful. Proof positive - as if it were needed.

[Tired Old Man]

:ok: Yeah Really Liked it myself ! :)