Originally Posted by
Asturias56
I did not wish to be rude or unpleasant. I also have family and friends serving in various branches of the services. Most of them can take a joke............... and the serviceability record of the QE's is well known and not terribly good.
I didn't see anything to get upset about the tug joke. I thought it was a rather clever nod to the memory of HMS Nottingham in 2002! And it was a dig at the lack of funding which is Govt issue. A friend was DAEO on 815 back in the day when they took 3 Lynx out on Engadine. Their joke was that they routinely booked the crane for lifting the "Christmas Tree" cab off the ship when the ship got back before they had even sailed! Spares were in such short supply they needed a live stores donor to keep the other 2 flying. The Sea King world was much better in comparison as we had fewer issues.
What is so sad to see is things like this on the
RN Website talking about RFA Argus when articles like
this are currently discussing her extended stay in Pompey. The real issue is that for years we have lived the "
PR dream" but failed to sort out the realities of life - for a number of reasons - lack of funding & poor procurement processes being just 2. Just don't forget to book the crane......... And Ajax seems to be the latest saga. Still, on the bright side, re the Argus, I have fond, if very hazy, memories of a "Down the Irish Sea night" on the Argus after an abortive mission to find "one of theirs" supposedly sneaking round under the waters off Faslane.
