Welcome aboard USS ‘Badass’ — the world’s biggest warship

[Lyneham Lad]

Lengthy article plus photos in The Times about the USS Gerald F Ford currently anchored off Portsmouth.
Welcome aboard USS ‘Badass’ — the world’s biggest warship (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4578ad86-6721-11ed-9c3b-2d9184d0076f?shareToken=12251e07028bbe65e07053bdd3f89548)

[SATCOS WHIPPING BOY]

Apparently "it has so many sailors they get through 7,000 bacon rashers every day"
Have they never been on a UK Type 42? By their reckoning above I work it out that it has a crew of just 500 men. :-)

[meleagertoo]

"it has so many sailors they get through 7,000 bacon rashers every day"

Bear in mind the mean, weightless dessicated slivers that American call 'rashers' aren't remotely comparable to the real bacon served in the RN...They're about as comparable as a 'bag of chips" in either language.

[langleybaston]

Yes, totally agree.

A modest, tailored "English" at a good Briitish hotel yesterday: served on a hot hot plate with toast, 2 mighty rashers with rind still on, and some fat, one sausage, one hash brown, half a tomato for a bit of colour, and one poached egg: I turned down lunch as unnecessary.

Suggested alternatives: mushroom, black pudding, fried egg, , fried bread cooked in tomato pips.

Baked beans are not an officer option, merely a token gesture to the bowels.

[ChrisJ800]

Is all the poop from the ship going straight into Portsmouth waters or do they have a large holding tank that they can releaxe later near .less friendly waters?

[Ninthace]

Is all the poop from the ship going straight into Portsmouth waters or do they have a large holding tank that they can releaxe later near .less friendly waters?
There used to be a honey barge in the good old days but I suspect most modern warships have processing facilities or they would not be allowed in most port areas.
I used to commute along the seafront at Alverstoke in my second Naval Tour and again in my last RAF tour. I remember the first time.I saw a Nimitz class flat top moored in the Solent. “Big” does not cut it. It was almost like someone had built the IoW bridge overnight. The magic never grew old. I did wangle a tour on board the USS California while it was moored there. I seem to recall the hangar deck not only had ac parked in it but there were more hung from the deck head, but that may be a trick of memory.

[pasta]

Is all the poop from the ship going straight into Portsmouth waters or do they have a large holding tank that they can releaxe later near .less friendly waters?
Given the amount of raw sewage our own water companies pump into the sea along the South Coast whenever it rains, I'm not sure it makes much difference.

[Rockie_Rapier]

Yes, totally agree.

A modest, tailored "English" at a good Briitish hotel yesterday: served on a hot hot plate with toast, 2 mighty rashers with rind still on, and some fat, one sausage, one hash brown, half a tomato for a bit of colour, and one poached egg: I turned down lunch as unnecessary.

Suggested alternatives: mushroom, black pudding, fried egg, , fried bread cooked in tomato pips.

Baked beans are not an officer option, merely a token gesture to the bowels.
Just out of historic interest. When did hash brown(s), an American invention, become part of the 'full english breakfast'?

[langleybaston]

Just out of historic interest. When did hash brown(s), an American invention, become part of the 'full english breakfast'?


Good question. I cannot be sure because we consu.med many in BFG before back to UK on retirement 1997, but they were BBQ fillers throughout. 30 years perhaps?

[BEagle]

Surely in BFG you would have been served proper Rösti rather then 'hash browns'? There is a difference!

[SASless]

Baked beans are not an officer option, merely a token gesture to the bowels.

So is that a preventative measure to ensure one is not misunderstood when talking to Other Ranks?:rolleyes:​​​​​​​

[Ninthace]

So is that a preventative measure to ensure one is not misunderstood when talking to Other Ranks?:rolleyes:
One does not talk to other ranks, one either addresses them or "has a chat"
Hash browns are not part of a Full English in my book.

[DIBO]

Excuse my half-a-topic-drift, but it's a shame that all this breakfast goes to waste with half a dozen hypersonic ASM's.

[SASless]

The one thing you Brits do exactly right is a full proper Breakfast including Beans).....less the Blood Sausage thing....shame ya'll never embraced Country Ham, Grits, Buttermilk Biscuits (American usage), and Molasses.

There is the American Breakfast as ya'll call it....and a real Breakfast done Southern style.

Hash Browns are not part of a proper American Breakfast either.....Home Fries done with Green Pepper and Onions are the standard where I was raised.

[langleybaston]

Surely in BFG you would have been served proper Rösti rather then 'hash browns'? There is a difference!

Absolutely true: hash browns when adding some carbs to a BBQ or breakfast, but never when ordering a meal outside the home. I am pretty sure the Mess did not serve HBs either.

Nobody has come up with an answer as to the provenance of the humble HB ........ surely a native speaker could oblige?

[Lonewolf_50]

Envy is not a pretty emotion, my dear Limey friends. ;)

[langleybaston]

Envy is not a pretty emotion, my dear Limey friends. ;)

Agreed, but please enlighten us as to the origin and period when hash browns evolved. And thank you for them, more reliable than hotel or Mess toast.

The latter appears as warm, singed moist bread, or charcoal biscuits .... the exotic ones are of one nature on one side, and the other on the other.

[SASless]

Lone.....if you ever get invited to a British BBQ....remember to bring your own meat and taters....as they only provide the charcoal briquets in the Webber.:p

[Woodsy2417]

Mmmm, 1970s Mess breakfasts- you seem to have left out the fried bread!

[megan]

Nobody has come up with an answer as to the provenance of the humble HBThe American Hash Brown is nothing but a Swiss Rosti which originated with the farming community around Bern, the French name röstis bernois directly refers to the dish's origins. Introduced to the dish by Bern residents whose son spent a year with us as an exchange student, you can buy a special potato peeler to make rosti/hash brown. Now regarded as a Swiss national dish by many, made the journey across the Atlantic to the US the same way as the Italian Pizza I assume.

[West Coast]

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1169x865/75953b13_8f75_4476_b844_5e7080f0a9b9_21bb21fbdcc8dd4c44ef4f9 40182ea8ce1eccf26.jpeg
The one thing you Brits do exactly right is a full proper Breakfast including Beans).....less the Blood Sausage thing....shame ya'll never embraced Country Ham, Grits, Buttermilk Biscuits (American usage), and Molasses.

There is the American Breakfast as ya'll call it....and a real Breakfast done Southern style.

Hash Browns are not part of a proper American Breakfast either.....Home Fries done with Green Pepper and Onions are the standard where I was raised.

**** on a shingle, omelette, hash browns and bacon, F’ing bacon.

[West Coast]

Lone.....if you ever get invited to a British BBQ....remember to bring your own meat and taters....as they only provide the charcoal briquets in the Webber.:p

Sas, did you ever get invited to the Italian Air Force camp for a meal while at the Mogadishu airport? They knew how put on a right proper meal.

[Ascend Charlie]

Cadets' Mess breakfast, 1968:
scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, sausage. Washed down with "orange" juice or the chocolate milk laced with bromine to keep the desires under control.

[Herod]

laced with bromine to keep the desires under control

Well, that didn't work. :)​​​​​​​

[MENELAUS]

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1169x865/75953b13_8f75_4476_b844_5e7080f0a9b9_21bb21fbdcc8dd4c44ef4f9 40182ea8ce1eccf26.jpeg


**** on a shingle, omelette, hash browns and bacon, F’ing bacon.


That’s not bacon. That’s what’s left after they’ve butchered proper bacon.

[Ninthace]

That’s not bacon. That’s what’s left after they’ve butchered proper bacon.
When I go to my butcher, I ask for proper bacon, which they are only too happy to supply. Proper bacon fries in its own fat as opposed to faux bacon sold in supermarkets that releases so much water it stews before it fries. Not sure what that crinkly stuff in the picture above is, but no doubt crumbled up, it would make a pleasant addition to a salad.​​​​​

Returning to the original subject, I was surprised how poor the ship knowledge was on board a large US ship if what I was told is true. Our guide on a carrier was a Marine as he knew his way about. He claimed that the average crewman only knew their way from the brow to their bunk, from their bunk to their mess and to their place of duty. Can anyone comment if this is true?

[Asturias56]

Given the fact that people in our local village have lived here for 30 years and didn't realise there was a full sports ground used every weekend in the perimeter it wouldn't surprise me at all

[treadigraph]

Hash browns seem to have supplanted bubble and squeak on the traditional British board of breakfast fare.

Given the fact that people in our local village have lived here for 30 years and didn't realise there was a full sports ground used every weekend in the perimeter it wouldn't surprise me at all

During lock down I stopped for a socially distanced chat with a youngish active-looking couple with two small children on our local common which, together with adjacent public open land, occupies approx 6 sq miles... They'd lived in an adjacent housing estate, literally the other side of the hedge, for five years and had no idea this beautiful resource was right there... :ugh:​​​​​​​

[artee]

When I go to my butcher, I ask for proper bacon, which they are only too happy to supply. Proper bacon fries in its own fat as opposed to faux bacon sold in supermarkets that releases so much water it stews before it fries. Not sure what that crinkly stuff in the picture above is, but no doubt crumbled up, it would make a pleasant addition to a salad.​​​​​

Returning to the original subject, I was surprised how poor the ship knowledge was on board a large US ship if what I was told is true. Our guide on a carrier was a Marine as he knew his way about. He claimed that the average crewman only knew their way from the brow to their bunk, from their bunk to their mess and to their place of duty. Can anyone comment if this is true?

I believe that. Many moons back some American sailors took my family & I around the USS John F Kennedy - late 60s - early 70s when it was docked in Málaga. They wanted to show us the engine room, and had to ask some other sailors for directions to get there.

[MENELAUS]

When I go to my butcher, I ask for proper bacon, which they are only too happy to supply. Proper bacon fries in its own fat as opposed to faux bacon sold in supermarkets that releases so much water it stews before it fries. Not sure what that crinkly stuff in the picture above is, but no doubt crumbled up, it would make a pleasant addition to a salad.​​​​​

Returning to the original subject, I was surprised how poor the ship knowledge was on board a large US ship if what I was told is true. Our guide on a carrier was a Marine as he knew his way about. He claimed that the average crewman only knew their way from the brow to their bunk, from their bunk to their mess and to their place of duty. Can anyone comment if this is true?


Very true. Wasn’t that long ago that there were black and white no go areas. And even with my limited exposure to yank carriers we had a marine escort as we were informed we would probably get mugged for our RN rank tabs if we were to go walk about unadvisedly. They could have had mine had they asked !
I think Dwight back in the day had had a wages
’heist’ internally. They never caught the perpetrators.

[superplum]

That’s not bacon. That’s what’s left after they’ve butchered proper bacon.

Presumably the pistol is there to shoot the pseudo- chef!

[WingNut60]

Hash browns seem to have supplanted bubble and squeak on the traditional British board of breakfast fare............

Whatever became of plain, old tater fritters?

[pasta]

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1169x865/75953b13_8f75_4476_b844_5e7080f0a9b9_21bb21fbdcc8dd4c44ef4f9 40182ea8ce1eccf26.jpeg


I assume we're supposed to rank these according to how likely they are to kill you?
I'm going toast (harmless) - egg (salmonella) - coffee (scalding) - handgun - bacon
I reckon bacon is still more dangerous than handgun in the US, despite the relative proliferation of the latter, on account of the non-universal healthcare system.

[SASless]

Carriers are large...very large....and just as living in a City you only go to certain places that. you need to visit....work, home, shopping, the Doctor, Dentist, Library, Church or barber shop..

As there are sensitive spaces aboard....weapons storage, nuclear power plants, classified spaces and material....and for the Other Ranks....there is Officer Country that is out. of bounds

A large portion of the personnel aboard are not part of the Ship's Crew but are embarked Aviation Squadron personnel that spend their time on the Hangar Deck and Workshops or on the Flight Deck thus have no reason to "know" the Ship as do the "Crew".

[MENELAUS]

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1169x865/75953b13_8f75_4476_b844_5e7080f0a9b9_21bb21fbdcc8dd4c44ef4f9 40182ea8ce1eccf26.jpeg


I assume we're supposed to rank these according to how likely they are to kill you?
I'm going toast (harmless) - egg (salmonella) - coffee (scalding) - handgun - bacon
I reckon bacon is still more dangerous than handgun in the US, despite the relative proliferation of the latter, on account of the non-universal healthcare system.


American coffee needs to be higher up the scale. Probably just ahead of the handgun and behind that bacon.

[meleagertoo]

I don't know when hash browns arrived in USA but in the year I spent there in the late 70 with some extensive travelling I don't recall coming across them. Hash brownies, yes - well, only verbally. They were legendary, and when I first heard of hash browns on a breakfast in UK I gawped at what I was hearing. Sorry, but where's the bubble?
A proper English (I hate the expression 'full English' - what on earth is an empty or half empty one?) has no beans or hb - leave alone saute potatoes or heaven forbid chips for a start - and fried bread and black pudding must at least be offered. Whole mushroom please, not horrid little bits of tasteless button ones. Bread is never deep-fried. Fried or devilled kidneys are an all-too rare and welcome addition.

[MENELAUS]

I’m sorry if you want to give your heart the total experience then you have to include fried potatoe scone and fried soda bread. Preferably in the aforementioned bacon fat. Although I suppose that then becomes an Ulster fry ? Still, the province is famed for it’s cardiologists

[Video Mixdown]

Carriers are large...very large....and just as living in a City you only go to certain places that. you need to visit....work, home, shopping, the Doctor, Dentist, Library, Church or barber shop..
As there are sensitive spaces aboard....weapons storage, nuclear power plants, classified spaces and material....and for the Other Ranks....there is Officer Country that is out. of bounds
A large portion of the personnel aboard are not part of the Ship's Crew but are embarked Aviation Squadron personnel that spend their time on the Hangar Deck and Workshops or on the Flight Deck thus have no reason to "know" the Ship as do the "Crew".
I was under the impression that everyone on board had an allocated emergency role (damage control, fire fighting, first aid etc). How do they do that if they don't know their way around?

[langleybaston]

My speciality: eggy bread, proper bacon and bread flash fried in tomato pips/skins.
defib kit handy
(Our nearest is ON THE UNDERTAKER'S OUTSIDE WALL!).

[MENELAUS]

I was under the impression that everyone on board had an allocated emergency role (damage control, fire fighting, first aid etc). How do they do that if they don't know their way around?


Not dissimilar from the RN. They know their own division or part of ship. In fact the only service that requires an intimate knowledge of the whole boat are the submariners. For obvious reasons. And even then the reactor compartments, and associated parts of the turbine compartments are out of bounds to non essential crew.

[Herod]

Kedgeree, smoked haddock and poached egg, kippers? Not all at once,

[West Coast]

That’s not bacon. That’s what’s left after they’ve butchered proper bacon.

Bacon is meant to be crisp, not that rubbery substance I’ve had in Europe.

[Flyhighfirst]

Bear in mind the mean, weightless dessicated slivers that American call 'rashers' aren't remotely comparable to the real bacon served in the RN...They're about as comparable as a 'bag of chips" in either language.

Streaky bacon is so much better than UK bacon rashers.

[Ninthace]

Bacon is meant to be crisp, not that rubbery substance I’ve had in Europe.
Proper bacon can be cooked crisp, in its own fat. I like mine with the rind crispy but with the meat still having a bit if chewiness. In a butty, I prefer the bacon a little less cooked so the juices can soak into the bread, The only question then is red or brown sauce. I prefer HP. As to coffee, I found I knew my US detachments were beginning to end as by then, I could actually taste the coffee, at first it was just warm and wet.

[MENELAUS]

Streaky bacon is so much better than UK bacon rashers.


Pullitzer prize is safe for another year then I see.

[BEagle]

As I wrote in a previous thread:

As any RAF AT/AAR world traveller who has visited the USofA will know, ordering breakfast in the US is a good grounding in resistance to interrogation. The aim of the game is to avoid being asked any questions:

"Good morning (name), it's a very nice day and we're ready to order!" Use of her name always invites a friendly smile!

"Two fried eggs please" positively invites questioning as the Americans seemingly have a vast number of ways of cooking the simple fried egg. So "Two eggs over easy" is the way of avoiding that.

The next question to pre-empt is "Ham, bacon or sausage?" Beware if you ask for sausage though - that might prompt the supplementary "Links or patties?" question.

Next comes toast. "White or brown" offends woke sensitivities, so it's best to go for "Rye toast please" - but we're not finished there, because you'll need to specify if you want buttered toast. That can prompt a "Regular butter?" supplementary - for the uninitiated, the alternative to 'regular' isn't low alcohol, lead free, low fat or somesuch, it's 'melted'....

Don't think you've aced it yet, because then comes orange juice, or rather 'OJ' - and that can be 'regular or large'...

Finally, don't forget "That's everything, thanks - and we'd like seperate checks please".

A silly crew game played in many a Holiday Inn or the like - but the delightful waitresses were always willing participants.

[MENELAUS]

Proper bacon can be cooked crisp, in its own fat. I like mine with the rind crispy but with the meat still having a bit if chewiness. In a butty, I prefer the bacon a little less cooked so the juices can soak into the bread, The only question then is red or brown sauce. I prefer HP. As to coffee, I found I knew my US detachments were beginning to end as by then, I could actually taste the coffee, at first it was just warm and wet.

Butty, softly cooked rashers in the middle. Slightly crispier rashers either side. Deglaze the pan with Lea and Perrins and a dash of HP, and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle over with white floury baps.
And a large mug of strong stuff that our colonial cousins had the party over.

[Old_Slartibartfast]

As I wrote in a previous thread:
As any RAF AT/AAR world traveller who has visited the USofA will know, ordering breakfast in the US is a good grounding in resistance to interrogation. The aim of the game is to avoid being asked any questions:

"Good morning (name), it's a very nice day and we're ready to order!" Use of her name always invites a friendly smile!

"Two fried eggs please" positively invites questioning as the Americans seemingly have a vast number of ways of cooking the simple fried egg. So "Two eggs over easy" is the way of avoiding that.

The next question to pre-empt is "Ham, bacon or sausage?" Beware if you ask for sausage though - that might prompt the supplementary "Links or patties?" question.

Next comes toast. "White or brown" offends woke sensitivities, so it's best to go for "Rye toast please" - but we're not finished there, because you'll need to specify if you want buttered toast. That can prompt a "Regular butter?" supplementary - for the uninitiated, the alternative to 'regular' isn't low alcohol, lead free, low fat or somesuch, it's 'melted'....

Don't think you've aced it yet, because then comes orange juice, or rather 'OJ' - and that can be 'regular or large'...

Finally, don't forget "That's everything, thanks - and we'd like seperate checks please".

A silly crew game played in many a Holiday Inn or the like - but the delightful waitresses were always willing participants.



I spent about a month staying in the Holiday Inn on Solomon's Island, whilst doing a stint at Pax River, and spent the entire duration of my stay trying to get the breakfast waitresses to understand that I just wanted a "full English". I went so far as to print off a slip with exactly what a full English breakfast consisted of, together with a plea to please stop interrogating me every morning with a dozen or more choices, and asked reception to please make a note of it. Sadly it fell on deaf ears.

[Lonewolf_50]

Agreed, but please enlighten us as to the origin and period when hash browns evolved. And thank you for them, more reliable than hotel or Mess toast. I have lost my inclination for hash browns, and since I joined the Navy (back before the internet existed) and got stationed in places like Virginia (Tidewater area), Florida, and Texas, I acquired a taste for grits and much prefer them with my breakfast. But quality is variable, so an order of dry toast is always held in reserve when eggs are on the plate (if I take a look around and see grits that are too runny).

[bugged on the right]

Very much miss passing through the MAC terminal for breakfast at Hickham. Western omelette with Portuguese sausage. Have been in search of that ever since. Some things you miss like the greasy eggs in the mess before an early departure and the hundred megawatt toaster. Think I prefer the American version of bacon than the British boiled.

[SASless]

This latest Class of US Aircraft Carriers come with many new and improved features over the previous classes....more stealthy, more power for propulsion and other energy users (Laser weapons?), higher sortie rate, increased crew comfort due to reduced numbers of Crew and embarked air squadron staff.

How does the new. British Carriers compare to these new American Carriers?

https://www.hotcars.com/why-ford-class-carrier-is-improvement-over-nimitz-class/

[MENELAUS]

Sadly there’s no comparison to be made. If we fully man them ( other genders are available but that’s led to other issues ) we can’t man the destroyers that are meant to guard them. And we can’t embark a full air group on either. Moot point right now as one is laid up with a stuffed gearbox and drive shaft issues. So, the usual UK lash up.
We do have, however, two flyco bridges. One more for the hypersonic missiles to aim at.
Your bacon is still **** though. And the coffee

[T28B]

One more for the hypersonic missiles to aim at. Which may end up being a brilliant design choice when all is said and done.
Your bacon is still **** though. And the coffee The next time you pass through San Francisco, I suggest you sample some Peet's - you may reverse that opinion. :ok:

[Lyneham Lad]

All very good but I have yet to see mention of an Egg Banjo. Us members of a 390 MU working party en-route to fix Changi's problems would make a pit-stop in Changi village to collect said egg banjos then endeavour to avoid a dribble of egg yolk down one's kd shirt whilst scoffing it.

[Ninthace]

All very good but I have yet to see mention of an Egg Banjo. Us members of a 390 MU working party en-route to fix Changi's problems would make a pit-stop in Changi village to collect said egg banjos then endeavour to avoid a dribble of egg yolk down one's kd shirt whilst scoffing it.
As first officer of the watch at a large RN stone frigate I always started my late shift with an egg banjo. A full set keeps the yolk off your mess kit and saves a little something for later.

[MENELAUS]

Which may end up being a brilliant design choice when all is said and done.
The next time you pass through San Francisco, I suggest you sample some Peet's - you may reverse that opinion. :ok:


I have indeed tried Peet’s. And you can’t beat a Rueben from Wise Sons Jewish deli. It’s more the method of processing said coffee that seems ubiquitous in the US; the drip percolator method which seems to wreck any vestige of taste.

[langleybaston]

Memo to Self:

Egg banjos and similar hazards should only be tackled wearing what my famiy call "playing out clothes". These are two up from rags, one up from crawling under the car or painting the fence, one down from smart casual and two or three down from formal.

SWMBO in valet mode organises my gear so I have shirts and jerseys/ jumpers/ pullovers in separate compartments by tattiness. And, for the OCD in me, further subdivisions: I am green/ blue colour part-blind, so division is essentially blue/ black/ grey versus green/ red/ brown. Poofter pink is a problem.

Thus I can dress in the dark either matched if I feel submissive and conformist, or unmatched if the rebel streak spark flickers to life.
Messages of sympathy gratefully accepted.

[MENELAUS]

You need a reliable pair of drinking pants.

[Lonewolf_50]

Aircraft carriers and food: I remember fondly the dirty shirt wardroom in the Indy, a bit forward and under the cats, and being able to have food there while still wearing a flight suit. I only ate in the 'normal' wardroom (which required one to be in khaki) when I had to...which was very rarely. I wonder if that's still a thing. Been a few years ...

[MENELAUS]

Aircraft carriers and food: I remember fondly the dirty shirt wardroom in the Indy, a bit forward and under the cats, and being able to have food there while still wearing a flight suit. I only ate in the 'normal' wardroom (which required one to be in khaki) when I had to...which was very rarely. I wonder if that's still a thing. Been a few years ...

Still a thing. ACRB in RN parlance. Serving up heart stopping fare whilst in your goon bag.

[Mogwi]

Still a thing. ACRB in RN parlance. Serving up heart stopping fare whilst in your goon bag.

Life-saver in Hermes in ‘82. Excellent alternative to the stale NAAFI pork pie and exploding crisp packet at 30k.

Mog