Hail and farewell HMS Exeter
 

The sharpshooter of the Falklands Campaign. Two A4s at 250ft at 19 miles, 1 Learjet at 41,000 ft, 1 Canberra at 38,000 ft. Farewell old girl, you did us proud.

Leaving gib for the last time.

In 1980, from my office window, I watched her berth in Portsmouth for the first time. I remember thinking how out of place her pretty blue boot toppings looked. The things we do to test new paints. The first time I'd seen a 1022 aerial: reminded me of the big Marconi 264 Head at Manch.

Since then, she's earned 2 proud Battle Honours.

Do such ships get scrapped or sold on to lesser Navies?

No other Navy uses the Sea Dart system, so most likely she'll be "recycled" or used in a Sinkex. The T42s have done sterling service but they are now totally obsolete and should have been replaced years ago.

Remind me how many aircraft were shot down by the RAF during Op Corporate :E

parabellum, I think the RAN, Brazilian, Chillean and Argentinian, amongst others, might object to your description :)

The short answer is yes, and they are often refurbished to customer requirements too. The MOD UK has a disposal sales organisation that offers up all manner of surplus, much not surplus, for sale. I know that the landing craft from Fearless or Intrepid were sold to the Egyptians for instance.

Of course many are not bought.

Er, quite a few - or was that a Waaaaaaah?

Even if it were a Whaaaahhh, it deserves to be corrected. I think Flt Lt Dave Morgan 4 Kills (RAF at the time) and Sqn Ldr Bob Iveson (Super Mario) did their bit!

Edited to include:The pilots who took part in Operation Corporate were: Wg Cdr Peter Squire (OC), Sqn Ldrs Bob Iveson, Peter Harris and Jeffrey Pook, Flt Lts Mike Beech, Ross Boyens, Nick Gilchrist, Jeff Glover, Mark Hare, Tony Harper, Murdo MacLeod, and John Rochfort All who flew from Hermes.

I was fortunate to witness the EXETER despatching the Canberra. It took two attempts as the first attempt resulted in the surrounding hillside being the target.

Very impressive and a fine ship to boot.

SJ

AA: Remind me how the RAF got there in the first place...:E

Stop starting you lot! ;)

RAF kills in the Falklands
 

The book "Air War South Atlantic" by Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price lists the following:

Air to Air

1 May Mirage FLt Lt Barton
1 May Dagger Flt Lt Penfold
21 May Skyhawk Flt Lt Leeming
23 May Puma Flt Lt Morgan
8 June Skyhawkx2 Flt Lt Morgan


Air to Ground

21 May Chinook Flt Lt Hare
21 May Puma Flt Lt Hare
21 May Puma Flt Lt Hare and Sqn Ldr Pook
23 May Augusta109 Flt Lt Morgan and Flt Lt Leeming
23 May Puma Flt Lt Morgan
26 May Puma Sqn Ldr Pook

I think only shoes get soled:rolleyes:

That's a bit confusing Tommy. The air to air kills were achieved by RAF pilots serving in RN Sea Harrier units, but the air to ground ones were a mix of Sea Harrier and Harrier GR3. Doesn't the phrase "shot down" indicate a flying target?

Sorry for this pedantic moment.

Anyway, The possible early mothballing of Exeter and Southampton has been mentioned elsewhere on the net, such as here or on ARRSE. So now we will be down to six destroyers - which sort of answers the question I asked here regarding the 7th and 8th Type 45s.

A link to the Sea Jet thread seems apt. Our layered defence isn't looking so impressive now.

However, it would now appear that reports of the demise of Exeter and Southampton were premature. Both are due to be decommisioned next year however.

Are the Type 45s being brought into service at the same rate as the Type 42s leave service?

No. And nor should they.

An interesting mix of correct fact and even more interesting opinion. Let me guess; something to do with sand and wiley oriental gentlemen?

Have resisted this one as long as I can but here goes...

There were no 'RAF air to air kills' in the Falklands. All air to air kills were carried out by Royal Navy aircraft flying, under Royal Navy control, to Royal Navy rules, and so on. RAF aircrew (under RN command) made a significant and valuable contribution, as correctly recorded.

Now, if one DOES want to open up this can of worms, let's go back to the Battle of Britain, and start reminding people of the contribution by FAA pilots, Czechs, Poles, and so on. No? And with good reason. The Battle of Britain was an amazing and vital victory by the RAF. Full stop. The Falklands Air War was an amazing and vital victory for the FAA. Full stop.

Move on....

Quite so. Things in the air get shot down. Things on the ground get shot up. Obvious, innit?

err.... By a combination of good engineering by the ground crews prepping the planes, outstanding flying and brilliant navigation by the crews, a wee bit of luck and a whole pile of good old 'get the job done' .... :D


Oh and one hell of an AAR plan..... :ok: and then the fleet turned up...... ;)

"err.... By a combination of good engineering by the ground crews prepping the planes, outstanding flying and brilliant navigation by the crews, a wee bit of luck and a whole pile of good old 'get the job done' ...."

So nothing to do with ships then? Glad we've got it cleared up....

It's good to see you chaps have totally grasped the concepts of Joint Operations. :ok:

Amazing how a thread can morph so much.

A proud old ship (and her crews from over the years) now tarred by the bleeding WAFU, once again bleeting on about the "seajet" :suspect:

The Mighty X is indeed a proud old ship - just look at the photos in this month's Warship World to see her leaving Gib at 25 knots! IMHO the WAFUs aren't bleating about the SHAR - they're trying to point out the error of the ways of the MoD in scrapping it so early. And anyway, WAFUs never bleat about anything.

BTW, I was talking to a Scottish guy on the Gare du Midi in Brussels last Monday (a long story) and he tried to tell me the Tornado is to be navalised for the one new RN carrier, He also said two carriers will be built but one will go to the French.

Comments, anyone?

"I was talking to a Scottish guy on the Gare du Midi in Brussels last Monday"

I can definitely deny that one for sure!! :}

I nearly choked on my near-beer when I read that the Tornado might be navalised after all these years. I hope they beef the hook up.....

The German Navy flew them of carriers so it has already been navalised.

Said Jock also seemed convinced that only 4 T45s will be built; if so we can forget Defender and Duncan. If they're cancelled, that's jobs lost in Scotland - but then the money has to be found for today's backtrack on the 10p tax rate. :ugh:

I couldn't believe a navalised Typhoon, either. Mind you, I sometimes find it difficult to believe a land-based one.

How many carriers has the Bundesmarine? :E

Having lit the blue touch paper...

Royal Navy ships at sea with no guided missiles on board

Two Royal Navy destroyers could not fire their missiles if they came under attack – because they have been removed to save cash.

The News can reveal that Portsmouth-based Type 42s HMS Exeter and HMS Southampton have been working without their Sea Dart guided-missile system since Christmas. To go with the cutbacks, at least half a dozen operating crew have been transferred to other ships.

I believe similar issues also exist with other ships. :mad:

"The German Navy flew them of carriers so it has already been navalised"

Really ??? that must have been the carriers called GNAS Schleswig and
GNAS Eggebeck !!

The German Navy Tornado's that I worked with at TTTE must have been
the first sleath navy Tornado's as they looked just like normal Tornadoo's !! :mad::mad:

Said Jock also seemed convinced that only 4 T45s will be built; if so we can forget Defender and Duncan. If they're cancelled, that's jobs lost in Scotland - but then the money has to be found for today's backtrack on the 10p tax rate.

They have to build those two ships, I have always wanted something worthy being named after me lol

Duncan

What a fantastic "non" story. How about another headline....

Its not news that we are short of weapons or money.....

Doesn't seem to be out of service.

Link.
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/...onWebDoc.12968

Same goes for HMS Southampton.

Link.
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/...onWebDoc.12883

Just for my own interest, how much would one of these cost if sold??

Duncan

Spheroid - your examples are not quite the same thing...
Seems to me that your argument could extend to deploying SSBNs without Trident - it would be easy to get some out to the boat if they were really needed surely?:ugh:
The whole point of having a Navy is that is can remain on station for long periods... which is why Ships generally deploy with stores that are suitable for the unexpected. I guess the significant part of the fleet that sailed from Gib for Op Corporate were fairly thankful that they were fully armed beforehand. Returning to the UK would have been slightly inconvenient...

Certain HMS Cardiff personel would dispute the Canberra claim!!

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67322

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/sho...2&postcount=20

The blue on blue by Cardiff was Gazelle XV377 iirc, shot down in the early hours of 6 Jun 82 with the loss of its crew. RIP.

"Gazelle XV377"

XX377 perhaps ?

unless they`re in the habit of `shooting down` a SR.N5 Warden (XV377) then you might well be correct..... ;)

Widger, you seem to have neglected to mention the SH chaps. I'm pretty sure the BN crew took part in Corporate.

2 Points.... Firstly, the ships taking part in Springtrain had already expended weapons during the exercise and therefore were not fully armed prior to being dispatched south. BUt that isn't a problem because thats what RFAs are for ...

Secondly....how long was resolution in service patrollomg the ice before it had poseidon fitted ????