BTW, in the early days of the Mk1 Nimrod one of the most guarded secrets was it could prosecute a target but could not kill it.

The Mk30 torpedo was quiet and had a good endurance by even a submerged conventional could out run it. The Mk44 was faster but could still be evaded by a fast nuke but no sweat, even if it got a hit it wouldn't go bang. They didn't fix the fuzes until after the Mk46 came along. From 1980 it was a different game.

What was important was that it was thought it was deadly.

Frighten it with a BUB?

We certainly frightened a Polaris boat in the South China Sea with SUS's in 1971 (that'll teach him to enter an exercise area!). ASV21, 1C Sonics and Mk 1 eyeball strike again.

Mock ye not the humble BUB. Doing practice bombing with BUBs on a friendly snorkelling O-boat off Singapore, boat suddenly surfaced and became less friendly. Turned out one BUB had hit the snorkel mast and all the smoke had been sucked into the boat.
Came across the boat's captain 35 years later, and his first comment was " You're the B----- who sent all that smoke down my chimney". Apparently it does not smell nice.

Is it just me, or does anybody else find the whole "I was a nimrod hero, we were doing secret things which make us special but can't talk about it" bollocks deeply unprofessional?

Nimrod will never have the credibility of rotary/zoomy, so give it up. What you are doing seems very waltish.

If you can't talk about it, then don't talk about it!

Just because Nimrod will never impress the girls doesn't mean you should big your part up. If you really were doing something "special", then don't be so insecure about it. Rest safe in the knowledge that you did your bit.

I'm sure many different branches have their own "special" secrets, but most are quiet about them. Often the most important part of keeping a secret is hiding the fact that there is a secret....

I just wish I knew what the hell they're on about.

I'm ex-services myself but where people assume that we all know what BUBs and SUSs are, I feel a hankering to go elsewhere.

Gents, please keep in mind that you're addressing a wider audience here.

Jeez, tourist you are sourpuss....
 

.....I suppose all those ex-submariners who covered this field extensively in a doco at the back end of last year were being professional because they were ex-RN. They weren't "trying to big themselves up" were they?

Actually, no they weren't. No more than any of the aviation community are trying to "big themselves up". They gave the public at large a genuine insight into maritime operations during the Cold War - and a fascinating insight it was too. But there were areas they did not venture into in the same way that people here have kept within certain bounds.

The Ancient Mariner

PS ~Stanwell BUB = break up bomb -usuallyabout 28 lbs that left a smoke mark on the surface of the sea.
SUS = signal underwater sound - created a small bang which indicated to the sub you were exercising with that you had carried out a practice attack

Tourist, to be fair the other branches you mention still have relevance. The raison d'être of the vomit comet was all those pesky kilos, alfas and (God forbid) deltas that died along with the USSR, which died along with the Nimrod. It's no so much 'walting' as a 25 year reunion special.

Rossian

Are you denying that every Nimrod thread is peppered with references to "other" things that Nimrod did?

Very very important things that if only we knew would totally change how we looked at dull Nimroding?

Aint going to happen. Talk about it or don't talk about it, I don't really care. I'm quite sure the Russians know about it by now anyhow. If they didn't, I'm sure all the hinting has led them to the answer by now, and anyway Nimrod has gone!

The semi-telling just hints of kids wanting to appear cool because they have a "secret".

I suspect that just like when we were kids, the hinters are actually worried that once in the open it would be less interesting than they hope it might be.

Hempy, fair point, if it wasn't for how many of the posts pre-dated the demise of Nimrod.

Tourist,

Is that why your current type on your public profile is "secret"?

Yes.

My current job is so spectacularly boring, I'm trying to big it up a little to impart an air of mystery......hint that perhaps it is secretly where all the special pilots go..

Can't think where I got that idea from...?

Tourist,

So why, if you know what to expect, do you bother to read obvious Nimrod threads? :=


Is there a part of you that still travels in hope rather than expectation? ;)

^ he hath a wife, you know.

Biggus




I ask myself the same question...


To be fair, from the title, this thread is hardly the most obvious of Nimrod "we were awesome, not at all dull monotony no no really" threads.

Tourist,

True - the title doesn't really give it away.



But as soon as you read the first post...!!

Ah, but by then I'm hooked....

Rossian, I was a part of the crew that hosted the Panorama team for the Cold Deep War. They were with us for a week. We took them flying and also a sim ride. Always remember being staggered when they asked us about SOSSUS. Apparently the Norwegians had told them all about it. Does anyone know if a copy of programme still exists?

Hempy if that link for me it is to a different programme. I featured in the one in 1977 (?) called the Cold Deep War. But thanks anyway.

Did you read more than the first post?