HMS Duncan. This image photographed by Brian Burnell with permission was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by George Hutchinson. What is the strategy to re-open the Red Sea to all commercial shipping? Operation Prosperity Guardian - the US-led coalition that aims to provide maritime security in the … read more

I once spent some time with Prince Charles (as he was then) and we had a good chat over a beer or two. Not on my own of course. He came onboard one of the ships I was on and a bunch of us got invited to meet him. I struggle to recall the year or even which ship it was. Much of it is a blur. I do … read more

The continuing decline of the Royal Navy is a travesty. Today, it'a a shadow of its former self. When I joined the RN in 1991, the numbers, both in ships and manpower, were on the decline. This was expected. The cold war had just ended, Saddam Hussein was under containment after his adventure into … read more

I feel sorry for the ship's company of HMS Illustrious. They're shortly going to be feeling very embarrassed to be serving on an aircraft carrier that doesn't have any, err, aircraft. I remember my time fondly on HMS Invincible, the now decommissioned sister ship to HMS Illustrious, but I also … read more

The Commanding Officer of HMS Somerset, a type 23 Frigate, has 'made waves' (forgive the pun) by becoming the first CO to write a blog. The blog can be found at http://hms-somerset-co.blogspot.com Reading this blog brought back a lot of memories. I particularly like this post which highlights one of … read more

I've just watched the news conference given by the returned sailors and I'm riled to say the least. Not from what the sailors said but from the reaction of some idiots on forums and some newspaper columnists in the papers today. I think people have been watching too many Hollywood war movies. I'd … read more

Thank god we're not Americans. If it was yank sailors that had been arrested by the Iranians they would have either fired back, in which case they would have all been shot due to being heavily outnumbered, or Bush would have taken a hard line, in which case it could have led to another war and the … read more

I can't believe that Iranian forces have captured Royal Navy sailors again. I sailed through Iranian waters a few times myself during my years as a matelot, and tension always rose because of the number of Iranian FPB's (Fast Patrol Boats) that came close to us. We always had to close to a high … read more