I agree with you about the seaworthiness of the junk. Such a manageable rig. Number of yachts have used the junk rig for ocean passages. Col.Hasler's 'Jester' comes to mind. What a contrast to his ocean racing exploits in the 30sq metre 'Tre Sang' in the early post war years.

Nerys

Junks are supposed to be excellent sea boats Nerys so I'm not surprised. These Kiwi Guys went through storms and all sorts to get here, including one with winds over 50 Knots in the Tasman sea. They did a few mods to the rudder and a few other bits and pieces on the way, to get her to sail better. They went through some pretty dangerous territory in the south china Sea as well. They were also given a Chinese Chow puppy by the builder in Hong Kong, but after the months of sailing, they had it taken off them by the Australian quarantine officers and destroyed.
JB

Can't remember which Thames Barge it was, that an army officer and a few men found abandoned at Dunkirk and sailed her back to UK with no sailing experience.

Nerys

If my memory serves me correctly, and it usually does, a smallish Chinese Junk was sailed to the UK (from China) to take part in the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Nerys

That's a good one JB - must have been a very interesting trip - only similar one I can recall was the US sailors who bought a Landing Craft - not sure which version maybe a LCT - and sailed it all the way back to the USA from the Med somewhere shortly after WW2. Not one of them was a deck officer.......
All I know is the modern sailors could not cope without their gadgets - forgetting that in the vastness of the sea things can break and electronics stop working - and they would not even carry a sextant or know how to use it
Slocum used an old alarm clock and the stars to navigate by, my Dads pal Harry Pidgeon used a sextant but still managed to run aground about 120 miles up the west coast from Capetown while asleep - had to be towed +-300yards back to the sea by a team of oxen - no leaks so Islander must have had a tough hull.........

Re - JB - how very unkind of you
Just Had to Peter,😊 (mind you we had a few HDMLs put on uncharted rocks here while surveying the coast back in the 70s) Have you ever heard of the 'Golden Lotus' , a 35ft Chinese junk which a Kiwi Northland farmer had built in Hong Kong in the early 60s. He and 3 mates ( one an ex deck officer on cargo ships, the other 2 farmers - the oldest was 25) sailed it all the way back to NZ ( 8500 miles) using a few charts, a second hand sextant and a wrist watch. Came down through Indonesia down inside the Great Barrier Reef and across to NZ. Amazing feat of seamanship especially in a Junk.

People think they are pretty good these days if they sail to Aust using Sat Nav in 50ft boats!
JB

JB - how very unkind of you - seems the modern Navy is not really up to scratch - wonder if any of them would be able to do what Bligh did - sail his crew 1600 odd miles to safety in an open boat...........

Re - -"Not that one Martin - this one hit a reef I think
Remember that, had a bit of a laugh about it down here, not to mention The sub Anchorite hitting one of our secret rocks in the Hauraki Gulf in 1960 (we even just HAD to name the rock after it! -sorry😂) see chart pos 36 26'S 175 8'E good fishing spot! you can sometimes catch a 'sub' species of Trevally😂😊😂
JB

Damn!! All that hard hard work !

Martin555.

"I spent a few years on her,"
Aha! So it was YOU!!! 😮
Consider yourself reduced to the ranks 😁
😎
PS No wonder you're broke ... still paying off the 39 million quid eh🤔

Hi Doug,
I spent a few years on her, she is or was a stretched type 42.

Martin555.

"Not that one Martin - this one hit a reef I think - made a ruddy great hole in the ship - sometime between 2001 and 2010."
HMS Nottingham D91 Type 42 destroyer Red. 7th July 2002 off Lord Howe Island OZ.
😎 No info on the inquiry though!?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nottingham_(D91)

I vaguely remember it too, there was a fuss about it at the time but don't remember the outcome of the inevitable inquiry ( or court martial.
Remember thinking rather rude thoughts about the ability of naval officers.

Nerys

No Nerys - no other ship involved - they were drinking cocoa and chatting when the ship hit a reef in broad daylight either off Oz or Kiwiland - happened when I was living in UK 2001- 2009 - watching the news and thinking what a berk !!!!!!!
On second thoughts maybe it was Rum!!!!!!!!!!1

Another one, 1893. The Mediterranean fleet on manoeuvres off the Lebanon. Two parallel lines of ships, one led by HMS Victoria, the flagship under Admiral Tyron who ordered the ships to turn in towards each other . The lines were too close and within minutes HMS Camperdown, Admiral Markham , had sliced into Victoria's bows, sinking her with the loss of 350 men including Admiral Tyron.

Isn't there a saying about the most useless things to have on board a ship are a wheelbarrow and a naval officer.

Are you thinking of the Queen Mary in October 1942 returning to UK from US, was joined by her escort, the light cruiser HMS Curacoa who didn't interpret the QM's zigzag course correctly and when both captains thought that the other ship would take evasive action and neither did, the inevitable happened and Curacoa was sunk. She sank in six minutes with the loss of 338 crew.

Not that one Martin - this one hit a reef I think - made a ruddy great hole in the ship - sometime beween 2001 and 2010.- memories bad

Hi Red,
Was that the Captain of HMS Southampton, when he said " do not underestimate our speed" as he cut across the Bow of another ship ?
Just before it went terribly wrong.
Is that the Captain you are referring to ?


Martin555.

What about the Destroyer (?) that had to be brought back from the Antipodes (?) on the civilian submersible type transporter.........
Remember thinking at the time that the Captain seemed like a complete idiot with his explanation of what happened - should not have been in charge of a wheelbarrow let alone a valuable ship.......
And since when did the Navy become a Democracy????????(Which he was implying)

How very true. Laying up ships to man others, penny pinching when equipping, poorly thought out armament systems and as was said a day or two ago, putting two islands on a carrier to make it look like two ships. Biggest ships ever built for the navy. When did size matter?
Question - why do British frigates have one gun where Russians are bristling with guns?

Nerys

Their loss I'm afraid Nerys 🤔
But understandable since the "Royal Navy" has become almost a farce in itself☹️
😎

I don't think the general public would understand the Navy Lark these days.

Nerys

No Middy, more like The Navy Lark.
Welcome aboard HMBBCS Troutbridge😁
😎
https://thenavylark.fandom.com/wiki/The_Navy_Lark_(Series)
PS Polperro Middy!😉
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Polperro,+Looe,+UK/@50.1681568,-4.6264948,10.11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x486c9e02e8da233d:0xaf232ca674050df3!8m2!3d50.3310267!4d-4.520718

Are we heading towards the Pirates of Penzance here ?

When last in Cornwall looking up relatives went for a boat trip - fellow was telling me he was a simple Cornishman . My Eye. Out of season in UK he was doing the same thing in the Canaries ......... Owned 2 boats in both Looe and Canaries......... he knew all the smuggler routes and we had a good look at the tunnels in Palperrow - assured me they are no longer used.............and the the places where the wreckers placed their beacons ......

As long as its not Lord High executioner 🪓🪓

Ok Lord High Admiral,
I just thought that you should be promoted aft all the work you do on this site.
It won't hurt to see him anyway.


Martin555.

Thank you Captain,
But I think he's already got enough to do!
Admiral of the Fleet is fine👍
😎

Well Fleet,
It looks like you will have to have a chat with (Fireboat) about adding a new rank for you.
Lord High Admiral.


Martin555.

Good morning Admiral,
As defined in a previous signal !!
Following your request to introduce a Manoeuvres & Training Program you were granted approval and appointed Flag Officer Training Squadron. I.e. FOTS.
I would appreciate it if my Admirals would pay attention to Fleet orders and signals!
I'm still waiting for your training plan. 😠
FLEET//😎😁

Hi Fleet,

I have a queston?
What does FOTS stand for?
Now I have a good sense of humor!

Please define FOTS?...........

That goes back a few hundred years Sub, but I like it! 😉👍
😎

A la G and S

'Lord High Admiral'

Well, how about ' Esteemed Fleet Admiral'

Knock it off Sub 😉
I've told you a million times not to exaggerate!
I'm not so old I don't remember my Snotty days!
Or do I just remember them and not what happened yesterday 🤔🙄
Nevertheless Sub. Thank you for your endorsement 😊
"His Sublime Admiralship" would do nicely, 😁😂🤣
😎

Aye Aye!

Supreme Fleet Admiral ? to be addressed as 'Your excellency' ?

The Germans have an excellent comment to exaggerated statements or actions-
"Lassen wir die Kirche im Dorf!" - Let's leave the church in the village!
😎 Nevertheless, I am honoured and humbled at the kind thoughts 😌

Doug could become the admirable admiral,
Sorry for being so informal sah.

Under the code name "Walls have ears"

Martin555.

"I think I had the pleasure of meeting him in the past at VT."
I'm sure I saw him at one of the Xcel Defence Exhibitions in London as well Martin.
Under discussion were the digital COMMS systems for T45 and T26.
😎

All in favour (Edit😉😎)of Fleet getting promoted say "aye aye."

Martin555.

"Well, Fleet Admiral was the last designation!
Don't know if Stephen would implement.
A new designation to the website!"

Let's not overdo it Gents!😌
😎

I think I had the pleasure of meeting him in the past at VT.

Martin555.

Guess where I found Tony's photo Martin😁

I think that you should be promoted and I am sure that other members do to.
Here is a link, maybe there is a suitable title there.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Sea_Lord

Martin555.

Nope!
After that only seniority (years of service in that rank) counts.
The Sea Lords are selected from the various Admiral grades.
I believe that occasionally a 3rd Sea Lord was a Commodore.
The current (since June 2019) 1st Sea Lord is 'only' an Admiral (NATO OF-9), Tony Radakin.
Pic is from 2015 when he was a Rear Admiral.
Cheers Adm. of the Fleet (1 year), NATO officer code OF-10 😎

Well, Fleet Admiral was the last designation!
Don't know if Stephen would implement
a new designation to the website!

Maybe we can suggest it!
Who's up for making recommendations?

Figtree/ FOTS// Rear Admiral

I don't know much about rank but there must be ranks above Fleet!

Martin555.

Not yet Martin
That's the last posting before the pension, and I'd probably need at least a KCB first 😁
Then I could post a new avatar😉
(and pigs would fly and the price of bacon and 12 bore shells would skyrocket!😁😂)
Maybe a Commodore Admiral? (10000+4000) 😊
😎

Fleet,
With the amount of points you have should you be rated First Sea Lord ?

Martin555.

I have not got a clue what you said Fleet.
But I think those days are over. LOL!

Martin555.