Friday, June 29, 2007
Royal Navy Warship to Occupy Belfast Port
Just as you thought demilitarisation was the name of the game, the Royal Navy is sending a warship into Belfast...for this weekend’s Maritime Festival. Seven Tall Ships are also sailing into port. Get your fill of fresh seafood, too, at the Odyssey’s fish & food festival.
Rusty Nail @ 10:46 AM
While HMS Albion is in Belfast This Saturday, navy sailors will take part in the annual Gay Pride march in central London, wearing their uniforms. However, members of the army and RAF have been banned from wearing their uniforms at the event.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2113464,00.htmlWhy has the army and RAF banned their service personnel from parading in uniform and the navy has give the go ahead? If Ian Paisley Jun or wee Jeffrey were Admirals instead of MLA’s no Gays would be allowed onboard HMS Pinafore never mind parade in uniform.
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 12:10 PMits prob cause the navy was the most liberal service, first commissions by merit rather than preferment and all that
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 12:19 PMlast year the 2nd sea lord Admiral Adrian Johns ( the Admiral whose base is HMS Victory) give the OK for sailors to parade in front of the Gay parade in London.
Gay Navy officers to march with pride
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-831.htmlPosted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 12:36 PMOh lets all rejoice that the British military have decided to grace us,proudly showing off their weapons of war to the people of Belfast.
I wonder was this ship gliding about the waterways of the middle east recently, with their big guns trained towards the ‘untamed natives’...?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 12:43 PMcurious,
Adrian Johns is also a Rear Admiral (Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm).
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 12:43 PMReds under the beds, your only jealous the IRA didn’t have a navy.
Tell us was there no gay IRA men?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 12:55 PMWhy has the army and RAF banned their service personnel from parading in uniform and the navy has give the go ahead?
Where can you find pleasure, search the world for treasure, learn science, technology?
Where can you begin to make your dreams all come true on the land or on the sea?
Where can you learn to fly, play in sports and skin dive, study oceanography?
Sign up for the big band or sit up in the grandstand, when your team and others meet?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 01:08 PMGay Pride? How about the orange order members who’s marches have been refused? Maybe they should have a stroll along with pride….
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 01:15 PM‘Gay Pride? How about the orange order members who’s marches have been refused? Maybe they should have a stroll along with pride….’
Is Paul Berry in the OO ?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 01:26 PM’ Is Paul Berry in the OO ?’
If he was, he would have been blacked balled by now like he was with the DUP. The OO like the DUP dont approve of gays within their ranks.
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 01:49 PM‘The OO like the DUP dont approve of gays within their ranks.’
If only they wer as strict with loyalist paramilitaries.
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 02:40 PMIt takes less than a dozen comments for a post to go from talking about the Royal Navy and a maritime show to Orange Order-bashing. Grow up.
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 03:02 PMBeano you think the OO do approve of gays in their ranks?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 03:32 PMNo, since they’re a Christian organisation I would presume they wouldn’t. But is that relevant to a story about boats?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 08:01 PM‘No, since they’re a Christian organisation’
You are joking ????
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 08:23 PMBack to boats a bit. I have always thought it a bit unfair that HMS Belfast lives on the Thames in London. Could it not come back here for a visit or is it not actually capable of moving, does anyone know?
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 08:36 PMNo, Beano,they’re right.
Why can’t the OO take a leaf out of the AOH’s book?http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0,,1733752,00.html
From the standard of the posting on this thread it would appear that the schools have already broken up for the holidays.
Batten down the hatches me hearties, it could be a long hard summer.
Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 @ 08:38 PM‘Back to boats a bit. I have always thought it a bit unfair that HMS Belfast lives on the Thames in London.’
Why should it be unfair. HMS Belfast (only WW2 cruiser) was saved and given to the Imperial War Musuem by the MOD instead of being scrapped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Belfast_(C35)
Belfast is extremely fortunate to have HMS Caroline the only remaining WW1 cruiser in the whole of the UK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Caroline_(1914)Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 12:34 AMCurious,
Fair point, I had forgotten about HMS Caroline.
Do you know if HMS Belfast can move?
Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 08:01 AM‘Do you know if HMS Belfast can move?’
Last time she was moved for drydocking, underwater maintenance and repainting was in 1999.
http://www.maritime.org/conf/conf-wenzel.htm
All her underwater cooling water openings are blanked off, including parts of her engines and boilers dismantled. So she is totally inoperational under her own power and needs towed to and from drydock. HMS Caroline has no internal machinery at all.Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 08:37 AMCurious
Thanks for that
Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 08:41 AMI went, ‘twas crap.
The victory of my relentless optimism over my cynical judgement of the City Council’s idea of entertainment.
Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 08:57 PMSnakebrain,
We went. I agree the music etc was a bit rubbish but the buses were well organised and we went on several boats / ships which were good. The kids loved it though one of mine was scared of a pretend pirate.
Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 09:18 PMI may have spoken a tad hastily, but I was a bit disappointed.
I had high hopes since I was in Nice a few months ago relaxing on the beach, and out of nowhere the most amazing Galleon-style ship appeared under full sail and did a slow pass about 500m offshore, then turned and cruised back down the bay. We swam out and got to within about 20ft of it when it fired off all its cannon. It was an amazing experience; if you turned your back to the shore it could as easily have been 1607 as 2007.
The ship’s today weren’t bad I concede; the Zebu was a very pretty little vessel. I’m going to go down tomorrow again and see if I can have a proper chat with the owner.
The market was a bit disappointing, the guy selling end-of-line Rimmel make-up seemed a bit out of place. Whose idea was the fire service chip-pan fire display? Worthy, but are chip-pans a significant maritime hazard?
I’m just a bit jaded with Belfast at the minute and was hoping for something magical I suppose. I can see that children would have had a great day there. I’m glad yours enjoyed it so much. Grumpy old man syndrome…
Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 @ 10:18 PMIncredible noise from the Grand Turk cannon yesterday, caused by only 50g of gunpowder rather than the traditional 1.5 kilo. Astounding to imagine what noise a full broadside would make!
Interesting, too, to note that the 18c ration of beer per man per day was 8 pints. :)
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 08:32 AM
