Navy Lookout
@NavyLookout
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Independent Royal Navy news and analysis
Joined April 2009
2 more merchant ships hit by Russian attacks in Black Sea. Japanese bulk carrier MV Namura Queen hit by a rocket at anchor off Yuzhne. Moldovan chemical tanker MV Millennial Spirit hit and set on fire 12 miles to the south. Video: suvaribeyinnotdefteri
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The average salary for railway workers is £45,000. Average salary for those serving in the Royal Navy is £36,444.
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Meanwhile, this Christmas somewhere under the ocean a Royal Navy submarine (with a crew of around 130) is on patrol maintaining the nuclear deterrent
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For years we have been told we should unilaterally get rid of 🇬🇧nuclear weapons. Yesterday 🇷🇺Russian state TV discussed a potential nuclear attack on the UK. Thankfull the RN has maintained the continuous at-sea-detterent for more than 50 years.
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🇲🇾Malaysian law enforcement and naval personnel boarded 🇨🇳Chinese salvage vessel MV Chuan Hong 68 found to be operating illegally again after previously stealing scrap metal from WWII wrecks of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. The Malaysian govt has yet to provide details of
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BZ to Ukrainian crew of a container ship sailing through the Red Sea. Destroyed a Houthi one-way attack USV by rifle fire.
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Sad to report the passing of Cdr Nigel "Sharkey" Ward, DSC, AFC, RN retd. "Mr Harrier", a supremely talented and aggressive fighter pilot who led 801 Naval Air Squadron during the Falklands War, flying 60+ missions achieving 3 air-air kills. In later life a strong advocate of
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🇷🇺Russian "research vessel' / spy ship Yantar currently loitering over underwater infrastructure in the Irish Sea off the Isle of Man. (Monitored by P-8A aircraft and possibly HMS Iron Duke). The vessel switched on AIS briefly this afternoon. Great OSINT work by @auonsson
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🇺🇸US Defence Intelligence agency assess that less than 40% of 🇷🇺Russian missiles fired during the war in 🇺🇦Ukraine have hit their intended targets. 20-30% fail to launch or crash in flight and many miss aiming points.
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Mainstream media catching up with what we have been (calmly) reporting for the last couple of years.
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Sad to report 🇳🇿Royal New Zealand Navy's hydrographic survey and diving support ship HMNZS Manawanui ran aground, caught fire and sank off Samoa while doing a reef survey yesterday evening. 75 crew on board are reported safe ashore.
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BZ and welcome home. Vanguard class submarine inbound to Falsane today after a patrol lasting more than 6 months. Photos: @SheilaLWeir
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Actor Daniel Craig has been made an honorary Commander in the Royal Navy – matching the on-screen rank of #JamesBond
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🇳🇴Norwegian-made movie #TheArcticConvoy in UK cinemas soon following the crew of merchant ship trying to survive brutal combat on the run to Murmansk. Appears to be loosely based on the convoy PQ17 disaster - not the Royal Navy's finest hour.
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Sea Harrier donated to museum in the Falkland Islands arrives.
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House of Commons debate on defence starting now. Pathetic attendance indicates complacency and negligence in the face of serious and growing threats to the UK.
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A maritime ring of steel around Russia. 5 NATO aircraft carriers currently deployed in the Euro-Atlantic region. 🇺🇸USS George H.W. Bush (Adriatic).🇺🇸USS Gerald R. Ford (North Sea).🇬🇧HMS Queen Elizabeth (Off Southern Norway ).🇫🇷FS Charles De Gaulle &.🇮🇹ITS Cavour (Central Med)
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SUBSUNK.Sad to report 🇮🇩Indonesian navy confirm missing submarine KRI Nanggala is lost with all 53 on board. Wreckage discovered and sonar has located boat in 850m water way past crush depth.
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No words for this idiocy. Capita turns down applicant to be Royal Navy officer for "not having A-Levels" despite him already possesing first-class BA and MSc. "We cannot continue to discard 800,000 [forces] applicants a decade through an incompetent, inflexible, and
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Lt Rhodri Leyshon named as the pilot killed when Merlin Mk4 of 846 NAS ditched in the sea on Wednesday evening. One of Commando Helicopter Force’s most capable aircraft captains and instructors. He joined the Wales URNU in 2010 and commissioned into the RN in 2014. RIP.
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Depite the shambolic state of the government, a quite brilliant performance by @BWallaceMP at the @CommonsDefence committee yesterday. Few ministers have ever been so committed and honest or had such a good grip on a complex brief in a challenging time.
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BREAKING:. Royal Navy submarine authorised to surface close to 🇷🇺Russian spy ship operating close to the UK.
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BREAKING:. Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigates to be fitted with Mk41 vertical launch system.
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🇨🇳Chinese-flagged bulk carrier MV Yi Peng 3 appears to have deliberately dragged anchor to break two underwater telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea. Now stopped in Kattegat belived to have been intercepted by 🇩🇰Danish naval vessels HDMS Hvidbjørnen and HDMS Søløven. Similar to
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.@thetimes is reporting the 🇬🇧UK will join 🇺🇸US in targeted strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. UK contribution could include the use of RAF Typhoons with Storm Shadow missiles operating from Cyprus. HMS Diamond lacks land attack missile capability but is an excellent air
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Bofors 57mm Mk 3 Automatic Gun (will equip Type 31 frigate) demonstrating traverse and elevation rate. (Traffic cone not fitted as standard). In depth article about this weapon. Via @EVostox @RoyalCanNavy
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BREAKING:. At around 0300 local time last night 🇺🇸USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 Super Hornet jet flying from USS Harry S Truman while carrier group was conducting air strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen. Both aircrew ejected and were recovered
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Airports "running better than usual" as Army and Naval personnel cover for striking Border Force workers.
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UK, US and Japanese F-35Bs in formation for PHOTEX at conclusion of exercise. #PacificCrown21 🇬🇧🇺🇲🇯🇵. #CSG21 . via: Sgt: Petronilla
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🇺🇦Ukrainian Naval Ships Chernihiv (ex-HMS Grimsby) and Cherkasy (ex-HMS Shoreham) sail from Rosyth this morning. Via @RNinScotland
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.@HMSChiddingfold collided with @HMSBangor while berthing in Bahrain yesterday. Not the first time. In April 2021 Chiddingfold struck HMS Penzance and was out of action for 3 months under repair. The Hunt class MCMVs can be difficult to manoeuvre in harbour and are vulnerable
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Choice between 🇩🇪German MEKOA-200 or 🇯🇵Japanese Mogami 30FFM for @Australian_Navy light frigate programme to be brought forward to this year and not delayed to 2026.
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BREAKING: . Mechanical issue prevents HMS Queen Elizabeth from sailing on NATO exercise. Instead, HMS Prince of Wales will be readied to replace her.
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Ships company muster on the flight deck of @HMSQNLZ mid-Atlantic for 96-gun salute and to mark the passing of 'the boss' (and the ship's Lady Sponsor). #QueenElizabethII
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Unverified social media footage believed to show serious fire on 🇨🇳Chinese Type 071 LPD Longhushan. Via @TreasChest
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🇫🇮Finnish Navy investigators find a damaged anchor on seabed near the broken Finnish-Estonian #Balticconnector gas pipeline. The 🇨🇳Chinese-owned container ship MV Newnew Polar Bear was at the site around the time of the incident - seen later in the Port of 🇷🇺Arkhangelsk with
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BREAKING:. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond shoots down drone while escorting merchant ships in the Red Sea.
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Spectacular Northern Lights seen from @HMSPWLS during operations in the high north #steadfastdefender2024
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Kill markings on @HMSDiamond bridge wing denote 9 Houthi drones shot down in the Red Sea. Via @key2med
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BREAKING:. HMS Diamond used a Sea Viper missile to shoot down another Houthi drone heading directly towards the ship in the Red Sea yesterday. EO camera recording of the interception. This is the 9th aerial target destroyed by the ship during this deployment.
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BREAKING:. Last night🇬🇧HMS Diamond part of a combined force including F/A-18s from 🇺🇸USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Gravely, USS Laboon and USS Mason that shot down 18 attack drones and two anti-ship cruise missiles fired from Yemen at shipping in the Red Sea
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New Defence Secretary @grantshapps speaking on LBC this morning says:. ". those aircraft carriers are the biggest the RAF have ever had". #facepalm.
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Bad news stories for the RN just keep on coming in 2024. UK amphibious capability into terminal decline as both HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark to be permanently laid up as not enough sailors to crew even one of them.
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Roughers. @HMSIronDuke returning from Norway during #StormBabet last week. Which old matelot will be first to say "I've seen bigger waves in my bath" ?
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Royal Marines Graspan memorial, desecrated. "I hope the Police find you before the Royal Marines do". @jaglancy .
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🇺🇸USS Carney returned home to a well-deserved welcome at Naval Station Norfolk yesterday after 7-months in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. During this deployment she destroyed 45 Houthi drones and missiles - arguably now the world's most battle-hardened surface combatant.
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Petition to ban Supertrawlers from UK waters after leaving the EU Common Fisheries Policy. They decimate fish stocks and endanger marine ecosystems and species. H/T @LordTussle
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.@HMSDauntless Phalanx CIWS undergoing pre-deployment checks with radome removed. Upper Ku-band moving track indicator (MTI) radar aerial visible rotating. Via @AWenham1
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THREAD . So we asked #AI to visualise the future of the Royal Navy. The results are certainly amusing. First up the "Anti-submarine frigate"
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Would be hilarious if implications were not so serious. Senior enlisted personnel on 🇺🇸USS Manchester secretly installed Starlink dish and private WiFi network (named "STINKY") on board to check sports scores, text home and stream movies.
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This capability has been in development for some time but @MalloyAero T-600 heavy-lift UAS dropped a Sting Ray torpedo during trials at #REPMUS23 in 🇵🇹Portugal. Not a subtitle for ASW helicopter but would give the RN another means of torpedo delivery at range given the absence
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Latest news article:. Royal Navy Vanguard class submarine comes home from another very long patrol. Video: @SheilaLWeir
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German frigate 🇩🇪FSG Baden-Württemberg & support ship FGS Frankfurt am Main to avoid Red Sea on their way home from Asia Pacific deployment and will go around the Cape of Good Hope. Commissioned in 2019, the frigate -Württemberg lacks adequate combat systems to cope with the
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Just 8 days after @HMSQNLZ withdrawn from exercise #SteadfastDefender24, @HMSPWLS sails today as her replacement. This represents a superb effort by the ship’s company and the support team in Portsmouth. Photo: @alisdairtaylor .
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German media reports frigate 🇩🇪FGS Hessen to be deployed to the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping.
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The submarine that returned to Falsane yesterday had been on deterrent patrol for 201 days. The crew are to be congratulated on yet another epic feat of endurance but are we pushing people and boats too hard? . Photo @MichaelJWC626
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.@RFAArgus rolling in Atlantic swells as she heads for the Caribbean. Due to arrive in Bermuda for brief logistic top tomorrow. @UKinCaribbean. via @CommandoCaribb1
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BREAKING:. HMS Diamond makes first Sea Viper anti-ballistic missile kill in action in the Red Sea.
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UNCONFIRMED:. 🇺🇦Ukrianian sources say they have hit the 🇷🇺Russian crusier RFS Moskva with two Neptune anti-ship missiles in the Black Sea. This is the 3rd, as yet unverified, claim of a strike on a Russian warship and should be treated with caution.
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Great to see the Twitter virology experts who are also armoured vehicle specialists have now moved on to explaining warship damage control.
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HMS Prince of Wales beat her 30-day notice to sail by 22 days. This is not a failure. Warship maintenance in context by @TomSharpe134 .
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Greek Frigate 🇬🇷HS Psara shot down two Houthi one-way attack UAS. Most likely one shot down with 127mm Mk 45 gun, other by electronic jamming using newly fitted counter-UAS system. Video of the gun action recorded by 🇳🇱HNLMS Karel Doorman while they were escorting merchant
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Finally made it to 🇺🇸America!. @HMSPWLS arrives at Naval Station Mayport, Florida today. #Westlant23. Via @NS_Mayport
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2,100 dwt 🇪🇪Estonian-owned, Panama-flagged cargo ship MV Helt sunk in Black Sea 20nm off 🇺🇦Odessa. Believed to have struck a mine. 1 sailor killed, 4 missing. Ukraine sources claim ship was forced by Russian Navy to act as shield from anti-ship weapons.
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UNCONFIRMED:.🇺🇦Ukrainian forces claim to have hit the Russian frigate RFS 🇷🇺Admirál Essen using a (Ukrainian-made) Neptune anti-ship missile.
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Although managing to shoot down 4 Houthi drones, 🇩🇰Danish frigate HDMS Iver Huitfeldt was unable to fire ESSM missiles at times while in action in the Red Sea due to integration issue with Dutch APAR radar and Danish C-FLEX Combat Management System. 76mm shells also exploded
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Latest news article:. 6th Autute class submarine HMS Agamemnon rolled out of the build hall today .
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And then there were two. HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth together in Portsmouth for the first time… . @HMSPWLS @HMSQNLZ #Westltant19 #Homecoming #CarrierTakeTwo
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Triumphant F-35 pilot arrival on HMS Queen Elizabeth - the deleted scenes 🙂. #Westlant19 @HMSQNLZ. via @niall19 / Fill your Boots
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Illegal, provocative and childish. Spanish Corvette sails through British #Gibraltar territorial waters playing Spain’s national anthem at high volume. Via @Atajate71.
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The oldest surviving airworthy Fairy Swordfish takes to the skies for @NavyWingsUK event @RNASYeovilton today.
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Great news. Documentary film maker @ChrisTerrill will sail with @HMSQNLZ and be on board for the next seven months to make a series for the BBC. #StrikeWarrior #CSG21 #OpFORITS
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The amazing Harrier - still achieving air-air kills. 🇺🇸USMC AV-8B Harrier IIs operating from USS Baatan have been shooting down Houthi drones in the Red Sea, including one pilot 'ace' with 7 recorded kills. H/T @Osinttechnical
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TRAILER: . First of a long-awaited 6-part documentary series “The Warship: Tour of Duty” covering the Carrier Strike Group deployment (May-December 2021) will be broadcast on BBC Two & iPlayer on Sunday 22nd January 2023 at 2100. #CSG21 @ChrisTerrill .
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Royal Navy operation to free #NaveAndromeda was conducted by 2 Wildcats and 2 Merlin Mk4 helicopters with support from @HMS_Richmond. 16 members of the SBS took just 9 minutes to rescue the crew and capture the 7 suspects. Everyone safe.
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Largest warship in the world is due to visit the UK soon. 🇺🇸USS Gerald R Ford expected to anchor in the Solent in mid-November and ships of her strike group to visit Portsmouth. @Warship_78 is currently on maiden deployment and making her first overseas port call in 🇨🇦Halifax
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Astute class submarine outbound on the Clyde this afternoon - first RN SSN to put to sea this year. Via @SheilaLWeir
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Navy’s first F-35 pilot, Cdr Ian Tidball retires after 32-year career accumulating 4,111 flying hours in 35 different aircraft types.
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Poisitive editorial in the @thetimes today . "Britain’s [aircraft carriers] are vulnerable, not because of their type, but because they lack sufficient close-in defences, aircraft and escorts. The government should be investing in the carrier force, not scrapping it. "
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UK and 🇳🇴Norwegian F-35s operating from 🇮🇸Keflavík airbase over @HMSDefender during NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force exercises off Iceland.
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.@HMSDiamond battle-hardened, not battle-damaged. Note smoke stains on the missile silo from multiple Sea Viper launches.
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.@hmsdiamond embarking replacement Sea Viper missiles in #Gibraltar this morning ahead of returning to the Red Sea soon. Gibraltar once again demonstrating its value as a forward support base. Via @key2med
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Hell of a day for 🇺🇸USS Carney. 4 attacks against 3 separate commercial vessels in the southern Red Sea. 9.15 am missile attack on 🇬🇧UK-owned bulk carrier MV Unity Explorer impacting in the vicinity of the vessel. 12pm USS Carney shoots a down drone. 12:35 pm MV Unity
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BREAKING:. First kills for Sea Ceptor. HMS Richmond downs 2 attack drones.
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The Royal Navy is pleased to announce the formation of the nuclear submarine display team. Fully funded from the MoD budget, the Defence Secretary said: "every penny spent will be a great investment in promoting global Britain overseas and er. under the seas"
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The 🇺🇸USS Gerald R Ford this morning. Approaching the world’s largest and most expensive warship
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🇺🇸USS Gerald R Ford @Warship_78 the world’s largest warship has arrived in the Solent. Via @AmzJS13
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The gender and sexuality of the CO have zero bearing on competence. The causes of the HMNZS Manawanui accident are not yet public. It could have been a mechanical issue and not the fault of the crew, alternatively it could have been a colossal navigational error. Either way,
🇳🇿 LESBIAN CAPTAIN LOSES SHIP!. The Royal NZ Navy ship’s HMNZS Manawanui sank this morning after running aground on a reef near the southern coast of Upolu, Samoa, last night and catching fire. $100 million down the drain. 1/
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Magnificent dusk departure for @HMSQNLZ with full air group on deck. 26,000 miles to go - home by Christmas #CSG21. via @PortsmouthProud
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🇺🇸Pentagon says two service members missing are Navy SEALs that were attempting to board a ship off the coast of Somalia on Thursday night. In rough seas, one of them.slipped off the boarding ladder and a member of the team then jumped into the water to try to rescue him. Both
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Great to see three Type 23 frigates at sea together. Shame they are not ours. 🇨🇱. H/T @D__Mitch @papakia_mantola
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6th Astute class submarine, HMS Agamemnon formally named at @BAES_Maritime Barrow today ahead of being launched later this year.
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