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163, 14th YEAR, JANUARY, 1968
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MARITIME PREDOMINANCE WESTERN DEFENCE KEY
UTS WARNING \-
Admiral Begg declares ‘Too ;much could be disastrous’
\
“Too much contraction of the Royal Navy could be disastrous,” said the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Varyl Begg, speaking at the Chamber of Shipping dinner in London on December 6. Replying
to
anxieties
cs-
prcsscd about the future size of the Navy. Admiral Begg said
that the Service. in its 300 years of history. had had many ups and downs. E.".|"l.llIilt)ll in war and eotttraction after the peace had been the harm. "E.‘2P.'ll‘hi0Zl in war." he s.i:'.l. “given the \ll.t;‘|c ol war '.oti.iy. is no longer .I pr.tc:ic.tble proposition. We shall deter. or it’ needs be light. u.::h lltt: weapons we h.tve available. Too much contraction could. therefore. be disastrous. "Measured in manpower. the Navy this year is pretty well the same in size as when I joined it over 40 years ago. “Of course the manpower is very differently composed and most disposed. We man usually commented upon fewer ships than in the past. But then. as in your fleets. the
ships themselves have much greater capability. and more
service their sophisticated weapon systents. "If you consider nuclear men are
needed
to
capability. one is in a realm of quite different orders of magnitudc’ttr:e carrier aircraft
can
lirepower than the combined fleets at Jutland; and it polaris subm.irine more than all the bombs dropped by all the cotttestants in the Second World
deploy
inlinitely
more
War.
"Now, resulting from the Defence Review of the past three years, the Navy of the seventies. like the other Services. will be yet smaller in size.
—-
—
threatened.
thcre is much the R..~\.l7.‘s on Fl I Is. the Fleet Air Arm‘; Phantoms are far advanced in the pipeline. Both orders. how-
Allltouglt speculation ever.
could be cut, and
one sug-
Maryton home paying-off pendant of I60 fect—scvcn feet longer than the ship—thc coastal mincsweepcr H.M.S. Maryton. commanded by Lieut.-Cdr. Flying
a
M. C. Cole. entered Portsmouth Harbour on December I8. She had spent more than 50 days on her I3.000-mile journey from Singaporethought to be one of the longest
unaccompanied voyages by warship of her size.
the scrapyard.
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ARNING SHOT IGNORED I
While ll.\l.S. Minerva was carrying out a round-the-clock patrol otl Beira. she called upon the French tanker Artois (13,284 tons) making for the port. to stop. The tankers captain ignored the request and. according to a Navy spokesman, “nipped smartly” for Betta’: territorial waters. Mincrvifs captain. Cdr. M. 0. Taylor. fired a warning shot across the bows of the tanker. but the French ship did not stop. It was stated later that Artois. though not carrying oil for Rhodesia into the East .~\l'ricnn port. was not on .\lincrva‘s list of "innocent" ships, and the Navy spokestnun said that Cdr. Taylor had acted correctly in intercepting her.
-‘u‘nWfH'H'fh\fU%H-HP-%Fu'u'uFH'-'b%WfU'u%'-'fh‘n‘-W-HF-$1-‘-5
‘CONFRONTATION’ IN WATERS Spanish developed GIB. OFF Spanish following Spanish dangerously
close to the border town of
LaI.inca. Spain demanded that tho mcrchantman and the destroyer
H.M.S. Carysfort should leave at once. but complaint was rejected on the ground that the British ships were in British waters.
was
corvette Atrcvida.
com-
Gibraltar had anchored in waters
Carysfort,
month
plaint that a British merchant ship unloading explosives for
Spanish
Middle East. since November. 1965. A gunnery medalist. he gained his D.S.C. while serving in ll.M.S. Aurora in I9-II. and was awarded the G.C.B. (Milltary) in the New Year Honours.
The live sails she was carrying were the equivalent of an extra half~a-knot. and this addition meant that the ship reached port before Christmas. While oil Freetown. l~l.M.S.
slowly that little surprise would be caused by its abandonment. though work on H.!\l.S. Blake is now so zidvanced that this one of the three might just avoid
a
as
.
l’li.it‘.t«\:n tlcI:\;r'.‘ '.-.n'..'ltl go to the [{..-\.l". liarli-er l'l!l\l.t‘.\'1I of the .‘.t.'ll.'l'\ anti li~.ctI-mtig aircraft would also bring under scrutiny the naval air stations. and the economies which could be etlccted there. If the new fleet is to be preserved. another project which could be reconsidered is the conversion of the Tiger class cruisers to helicopter ships. The plan has dragged so
A war of nerves off Gibraltar last
the former is concerned." he continued. “these are obviously not easy days in this country; while as for the far
Dampierdidn'tcare.
\\‘is.-it the Goycrnntent economy cuts are announced later lillx mon'I't. the cllect upon the Royal N:t\'_\' is likely to be m.:m‘.;. III :e’..-.'.:o:t to ;-..‘ucIe:.t'.:d \\'itltdt':tw;il front Sin~_.-aporc. It ~.ir.l'a_ j.'t.'\iltlt't is th.:t the retl'.:.'ed .\;l':15r.tltj.'
already announced. Cutting Far East commitments would bring the Fleet Air Arm high on the list of possible cuts. and the refit of H.M.S. Ark Royal may once again be
policy rested on two main pillars—:t healthy economy and an informed public opinion.
She ntay have looked an odd sight in these d:t_\'.~. of nuclear propulsion, btit the ship's company of ll..\l.S.
Where the latest axe may fall
lic.irin;_- this in mind. and with the Polaris programme regarded as sacred. the likelihood is not so much new ideas in retrenchment as the hastening of policies
who man it just as stittitilating and s.ttist'_\-ing a career as it has to us in the past." .-‘ldmiral Best! laid he believed that a sound defence
Admiral Sir .\lichacl l.e I-‘anu is to become the ne\t First St-:1 Lord. succeeding Admiral Sir Varyl llt-1:2. who has held the top Navy post since February. 1965. The (‘ll'.Il‘l$:(‘0\'t‘l’ will take place in Auflust. Admiral Le Funu. who entered the Royal Navy as at Dartmouth cadet in May. I927. has been Commander-In-Chief,
‘Make sail’
BIG l.ll*'l'.—Remo\'ul of the ll5-ton six-inch after turret from ttte cruiser ll..\I.S. Tiger. in Dcvonport Dockyard. matting way for the construction of a helicopter hangar and flight deck
Ll.
"It will. howcvcr—provided we succeed in developing it in the right way—bc a thoroughly cllcctive and professional force. able to meet its reduced contmitments. attd continuing to otter to the oflieers and men
Near to the British ships was the Spanish mincswecpcr, Ncrvion. and the Spanish commander was asked to leave as his ship was in British waters. The Spanish commander declined to move his ship. Three days later six Spanish mineswecpcrs entered Algeciras
Bay. taking up positions facing I-I.M.S. C."ll')'\l0fl. Also present. only 300 yard»; -.i-.v.iy from
the
After a five days "confrontation" thc ships withdrew. as did H.M.S. Grenville which had replaced Carysfort. Just before Christmas H.M.S. Carysfort paid a short visit to
Tangier. handing
over a mass
of toys to the children of the Cheshire Home thcrc. Numbers of the ship's company painted and repaired all kinds of things in the home. from window shutters and watches to radios and gas ovens.
the survey ship l'.!.23(l tons. full load! lint .1 ,~CfL'\\' ‘out. ti.‘l‘.‘l'llllll.‘klin get hi; sltlp hunt: b.-tor: Cllrl\lI‘.l§t§. Cull’. ll. Cdftltlu nI".lc'Tt.'tl lllll .».:il~ l1.'m;itl: tron‘ .i'.'.:ti::::<. llllt.‘ ~It:l\_ l‘-'.'t\ ltd Jtl {lur\\.ti'tl .'tt:tl :hr.'; :31. tlltl tit: trick. l).:'np:cr :'.rrit.:tl 2.: ('h.it':t.::n. ;-.tt:.' 2U _\e.i:»' \-..'l\l..'t.‘ in lll: l'.'..' East. on l)ccemher 23.
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