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Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
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Oct 1 • 5 tweets • 5 min read
Just a guess, but I reckon with the amphibious Littoral Response Group (North) in the Mediterranean on Op #Achillean, @HMSTrent & her @42_commando @RoyalMarines team will probably be heading for the Gulf of Guinea for a bit of anti-piracy work?
While, of course, on the other side of the World, the @RoyalNavy's @OverseasPatrol remains busy, with @HMS_Tamar recently enforcing sanctions off Korea.
Plus @HMS_Spey taking part in Exercise Kakadu off northern Australia
In the Caribbean, @HMS_Medway, is running didaster relief operations with @RFATideforce in the aftermaths of #HurricaneFiona & #HurricaneIan
While in the South Atlantic, @HMS_Forth has been busy on the diplomatic front in Brazil for that country's bicentenery, maintaining @RoyalNavy-@marmilbr ties.

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More from @navalhistorian

Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
Oct 1
1) Interesting catch from @larisamlbrown on reports of plans to reduce the @BritishArmy's current presence in Estonia, which was doubled after Russia invaded #Ukraine in February, back to its pre-war level of a single battlegroup, at the end of the year.
2) Inevitably, there's been some disquiet about them, with comments such as:
"many European nations [believe] that the “British army is now too small and doesn’t have enough soldiers to spare”
& "Getting troops out when Putin threatens to wipe half of Europe sends a bad message" The British Army's 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh in Estonia
3) Certainly the @BritishArmy is something of a concern at the moment, in terms of both its size (reducing to 72,500) & equipment (reductions to Challenger tank numbers, scrapping of Warrior, Ajax...), & continental allies do place considerable store in contributions on land. British Army Challenger 2 tank in Estonia 2021 (Sergei Stepa
Read 21 tweets
Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
Aug 28
Obviously a lot more rumour that hard fact out there at the moment, but a few, preliminary thoughts on reports that @HMSPWLS' has a problem with one of her propeller shafts:
1) Yep, this is not a good thing (just to get the statement of the bleeding obvious out of the way).
2) Yes, this does happen & to other navies too - @NavyLookout notes HMS Illustrious' gearbox fire in 1986, others have mentioned the major electrical failure aboard @USSHARRYSTRUMAN in August 2019 & there are plenty more to choose from in between. news.usni.org/2019/08/31/uss…
3) How serious is it?
Well, any commentary right now is pure guesswork & should be taken as such (even @HMSPWLS' own engineers may have a complete picture yet), however, current speculation centres on the starboard propeller shaft, which was seemingly trailing as she sailed. HMS Prince of Wales sailing from HM Naval Base Portsmouth 27
Read 28 tweets
Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
Aug 7
1) With gas supplies, storage & moves (or lack thereof) to improve both, making the news (still), it may be time for a brief (non-specialist) #thread🧵 on a couple of the #maritime aspects of it, starting with re-posting this little thread from January on where, how & from whom.
2) As mentioned in that thread, Britain already has three of Europe's largest facilities for handling Liquified Natural Gas & in March @Trafigura announced their intention to re-open the fourth at Teesport, though there seems to have been little news since gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-…
3) On the storage front, it is worth bearing in mind that while most people's mental picture of gas storage probably looks like the urban gas holder/gasometer (left), the bulk of Britain's gas storage is, in fact, held underground in a few, depleted gas field reservoirs (right). Gasometer in West Ham, East...Humbly Grove Oilfield and G...Rough field gas storage fac...
Read 14 tweets
Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
Aug 4
1) A couple of concerning effects of Europe's reducing river levels on the #UkraineWar, perhaps the most direct of which is the effects of the declining levels of the Danube on Ukraine's ability to use that river to bypass the Russian #blockade of the country's Black Sea ports.
2) See this excellent continuing #thread🧵for details of efforts to expand use of the Danube - amongst other things - to bypass Russia's #blockade, which are necessarily ongoing, despite the agreement to open safe corridors from Ukraine's Black Sea ports.
3) It is worth bearing in mind that Ukraine (quite probably Russia too) is known to have been using rivers & other inland waterways for logistical supply to its forces, which will almost certainly be affected by this, though the degree can only be guessed.
Read 8 tweets
Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
Aug 2
The South China Sea is currently a rather busy patch of ocean, with China's Global Times reporting the PLAN aircraft carriers Liaoning & Shandong have sailed from their respective ports, while the @USNavy's @Gipper_76 & USS America & USS Tripoli are also in the vicinity. #Taiwan Map of the South China Sea ...Chinese aircraft carrier Li...Chinese aircraft carrier Sh...US Navy aircraft carrier US...
Additional notes via @samlagrone of @USNINews: the official @USNavy line is "'normal operations' but one defense official said the assets - already in the neighborhood - were hanging out to see what was gonna happen", while USS America is currently still in port at Sasebo, Japan. US Navy big deck amphibious...
Also worth noting that Chinese forces are reportedly out & about on amphibious exercises too (via @AlexLuck9)
Read 5 tweets
Dr Phil Weir Profile picture
Jul 28
1) A little - slightly belated - #thread🧵on this great catch by @NavyLookout of the British Government's (rather low-key) announcement on 11th July that @RFAArgus "represents the optimum solution to support a forward-deployed Littoral Response Group", & some of its implications.
2) That she was under consideration for the role was announced to @CommonsDefence on 6th July, however, that it is actually to be @RFAArgus is still something of a surprise, given one of the Bay Class has been publicly earmarked for it since March 2021.
3) Nonethless, as surprises go, it is, in many respects, a pleasant & welcome one. Until recently @RFAArgus had been scheduled to decommission without replacement in 2024, depriving the @RoyalNavy of potentially vital capabilities for Littoral Response.
Read 24 tweets

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