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coralmccallum · 5 years

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How often do you drive or walk past the history on your own doorstep without so much as a second glance?

I’ll confess …. maybe not quite daily but it’s a regular occurrence and it transpires I’m not the only one in the house who does so.

Less than 10 miles from our house there’s a 15th Century castle. A national tourist attraction. Do you know how many times I’ve visited it? Until today, once! (Hangs her head in shame.)

So, on a dreich Sunday afternoon, Girl Child, the Big Green Gummi Bear and I decided the time had come to visit the castle. (About 15 years ago I had taken both Boy Child and Girl Child there but neither of them remembers it!)

Newark Castle sits on the banks of the River Clyde near Port Glasgow.

It was built circa 1480 by George Maxwell and is one of the finest late-medieval buildings in Scotland. Both the Gatehouse and Towerhouse date back to that era as does the Doocot in the grounds. The rest of the castle was remodelled in 1590 by Patrick Maxwell, transforming the cramped medieval castle into an elegant Renaissance mansion. Both the north wing and east wing were remodelled and the grounds transformed.

Today, the castle stands pretty much as it did back then.

Newark Castle is a veritable labyrinth spread over three levels. It also boasts one of only three surviving anti-clockwise staircases to be found in Scotland’s castles. You enter via the 15th century Gatehouse which leads through to the cellars, kitchen, bakehouse and the Towerhouse cellar. There are numerous staircases giving access to the upper floors. From the Towerhouse cellar you can climb up to the roof lookout point. It’s quite a twisty climb! From the wine cellar, there is a staircase leading straight up to the great hall. A further staircase leads from the kitchen to the great hall.

The upper level has a long gallery running the length of the north wing and this is where the laird’s private chambers and, including the rooms in the east wing, the family bed chambers and guest rooms would have been. One bedroom features original wood panelling and a rare example of a wall bed.

The windows in the east wing afford a view over the grounds and the Doocot (dovecot) whish has survived from the 1480’s. Doocots were popular in the 15th century as the pigeons (doos/doves) provided a source of fresh meat during the long winter months.

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The building is well worth a visit.

Equally intriguing is the history of the owners through the ages.

The land that the castle stands on belonged originally to the Denniston family but became part of the Maxwell estate in 1402 when Elizabeth Denniston married Sir Robert Maxwell of Calderwood.

At that time, Newark was part of the barony of Finlaystone, an estate some five miles to the east. ( http://www.finlaystone.co.uk/ ) If the Denniston family had a castle it is highly likely that it formed part of the Finlaystone estate.

In 1478 George Maxwell inherited the barony of Finlaystone and within a few years was being styled as “George Maxwell of Newark and Finlaystone”. This all ties in nicely with the construction dates for the original castle buildings. It is also documented that in 1495 James IV visited Newark Castle whilst on a mission to quash disturbances in the Western Isles. (It’s likely that the laird would have had to surrender his sumptuous bed chamber in the Towerhouse to the king during his stay.)

Over time the Maxwell family became a powerful and influential family in the area. Historically, the most notable member of the family was Sir Patrick Maxwell, who was the laird of Newark Castle circa 1580. Initially, he was held up as a pillar of society, well-educated and a justice of the peace as well as being the architect behind the extensive remodelling of Newark Castle in 1590. He enjoyed the patronage of James VI. However, there were two sides to Sir Patrick. He was a wife beater, a child abuser and a murderer. He reportedly murdered two members of the Montgomerie family from Skelmorlie some twelve miles to the west of the castle. Sir Patrick also quarrelled with his son, Patrick, and was implicated in his untimely death. Undoubtedly his wife, Lady Margaret Crawford, suffered worst at his hand. She was married to him for 44 years and bore him 16 children! After years of abuse and ill-treatment she finally escaped from his clutches in 1632 and fled across the River Clyde to Dumbarton. Sir Patrick never answered to the charges raised against him as by that time he was too ill to travel to Edinburgh to face trial and it’s assumed he died shortly thereafter.

New-port Glasgow (modern day Port Glasgow) became a bustling trading post during the 1600’s. The castle’s laird, George Maxwell soon became involved in this merchant trade.

When the last Maxwell laird died in 1694, Newark Castle and its grounds were sold to another influential businessman, William Cochrane of Kilmarnock.

The 1700’s saw trade in the area continue to flourish but sadly the castle began to decline and it changed hands several times. The Cochrane’s sold it to the Hamilton family who in turn sold it in the 1820’s to a London banker, Robert Farquar. In 1825, Robert Farquar’s daughter married Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart, another well known local family from Ardgowan estate in Inverkip some eight miles west ( http://www.ardgowan.co.uk/ ) Newark Castle remained under the care of the Shaw-Stewart family until 1909 when it was entrusted to the State. Today it is curated by Historic Scotland.

During the 18th and 19th centuries the castle was leased to various tenants. The grounds too were leased out to local market gardeners. One tenant was John Orr, a ropemaker with a rather unusual side-line business. He traded in wild animals (panthers, leopards, bears etc) purchased from passing ships that arrived into the port. It is presumed that until he found a buyer for the creatures that they were kept in the castle’s cellars, giving rise to rumours that the castle was haunted as the locals reported strange howling during the night.

Newark Castle is a historical gem that in more recent times has been hidden, literally, by the Clyde’s shipbuilding industry. For much of the 20th Century it was surrounded to the west, east and south by Ferguson’s and Lamont’s Shipbuilders. As the shipbuilding industry fell into decline in the 1980’s Lamont’s closed its doors and was subsequently demolished, revealing the castle’s southern and eastern exposures to the world once more.

Today, but for how much longer, Ferguson’s still remains to the west of Newark Castle, a modern-day industrial neighbour to this discrete medieval gem.

If you want to discover more about Newark Castle check out the site below:

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/newark-castle/

(some images sourced via Google – credits to the owners)

What Local History Are You Missing Out On?……… A Medieval Castle Perhaps? How often do you drive or walk past the history on your own doorstep without so much as a second glance?

#blogging #castle #historicscotland #history #historyonyourdoorstep #medievalcastle #MondayBlogs #NewarkCastle #PortGlasgow

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berniesrevolution · 6 years

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JACOBIN MAGAZINE

Last year’s British Labour Party manifesto has received substantial attention from those — including myself — who see it as a comprehensive program for rolling back the tide of neoliberalism and revitalizing the labor movement, public services, and industrial strategy. But it also contains the seeds of a deeper critique that — if Labour wins and Jeremy Corbyn’s movement withstands attacks from hostile forces — could lead to a significant expansion of democratic control in work and production.

Labour not only promises to bring rail, mail, water, and energy into public ownership but commits itself to putting “democratically owned public services irreversibly in the hands of workers, and those who rely on their work.” A Labour government, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has vowed, isn’t “going to take back control of these industries in order to put them in the hands of a remote bureaucracy, but to put them in the hands of all of you — so that they can never again be taken away.” The party also pledges to double the size of the cooperative sector and to make workers the buyer of first refusal when their company is being sold, a proposal known as the “right to own.”

While the idea of pairing public ownership with worker control has deep historical roots, no Labour government — not even in the pre-neoliberal days — has ever implemented it. As socialists prepare for the possibility of a Labour government, it is worth reviewing the history of these movements, their great promise, and their lessons for the future.

Public Ownership Under Social Democracy

The call for workers’ control surfaced and resurfaced in Britain throughout the twentieth century. The demand — which drew on the country’s traditions of industrial unionism, syndicalism, and guild socialism — first gained prominence in the 1910s, among movements of engineers, miners, and railroad workers.

Three decades later, in 1948, the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) proposed a motion at the Labour Party conference seeking to “convert nationalisation into socialization.” Their plan was opposed by a powerful Labour foe: minister Herbert Morrison, who instead created a top-down, bureaucratic administration in the nationalized industries. Labour’s nationalization program conceded little to the Left — whether to Labour member of parliament Nye Bevan’s demand for greater control by elected representatives, or the AEU’s call for more control by workers. The managers and directors of new public companies were often the same as those in the old private companies (sometimes with a few generals added for good measure).

The demand for workers’ control languished until the 1960s, when advocates — following a series of conferences of shop stewards and activists — established the Institute for Workers’ Control (IWC). The IWC identified itself with the social movements of the day – May ’68 in France, the peace movement in the United States, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia — and upheld the autonomy of labor’s rank and file. It found support in the Labour Party, if not the Labour government.

Meanwhile, the shop stewards’ movement was busy building up its organizational capacity in major strategic firms. One of these was Lucas Aerospace, a profitable company heavily involved in arms production that was undergoing a process of “rationalization” through closures and lay-offs. Shop stewards worked to unite representatives from staff and shopfloor unions into a “combine committee” that would cover the whole country. By 1973, despite objections from national union leaders, they had succeeded — every Lucas job site was sending shop stewards to comprise the committee.

The following February, the workers’ control movement received another healthy jolt, when a Labour government led by Harold Wilson took power. The party’s manifesto promised sweeping expansions of public ownership: nationalization of shipbuilding; ship repairing; marine engineering; ports; large parts of the aerospace industry; sections of the pharmaceutical, road haulage, construction, and machine tools industries; North Sea oil and gas; and the land needed to build social housing. It also contained a bold pledge: Labour would “socialise existing nationalised industries,” making “the management of existing nationalised industries more responsible to the workers in the industry.”

Was workers’ control finally coming to Britain?

Workers’ Control and the Wilson Government

The shop stewards’ movement saw the new government as an enormous opportunity. Labour had won the election amid a wave of IWC-backed factory occupations and a miners’ strike that the Tories loudly condemned. And Tony Benn, the person responsible for the famous vow in that year’s Labour manifesto — to effect “a fundamental shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families” — would be leading the department of industry.

Benn’s experiences with the successful 1971 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ occupation and “work-in” had radicalized his thinking about economic and industrial democracy, and he was more open than any other senior minister to proposals originating from trade union radicals. Workers obliged, flooding into Benn’s office bearing proposals with titles like “Workers’ Control with Management Participation.”

The Lucas combine committee developed the most ambitious and advanced proposal. The combine secured a meeting with Benn to request inclusion in the plans for nationalizing the aerospace industry. Unable to accept nationalization due to Wilson’s opposition, Benn instead suggested the workers draw up an “alternative corporate plan” for the use of Lucas’s capital.

What followed was a detailed inquiry by the combine and the workers into the potential uses of Lucas Aerospace’s facilities, machines, and workers — not just a blueprint for managing existing production, but a plan to turn swords into plowshares. The ideas included producing medical devices, investing in renewable energy sources like wind turbines and solar cells, and developing innovative public transport technologies. The Lucas Plan, as it came to be known, would have transformed a private company selling weapons into one controlled by its workers, producing for social need.

Unfortunately, by the time workers finalized the proposal, Wilson had removed Benn from the cabinet. His successors showed much less interest in economic democracy. While the announcement of redundancies in the late 1970s revived the Lucas Plan as a potential solution to job loss, minister Gerald Kaufman accepted saving a portion of those jobs in exchange for subsidizing existing production.

(Continue Reading)

#politics #the left #jacobin #jacobin magazine #uk politics #labour party #progressive #progressive movement #nationalization #democratic socialism #socialism

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renemartens · 2 years

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Zur Aktualität vermeintlich alter Debatten

Ich durfte am 27. Januar einen Impulsvortrag halten bei “Producing Spaces”, dem diesjährigen Symposium der dfi-Dokumentarfilminitiative in Köln. Mein Vortrag ist im Folgenden dokumentiert.

Vor ziemlich genau einem halben Jahrhundert war bei der Hamburger „Filmschau“, einem linken Filmfestival der späten 60er und frühen 70er Jahre, der Dokumentarfilm „Upper Clyde Shipbuilding“ zu sehen - ein von dem Londoner Kollektiv Cinema Action stammender Film über einen Streik schottischer Werftarbeiter. Den Film hatte ein Mann mitgebracht, den alle „Schlacke“ nannten - und der die Gruppierung Cinema Action, über die wir heute noch mehr erfahren werden, mitgegründet hatte. Als er den Film bei dem Festival zeigte, sagte er: „Das hier ist ein cineastisches Publikum, der Film hat aber Inhalte, die ein ganz anderes Publikum verlangen.“

Diese Äußerung setzte „Schlacke“ dann auch gleich in die Tat um: Er schnappte sich einen Filmprojektor und fuhr mit den Veranstaltern zu der Werft Blohm & Voss - wo die Gruppe den Film über die streikenden Werftarbeiter dann spontan einer Reihe von Betriebsräten vorführte, angeblich dank Schlackes Verhandlungsgeschick.

Als ich diese Anekdote vor ein paar Jahren in einer Biographie über einen Hamburger Subkultur-Manager gelesen habe, habe ich sie eher unter „Ach ja, ganz interessant“ abgespeichert. Inzwischen klingt sie für mich relativ aktuell - zumindest auf einer symbolischen Ebene. Aktuell? Inwiefern das denn? Wann fand denn der letzte Werftarbeiterstreik statt, über den man einen Dokumentarfilm hätte drehen können?

Klar, wir haben heute andere gesellschaftliche Rahmenbedingungen, Arbeitskämpfe in der Art, wie sie das Cinema-Action-Kollektiv über mehrere Jahre mit ihren Filmen begleitet hat, gibt es heute praktisch nicht mehr - aber ich glaube, dass wir verstärkt Dokumentarfilme brauchen, über die man bei einem Festival sagen könnte: „Das hier ist ein cineastisches Publikum, der Film hat aber Inhalte, die ein ganz anderes Publikum verlangen.“

Das ist jetzt für ein Symposium über Dokumentarfilmpraxis vielleicht zu sehr vom Ende gedacht, aber ich glaube schon, dass Filmemacher*innen die Frage, in welche Bereiche der Gesellschaft und in welche Rezeptionsräume sie mit einem Film hineinwirken und welche Teilpublika sie erreichen möchten, stärker in den Blick nehmen sollten als ohnehin.

Das hat natürlich auch oder vor allem mit den Rahmenbedingungen des Marktes zu tun:

Erstens: Die öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender sind immer weniger bereit, jene Dokumentarfilme mitzufinanzieren, von denen wir glauben, dass die öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender sie unbedingt mitfinanzieren müssen.

Zweitens (und natürlich damit zusammenhängend): Vor allem der Einfluss der Streaming-Dienste hat den Dokumentarfilmmarkt insoweit verändert, dass ein Teilbereich des Dokumentarfilms sich der Fiktion annähert und immer spielfilmähnlicher wird.

Die Diskussionen dazu werden in euren Kreisen ja ausführlich geführt - und das auch schon recht lange. Daher zu dem Thema nur ein aktueller persönlicher Eindruck. Tobias Kniebe hat kürzlich in der Süddeutschen Zeitung den Dokumentarfilm "The Rescue" von Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi und Jimmy Chin als „eine der großen Filmerfahrungen“ des Jahres 2021 bezeichnet. Es geht hier um die Rettung einer thailändischen Jugendfußballmannschaft aus einer überfluteten Höhle, die 2018 auch in Deutschland in den Nachrichten sehr präsent war.

Ich beobachte viele Weiterentwicklungen des Dokumentarfilms grundsätzlich mit Wohlgefallen, aber bei „The Rescue“ sind die bei mir für den Dokumentarfilm vorgesehenen Rezeptionssensoren nicht angesprungen - bei aller Anerkennung für die Gutgemachtheit dieser Retter- und Heldengeschichte. Die Einschätzung eines bekannten Kritikers, dass das mindestens einer der besten Dokumentarfilme des Jahres ist, wenn nicht gar der beste, lässt mich dann doch etwas ratlos zurück.

Einerseits.

Andererseits: Wenn solche Filme der neue und vielleicht auch gute Mainstream sind, dann könnte das auch eine indirekte Inspiration sein für eine produktive Abgrenzung - und dazu dienen, künstlerische Positionen zu finden, zu denen man sonst vielleicht nicht gelangt wäre.

Wenn, aus welchen Gründen auch immer, bei den Öffentlich-Rechtlichen weniger oder nichts mehr geht, von den Streaming-Diensten gar nicht zu reden - dann spricht einiges dafür, darüber nachzudenken, es dann ganz anders zu machen als bisher.

Mich haben die Konzepte zweier Dokumentarfilme, über die wir heute Vormittag einiges erfahren werden, sehr inspiriert. Es sind sehr unterschiedliche Filme, aber sie verfolgen beide einen kollaborativen Ansatz: „Fonja“ von Lina Zacher ist in einer Jugendstrafanstalt in Madagaskar entstanden, und gedreht haben die Jugendlichen selbst - und sie haben auch entscheiden können, was sie filmen. Und „In Situ“ von Marcel Kolvenbach beschreibt, wie in Argentinien in wirtschaftlich schwachen ländlichen bzw. Peripherie-Regionen von Großstäden Gesundheitsforschung unter Beteiligung der jeweiligen Communities stattfindet - wobei nicht nur der Prozess der Forschung unter Einbeziehung der Community geschieht, sondern der Film unter der Mitsprache der Forschenden entsteht.

Bei „Fonja“ und „In Situ“ nehmen sich die Filmemacherin und der Filmemacher auf unterschiedliche Art selbst zurück. Sie stellen dramaturgische und erzählerische Ambitionen hinten an, sie stellen sich vielmehr einem Projekt zur Verfügung - gar nicht mal in einem klassisch aktivistisch-engagierten Sinne, sondern, um Dinge möglich zu machen.

Ist diese eben recht kurz skizzierte Art des Zurücknehmens denn die richtige dokumentarische Praxis? Darüber ließe sich dann natürlich auch streiten.

Es gibt einen zumindest szene-intern recht bekannten Dialog zwischen Klaus Wildenhahn und Klaus Kreimeier bei der Duisburger Filmwoche 1979, in dem einige wichtige Stichworte in diesem Kontext genannt sind - auch wenn man natürlich hier wieder berücksichtigen muss, dass die Diskussion in einem anderen gesellschaftlichen und medialen Kontext geführt wurde. Ich zitiere mal drei Sätze, ohne zu versuchen, den Tonfall der beiden zu imitieren.

Kreimeier: „Es ist die hohe Kunst der Anordnung der Bau der Dinge, die künstliche Komposition, der verschiedenen Elemente (…), die den Bildern überhaupt erst die „Abbildungsfunktion der Kunst“, wie du es nennst, verleihen.“

Wildenhahn: „Das Freisetzen von Fantasie und Assoziation setzt einen starken Bezug zur Wirklichkeit, ja ich meine: ein Realitäts-Unterworfensein voraus, soll sie nicht in der Selbstherrlichkeit des Autors enden.“

Kreimeier: „Die Abdankung des Filmemachers als Autor und der Kult der Unmittelbarkeit sind doch eine Depravierung deiner Ansätze.“

Einigen wird jetzt aufgefallen sein, dass ich schon zweimal auf Filmfestivals der 70er Jahre Bezug genommen habe, aber ich glaube, das ist das Ergebnis der natürlichen Neugierde eines Nachgeborenen. Ich war ja damals nicht „dabei“. Aus heutiger Sicht wirkt es jedenfalls so, als wäre über manche Dinge, die heute auf der Diskursagenda stehen oder stehen könnten, in anderen Kontexten auch schon vor Jahrzehnten debattiert wurden.

Springen wir aber nun von 1979, dem Jahr der Kreimeier-Wildenhahn-Kontroverse, wieder in die heutige Zeit: Nachdem wir von den Rahmenbedingungen des Marktes schon kurz gesprochen haben, würde ich auch gern noch auf jene Rahmenbedingungen der dokumentarischen Praxis zu sprechen kommen, die man früher mal gesellschaftliche Verhältnisse nannte.

„In Situ“ ist ein Zitat des ecuadorianischen Sozialepidemiologen Xeime Braith vorangestellt, das nicht nur für den Film passt, sondern in dem auch die großen globalen Koordinaten benannt sind, die sich Dokumentafilmer*innen hin und wieder vergegenwärtigen sollten, wenn sie auf der Suche nach den Dingen sind, von denen sie erzählen möchten. „Das planetarische Leben“ - sagt Xeime Braith - „hängt an einem seidenen Faden. Das 21. Jahrhundert ist der paradoxe Ausdruck eines schmerzhaften Gegensatzes zwischen der größten Verfügbarkeit wirtschaftlicher und wissenschaftlich-technologischer Ressourcen, die die Menschheit je hatte“ - aber auch eines „unaufhaltsamen Vormarschs einer gewalttätigen Ungleichheit“. Zum Beispiel - und das ließe sich jetzt anhand des Films selbst anfügen - was Gesundheitsversorgung und Gesundheitsvorsorge angeht.

Ich würde auch gern noch etwas zum Thema Dokumentarfilm und Forschung ergänzen: Jenseits der Frage, wie man Dokumentarfilme über Wissenschaft machen sollte, liegt es für mich nahe, dass der Dokumentarfilm und die Wissenschaft in diesen Zeiten so etwas wie, pathetisch formuliert: Bündnispartner sein sollten. Der Wissenschaft und der Dokumentarfilm sind Betrachtungsweisen der Welt, die sich Ähnlichem verpflichtet fühlen, und beide sind Bedrohungen aus demokratiefeindlichen Kreisen ausgesetzt. Die Wissenschaft sehr viel deutlicher als der Dokumentarfilm - aber wenn heute Rechtsextremisten zwecks Einschüchterung vor dem ZDF-Hauptstadtstudio oder dem SWR aufmarschieren, dann muss man wohl davon ausgehen, dass bei diesen Angriffen der Dokumentarfilm als Feind mitgemeint ist.

Dokumentarfilmer*innen sollten auch aufgrund dessen versuchen, stärker in gesellschaftliche Debatten einzugreifen - nicht nur mit Filmen, sondern auch jenseits ihrer Filme. Die Expertise dafür haben sie ja in vielen Detailfragen, jedenfalls eher als „Babylon Berlin“ oder „Tatort“-Darsteller. Ich habe natürlich kein Patentrezept dafür, wie das gelingen kann - ich weiß ja aus eigener Erfahrung, wie schwierig es ist, Themen unterzubringen, die irgendwas mit Dokumentarfilm zu tun haben, aber trotzdem sollte man hier mal versuchen, offensiver zu agieren.

Ich möchte den Impuls hier heute auch als Gelegenheit nutzen, um eine Art Subgenre zu erwähnen, mit dem ich mich in den letzten ungefähr fünf bis sieben Jahren recht schwer getan habe. Gemeint ist dieser sehr ausgewalzte Trend, eine Geschichte erzählen zu wollen, die sich mit der eigenen Familie beschäftigt. Ich gehe mal davon aus, dass es diesen Trend auch gibt, weil Fernsehsender solche Geschichten haben wollen.

Meistens geht es da dann um die Rolle, die eigene Verfahren während des Nationalsozialismus oder im Zweiten Weltkrieg gespielt haben, aber längst nicht mehr nur um darum, sondern auch mal 100 Minuten um die weitgereiste Schwester einer Filmemacherin, die den verschuldeten Landwirtschaftsbetrieb der Oma nebst Ferienpension übernimmt. In kleineren Kreisen habe ich schon mal scherzhaft ein einjähriges Produktionsmoratorium für solche Art von Filmen gefordert.

Damit wir uns nicht missverstehen: Es sind in diesem, nennen wir es mal: Subgenre Familienfilm natürlich hervorragende Filme entstanden, die universell gültige Aussagen machen und gesellschaftlich relevant sind - und die also weit mehr sind als nur eine Nabelschau auf der Leinwand oder dem Bildschirm. Und: Jemand, der beschließt, so einen Film zu machen, geht auch keineswegs einen einfachen Weg, sondern in der Regel einen unangenehmen oder unbequemen, jedenfalls dürfte das bei den meisten dieser Filme der Fall sein.

Aber - und ganz abgesehen davon, dass zu viele Familiengeschichten dann eben doch keinen Dokumentarfilm tragen: Ich kann mich des Eindrucks nicht erwehren, dass solche in diesem Sinne persönlichen Filme auch dazu dienen, sich vor den ganz großen komplexen Themen zu drücken. Nun soll sich ja gar nicht jeder um die ganz großen komplexen Themen kümmern, aber ein Zitat aus einem Dokumentarfilm, das für die ganz großen komplexen Themen steht, würde ich gern noch unterbringen, weil es in meinem Kopf herumspukt wie der Refrain eines Popsongs. Das Zitat stammt von einer Finanz- und Geldpolitikexpertin aus Carmen Losmanns „Oeconomia“: „Aktuell befinden wir uns in einer Art Wettrennen. Wer kollabiert zuerst: Unser Ökosystem Erde oder der Kapitalismus?“

#Dokumentarfilm

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oledavyjones · 6 years

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HMS Emperor rests at anchor at Greenock, Scotland in the Upper Firth of Clyde in January 1944. HMS Emperor was laid down at the Seattle–Tacoma Shipbuilding yard and meant for service with the United States Navy. She was laid down as USS Pybus in June of 1942 and was launched in October.

#cv #carrier vessel #emperor #RN

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georgefairbrother · 3 years

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youtube

In early 1973, Kenneth Williams was a guest on the Parkinson Show, with actress Maggie Smith and Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman. He became involved in a heated exchange with Michael Parkinson over the conduct of the trade union movement, and social and political ideologies more generally.

Although by today's standards it was fairly mild, it garnered such a reaction that Kenneth was invited back to debate with union leader Jimmy Reid for a special show.

At that time Jimmy Reid had recently taken on the Heath government, staging a "work-in" at Upper-Clyde Shipbuilders in protest against plans to close the shipyard, with the loss of up to 6 000 jobs. The unusual industrial action received global attention, and the Heath government backed down, extending subsidies to keep the yard operating.

Whichever side of the argument you might be on, this is an illuminating debate, which provides a fascinating snapshot of Britain during a tumultuous time, and a side of Kenneth Williams rarely seen.

It’s a little ‘1970s’ in places; a woman in the audience accidentally gets Jimmy Reid’s name wrong, and Parky corrects with, “It’s Jimmy Reid, luv.”

Since being posted on YouTube earlier this year, the video has had over 8K views, many all the way through the complete 70 minutes, with engaged and thoughtful comments. It shows there is still an interest in sincere political debate, where differing opinions can be shared robustly without descending into name-calling and juvenile competitiveness.

The complete segment that led to the debate episode, during which Parky told Kenneth Williams he was talking crap and Kenneth replied with, “I’ve never been so insulted!”, cleverly relieving the tension, can be found here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FOv-XCWUck

#UK politics #working class history #social history #social justice #parkinson #kenneth williams #poverty #trade unions #upper clyde shipbuilders #socialism #conservatism #political debate #Modern History #class system #inequality #unemployment #housing #jimmy reid #industrial action

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scotianostra · 2 years

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On 20th September, 1967, the QE2 launched from John Brown’s yard in Clydebank.

By the end of the 1950s, discussion over the replacement of the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth was taking place. The decision to replace the ‘Queens’ was deemed to be of national importance and as such a special committee, known as the Chandos Committee was created to advise the Government and to determine whether such a project was economically viable. Originally Cunard had wanted to build two new liners with the help of a Government subsidy, however the committee’s report proposed that the Government loan Cunard £18 million towards the construction of one vessel. The project became known as ‘Q3’ and six British shipyards were asked to tender – this prestigious project was a huge opportunity for home based shipbuilders to construct a transatlantic liner.

The new ship, code-named was built by John Brown & Company Ltd, Clydebank (later Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd) and scheduled for May 1968. On 20th September 1967 the keel was launched by Queen Elizabeth II and the ship was named Queen Elizabeth 2. She was the last Atlantic Ocean Liner of it’s kind to be built in the UK.

QE2’s maiden transatlantic crossing set sail on 2 May 1969. She was well received by the American public, and became a profitable ship in her early years of service. During her first season, Cunard were able to repay £2.5 million of the Government loan. Her dual purpose design had allowed QE2 to thrive where her transatlantic counterparts could not.

In January 1971 while cruising in the Caribbean, QE2 received a distress call from the French liner Antilles. Antilles had run aground off the coast of Mustique in the Grenadines and caught fire. Being a fast ship in close proximity to the Antilles, QE2 went to her assistance.

However, by the time the QE2 arrived the passengers had been taken ashore. Antilles passengers and crew were brought aboard QE2 and taken to Barbados. As a testament to the quality of service offered aboard QE2, some of the Antille’s passengers booked subsequent cruises on the Cunarder.

In May 1972, while at sea during a transatlantic crossing, Captain William Law received notification that there was a bomb aboard QE2. Cunard took this threat very seriously and alerted the British Government who sent a bomb disposal unit out to the ship. Bomb disposal experts parachuted into the sea close to the ship and were brought aboard by QE2’s tenders. After a full sweep of the ship, the all clear was given as it turned out to be a hoax.

Later the FBI arrested the culprit for making similar threats against Pan American Airways. The bomb disposal teams were awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct.

As QE2’s cruising popularity increased and in response to the ongoing decline in shipping traffic on the North Atlantic, Cunard reduced the number of transatlantic crossings that QE2 took. The company maintained a strong summer presence on the Atlantic, however shifted the focus for the ship towards cruising. This saw QE2 undertake her first world cruise, an event that was well received – QE2 undertook a further 25 world cruises during her career.

Queen Elizabeth 2 was retired from active Cunard service in November 2008. She had been acquired by the private equity arm of Dubai World, which planned to begin conversion of the vessel to a 500-room floating hotel moored at the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

Following a multi-million-dollar investment programme, the 13-deck ship has been restored to her former glory and today serves as a world-class entertainment, tourism, hotel and dining destination in Dubai.

#Scotland #scottish #ocean liner #clyde ship #shipbuilding #history

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katiemcgroarty · 4 years

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♡

Wee pick from helensburgh today (kidson Park to be precise). Its become a bit of a family tradition to get a coffee (formerly a cone) and sit in this carpark with the radio on to watch the waves, the boats and submarines.

Alot of my work concerns class, and how social class effects all aspects of life. I took this photo (although I am by no means a photographer) because it encompassed the class divisions in the west of Scotland. Helensburgh is near Faslanr naval/nuclear base and the decision of Westminster to house nuclear weapons here remains a controversial one that, typically, can split a room.

This photo shows both the middle class hobby and investment of sailing and the working class reality of neglected social areas where decaying caterpillar climbing-frames dating back to the 60s can be found (my mum often remarks this particular climbing frame was there before she was born which was in the mid 60s). These boats ebb and wobble on the river Clyde, regularly waxed and tended to- while the rusty rusty caterpillar hasn't moved since the 1960s and is perched (legs akimbo) over a baldy patch of dirt from decades of children's playing. Next to the caterpillar is the bandstand that also predates the 1970s. Its once fashionable twisty iron fence is now rusty and almost resembles a creaky Tim Burton creation frozen in motion.

Not too far from the overturned "Sugarboat". Dating back to the 70s, its upturned hull a reminder of Scotland's exploitation of the sugar trade in Jamaica. My mum often tells me how my granda woke her up with the paper on day when she was a child, telling her he was going to helensburgh peir to see the vessel that had upturned during the night.

The Clyde once provided many working class men with jobs in shipbuilding, and thus many families with an income, food and housing. Not to mention the cultures that came with and flourished from the tradition of shipbuilding in the West of Scotland (good and bad). The river and its surrounding areas (the port, greenock, Helensburgh, Glasgow, the weird caravan park off the side of the port, in the middle of the clyde etc).

I cant ever be in Kidson Park (or even at home in West Dunbartonshire especially during my uni years in Edinburgh) without seeing stark contrasts in the lives of working and middle class people especially in the West of Scotland. The lives and markings of the social classes exist side by side and often intertwined yet utterly separate, in some ways opposites but still parallels. Its a weird place to be sometimes, and it's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it. It often reminds me of the early 20th century report of Boothe and Rowantree (commissioned to analyse social problems that the upper classes became aware if when to try to recruit/exploit the poor in calls to join the British armed forces in the Boer War in South Africa, if you haven't read/read about it- give it a Google i think u can even get it on BBC bitesize bc its a Higher/Nat 5 history topic!)

I included Kenneth McKellar's "The Song of the Clyde" in my dissertation as part of an exploration into how the repsentatiom of how working class Scotland was changing and being absorbed into "Kaleyard" visual culture. (A good book about the Scottish "Kaleyard" is Eleanor Yule and David Manderson's "The Glass Half Full" (2014)).

♡

#working class #dayoff #history #scottish artist #scottish history #helensburgh #dumbarton #sunday thoughts #nuclear weapons #CND #Bairns Not Bombs #west Dunbartonshire #working class sapphic artist #Spotify

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socialistworld · 3 years

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Britain: The 1971 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders occupation and work-in

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the gigantic struggle by Clydeside workers to defend their jobs and the communities that were reliant on the shipyards in that part of Scotland. In the summer of […]

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euroman1945-blog · 6 years

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The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Friday 17th August 2018

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. When I put last Fridays Daily Thistle together, I never expected it to be so popular, so many comments and IM’s plus a vast amount of shares, so I am going to try and emulate last Friday again and see what happens, if it’s just as popular, it will become a regular Friday event, sharing space as required with Archeological Friday, so watch this space….

IN THIS WEEK SIR WALTER SCOTT WAS BORN…. Scottish author and poet Sir Walter Scott was born on 15 August 1771 at College Wynd, Edinburgh. Much of his childhood was marred by ill health, but it was ironically these periods of illness which were to provide him with the inspiration for his later writings. Scott was made lame after contracting polio at the age of two. He was sent to live with his grandparents in the Scottish Borders, where he would gain a love of the countryside and first become aware of a rich tradition of Scottish folk tales. Scott travelled to various spas with his aunt Jenny, in the hope of curing his lameness and during their trips, absorbed her tales of the Borders. It was also whilst staying with his aunt as a teenager that Scott met James and John Ballantyne, who would later become his publishers. Initially Scott faced disapproval from certain sectors of the Borders communities, who believed that local tales should be transmitted only by word of mouth and never written down. However, he went ahead and published 'The Minstelsy of the Scottish Borders', before moving on to a career producing works which would become world famous, including 'Waverley', 'The Bride of Lamermoor' and 'Tales of My Landlord'.

PHILANTHROPIST ANDREW CARNEGIE DIED THIS WEEK…. Steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie died on 11 August 1919 of pneumonia. Carnegie was a self-made businessman who emigrated to America from Dunfermline at the age of thirteen. He worked his way up from a factory bobbin boy to become one of the world's richest men and a huge supporter of charities. Carnegie was founder of the Carnegie Steel Company which merged to become US Steel; with his resulting wealth enabling him to create many charitable foundations including the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In the years leading up to his death, Carnegie had begun to distribute his wealth to good causes, giving away over $350 million to foundations and charities across America, promoting his belief that 'a man who dies rich dies disgraced'. He is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York.

KING JAMES II WAS KILLED IN THE SIEGE OF ROXBURGH CASTLE THIS WEEK…. King James II was killed during the siege of Roxburgh Castle on 3 August 1460, whilst trying to take the castle from English hands. James II was a keen devotee of firearms and cannon and was killed when a cannon known as 'the lion', imported from Flanders, exploded. The siege continued after the king's death and the castle, which was one of the last to remain in English hands following the Wars of Independence, fell a few days later. James II was succeeded by his son James III, who was nine years old at the time of his father's death. James II's wife Mary of Guelders acted as regent until her own death in 1463.

JIMMY REID BEGAN A WORK IN AT JOHN BROWNS SHIPYARD…. Workers at the John Brown's Shipyard in Clydebank began a work in under the leadership of Jimmy Reid on 30 July 1971. The work in was announced after the famous shipyard faced liquidation following the collapse of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Union which had comprised: John Browns Fairfields Alexander Stephen & Sons Charles Connell & Co Yarrow Shipbuilders The work in allowed the John Brown workers to dispel the image of striking workers being 'work-shy' and allowed the men to complete their contracted work. The shipyard was sold in 1972 and continued to operate under Marathon Oil.

KING JAMES IV DECLARED WAR ON ENGLAND THIS WEEK…. King James IV of Scotland declared war on England after England's King Henry VIII invaded France. James was responding to French pleas for military aid from Scotland and also took the opportunity to try to take revenge for England's seizure of Scottish ships and partial non-payment of the marriage dowry of James's wife Margaret Tudor. After invading Northumbria, the war went badly for James and less than two months later, he was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field - the last British monarch to die in battle.

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE BEGAN THE JACOBITE RISING THIS WEEK…. Charles Edward Stuart landed at Eriskay with a force of seven men. Charles Edward, who became known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, was on a mission to restore the Stuarts to the throne. Although his invading party was small, he soon gained the assistance of Cameron of Lochiel and with the help of a growing number of Highlanders, was able to raise his standard at Glenfinnan and from there, mount an attack on Edinburgh. Charles Edward Stuart and his army went on to fight at the Battle of Prestonpans in September 1745, defeating a government army and marching further south, gathering thousands of supporters on the way. However, they would face eventual defeat at the Battle of Culloden the following year.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the history news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today is of Glasgow by Giuseppe Milo,,,

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Friday 17th August 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus #Scotland #News #Spain

#robertmcangus #robert mcangus #scotland #history #news #blog #travel

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jacknicholson1963 · 6 years

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In focus: The highly versatile Bay class auxiliaries

Like so many defence procurements, the delivery of the Bay Class landing ships was protracted and over-budget. Despite their difficult birth, the three vessels that remain in the fleet today have proved to be great assets to the Naval Service, offering flexibility and value for money in a variety of roles. Here we look at these ships and their history in detail.

The requirement to replace the 6 Round Table class LSLs, starting with RFA Sir Geraint and RFA Sir Percivale led to the establishment of the Alternative Landing Ship Logistic (ALSL) project in 1997. The 1998 Defence Review committed to a balanced amphibious capability for the RN and confirmed these ships would be constructed. The ALSL had evolved into the Landing Ship Dock Auxiliary, LSD(A) by Autumn of 2002 and the specification called for a ship that could carry at least 350 troops, had 500 lane metres for vehicles and embark 70 tonnes war maintenance reserves (stores, fuel and ammunition). The ship would be able to operate helicopters and mexeflotes, while being able to offload vehicles in conditions up to Sea State 3. The Albion class LPDs would provide the amphibious spearhead and command and control while the Bay class would back it up carrying a larger number of troops, vehicles and stores that will sustain the assault.

The MoD issued an invitation to tender for design and build of 2 ships with an option for a further 3 in 2000. A life major life extension refit of RFA Sir Bedevire had proved expensive and it was decided new ships would be more cost effective. On 26 October 2000 the MoD announced Swan Hunter on Tyneside had won the lead yard contract and would construct 2 ships, with a further 2 built by BAE Systems in Glasgow. The projected cost was around £300 million for the four vessels, all expected to be in service by the end of 2005. Swan Hunter planned to adapt the Dutch Royal Schelde Enforcer design used as the basis for HNMLS Rotterdam and the Spanish SPS Galicia, both commissioned in 1998. It should be noted that the design selected exceeded the original ALSL specifications by a considerable margin, in particular, the inclusion of the well dock which is still of great benefit today.

LSLs

Origins

Tyne

Clyde

Afloat on the Tyne

Fitting Out

Afloat on the Clyde

An ageing RFA Sir Percivale offloads Mexflote off Gosport after 13 months of operations in the Middle East in 2002. The Bay class are replacements for the 6 Round Table class LSLs (Landing Ship Logistic) originally completed between 1967-68

HNMLS Rotterdam based on the Enforcer design developed by Royal Schelde in the Netherlands and used as the basis for the Bay Class.

RFA Largs Bay being constructed at Swan Hunter, seen being assembled in the floating dock, March 2003.

RFA Mounts Bay under construction in Govan, August 2003. (Photo: Stuart Cameron)

The old and the new – RFA Sir Percivale and her replacement, RFA Largs Bay on Tyneside, August 2003.

RFA Largs Bay, fitting out at Swan Hunter, Wallsend.

RFA Cardigan Bay, just after her launch at BAE Systems Govan yard in Glasgow, April 2005.

An unhappy genesis

By 2000 Swan Hunter was a shadow of its former self, having gone through upheavals and buy-outs with very different management since it completed it last warship, HMS Richmond in 1993. A famous brand with a fine warship construction pedigree, SH was one of the casualties of ever-declining warship orders and the inability of British yards to compete for commercial shipbuilding. It had limped on in reduced form, surviving on work from the offshore energy industry. When bidding for the LSD(A) contract, SH significantly under-estimated both the work to adapt the Enforcer design to UK requirements, and the complexity of construction. The low cost and the attraction of creating 1,000 new jobs on Tyneside undoubtedly encouraged the MoD to enter into this conspiracy of optimism.

Delays in receiving design details from Royal Schelde meant work the first ship RFA Largs Bay started almost a year late. The first of 32 blocks that would make up Largs Bay were placed in the floating dock used for assembly in May 2002. Progress on outfitting was slower and more challenging than expected and by September 2003 the MoD effectively had to absorb liability for rising costs with an £84M bale-out of SH. As SH was lead yard, the problems had a knock-on effect, causing delays and cost increases to the construction of Mounts Bay and Cardigan Bay in Glasgow, with increasing tension between the two companies. RFA Mounts Bay was launched down a traditional slipway Govan on 9 April 2004 but received minor damage after becoming entangled in chains, hit the opposite bank of the river and a dock worker was injured while she was being secured alongside.

In November 2004 two of Largs Bay’s engines were accidentally filled with sea water and in June 2005 a crankshaft was written off during engine trials. Swan Hunter announced that after testing that both Largs Bay and Lyme Bay would need a further £20M spent on them to rectify construction errors. The MoD eventually transferred lead yard responsibility to BAE Systems and RFA Mounts Bay performed many of the lead ship functions, such as speed trials. The contract with SH was terminated entirely in 2006 and the unfinished RFA Lyme Bay was towed to Glasgow for completion. This marked the sorry end to a fine shipbuilder and foreseeable problems that cost the taxpayer at least £200 million beyond the original budget. The construction phase concluded in July 2007, when the last ship, RFA Lyme Bay was delivered to the MoD 18 months behind schedule.

General characteristics

At 16,190 tonnes, the Bay class are more than double the size of the Sir class LSLs they replaced. They have diesel-electric propulsion driving 2 azimuthing thruster pods. The pods are rotated to provide steering as well as thrust so the ships do not need rudders. Together with a bow thruster, a dynamic positioning system can hold the ship precisely in place, especially useful for mexefloat and small boat operations at sea. Electrical power for the thrusters is generated by 2 x Wärtsilä 8L26 (2.2 MW) and 2 x Wärtsilä 12V26 (3.3 MW) diesel generator sets. Maximum speed is a respectable 18 knots, with a range of 8,000 miles at 15 knots.

Standard RFA crew compliment is just 59 with accommodation for up to 75 to allow for additional RN personnel or trainees. There is good accommodation for an Embarked Military Force of 356 fully equipped combat troops, this can be increased to 500, using camp beds in spare compartments. Up to 700 could be carried for short periods in war “overload” conditions. The ship has been designed with wide passageways to allow fully equipped troops to reach disembarkation areas quickly and has an airtight NBCD citadel, usually found on warships. There are about 1,200 line-metres available on the vehicle deck with a theoretical load of up to 24 Challenger tanks and 150 trucks. Vehicles can be embarked through door in the starboard side and there is a lift to transport vehicles or stores between the vehicle deck and upper deck. There is also space on the upper deck for either 12 x 40-TEU or 24 x 24-TEU containers. Two 30-tonne upper deck cranes are used for cargo handling and to load LCVPs and boats on or off the upper deck. The floodable well dock has space for either 2 Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel (LCVP) or 1 Landing Craft Utility (LCU). Two large Mexeflotes (powered rafts) can be carried, strapped to the port and starboard side of the ship.

Capacity

Shelter

Medical

Gym

EMF

Dining

Chartroom

Bridge

Dock

An empty vehicle deck gives a good sense of the ship’s considerable capacity.

Without a permanent hangar, a temporary fabric aircraft shelter is usually carried by the Bay class vessels.

Medical facility.

Gymnasium.

The Embarked Military Force (EMF) accommodation is deep in the ship below the vehicle deck. (Photos via Seb Haggart)

Rates Dining hall.

Chartroom behind the bridge.

The captain on the bridge of RFA Mounts Bay

A US Navy Riverine Command Boat (RCB) enters the well dock of RFA Cardigan Bay during joint operations in the Gulf.

Modifications

Despite the troubled build project, the lead ship RFA Mounts Bay was accepted off-contract in late 2005 and began extensive trials, culminating in mid-2006 with a successful amphibious capability demonstration involving landing Challenger Tanks, Royal Marines and helicopter operations. The original design has proved sound, although some minor modifications or additions have been made during the decade or so they have been in service. A weakness of the Bay class is the lack of permanent aircraft hangar but in 2008 Rubb UK was contracted to design and fit the first temporary aircraft shelter to RFA Cardigan Bay. All four ships have been subsequently been fitted with this 15m x 18m steel-framed and fabric-covered structure that offers some protection from the elements for aircraft, boats, stores and personnel (not always fitted).

The original design included two small funnels at the aft end of the ship with the exhaust in long horizontal ducts running almost half the length of the ship. This arrangement did not prove satisfactory as fumes could envelop the upper deck and interfere with flight operations in some circumstances. To rectify this, tall exhaust funnels have been fitted on the upper deck amidships, almost directly above the diesel engines below.

Ships deploying to higher threat regions have been fitted with two 20mm Phalanx CIWS and two DS30B 30mm cannons. Initially, the Phalanx units were bolted to the upper deck amidships, port and starboard. For her service in the Gulf in 2016 Lyme Bay was fitted with Phalanx in a fore and aft arrangement as the original design intended, one placed on the foredeck mount and one on the aft superstructure. This offers better arcs of fire and less clutter on upper deck area.

Assualt

Mother

Relief ship

Loaded

Mexeflote

Troops

Irma

Olympics

RFA Mounts Bay deployed in her intended primary amphibious role. Exercise Armatura Borealis in Norway, March 2008.

Mothership to minehunters – RFA Cardigan Bay with HMS Ramsey, Quorn and Shoreham escorted by HMS Diamond, Arabian Gulf, August 2012.

RFA Largs Bay crosses the Atlantic with stores for the Haiti earthquake relief operation, Feb 2010.

Vehicle deck full of Land Rovers donated by the UK for Haiti earthquake relief operations.

Royal Marine vehicles offloaded onto Mexeflote from RFA Mounts Bay, Exercise Corsican Lion, 2011.

Royal Marines embark in RFA Cardigan Bay at Marchwood, prior to the Cougar 2011 deployment.

RFA Mounts Bay docked down during post-hurricane Irma relief operations in the Caribbean, 2017.

RFA Mounts Bay alongside in Portland, used as accommodation ship and base for small boats during security operations around the Olympics sailing events in 2012.

Largs Bay sold

The ill-conceived and brutal round of cuts to the Navy in the 2010 SDSR resulted in the sale of RFA Largs Bay. Brazil, Chile and India were all potential buyers but she was sold to Australia in March 2011. After a refit and training period for the new crew in Falmouth, the ship recommissioned as HMAS Choules in Sydney in December 2011. Unexpected defects with voltage converters kept the ship out of service until April 2013 but she has since served the Australian navy well as part of a programme to substantially enhance their amphibious capability. Considering the sale raised just £65M for the UK Treasury and the approximate operating cost of a Bay class is under £10M per annum, the loss of such a useful ship is a continuing source of regret, a triumph of fiscal short-termism over common sense.

Our flexible friends

In service the Bay class have proven to have the capacity and capability to take on a wide range of tasks. They are the hardest working ships of the RFA flotilla and there is no doubt we could use more vessels of this type. A detailed history of each vessel can be found here but a few important highlights of their diverse work in the last decade include;

In 2006 RFA Mounts Bay participated in Operation Vela – the largest deployment of amphibious vehicles by the UK since 2001 and aimed at demonstrating the ability of the UK to conduct coastal and amphibious operations in the unique environments of West Africa. The Bay class vessels have participated in most of the annual Cougar/JEFM deployments (2011-2016) and occasionally in the Joint warrior exercise series, proving their amphibious capabilities.

While conducting her first Caribbean deployment (APT(N)), in December 2007 RFA Largs Bay intercepted a boat carrying 1.125 tons of cocaine worth £45 million. In February 2008 RFA Lyme Bay was sent to Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic for Operation Zest – emergency repairs to Calshot Harbour, critical to the Island’s ability to land supplies. Lyme Bay landed construction materials, equipment and personnel who were able to re-open the harbour.

In March 2016 RFA Mounts Bay was assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) in response to the migrant crisis in the Aegean Sea where she patrolled off the island of Lesbos, escorting over 350 migrants to safety. In June 2016 she was reassigned to Operation Sophia, tracking human and arms smugglers operating off Libya. The ship had effectively demonstrated a Bay class could also be used for patrol and maritime security tasks.

In the wake of a major earthquake in 2010, RFA Largs Bay was hurriedly loaded and despatched with relief supplies. Working under the auspices of the World Food Programme, using Mexefloats she delivered food and vehicles across beaches to the populations of Haiti’s Southern Peninsula that were cut off from supply by road. In August 2015 RFA Lyme Bay was sent to Dominica to provide assistance in the wake of Tropical Storm Erika which caused widespread damage. The ship provided 7,170 hot meals, 78,000 litres of water, 20 tonnes of dry provisions and treated 35 medical cases. She provided similar help in October 2015 when a hurricane hit the Bahamas. The immense work of RFA Mounts Bay in the wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017 is covered here.

Choules

Pods

Merlin

UAV

Gulf

UUVs

minehunter

Falklands

Boats

HMAS Choules conducts humanitarian aid exercise Croix du Sud with French forces in New Caledonia, May 2018. Note she retains the original aft funnel configuration. (Photo: RAN)

The two steerable azimuth thrusters clearly visible before the launch of RFA Mounts Bay, April 2004. The pods have been turned to face forward for the launch. (Photo: Stuart Cameron)

Merlin Mk3 helicopter deck landing trials on RFA Lyme Bay, 2015.

Scan Eagle UAV leased to the Royal Navy, trialled aboard RFA Cardigan Bay in the Gulf, Jan 2014.

US Navy helicopter embarked aboard RFA Lyme Bay during US-UK Mine Countermeasures exercises in the Arabian Gulf, April 2016. (Photo: US Navy)

US Navy operating minehunting UUVs from RFA Lyme Bay in the Arabian Gulf, Aug 2016. (Photo: US Navy)

Sailors from US Navy Helicopter Mine Counter Measures Squadron (HM) 15 help pull in a MK-105 Mod 4 Sled, used for mine countermeasures, into the well deck of RFA Lyme Bay, Nov 2009. (Photo: US Navy)

RAF Sea King Search and Rescue helicopter landing on RFA Largs Bay in the Falkland Islands in 2009.

Offshore Raiding Craft and LCACs from 539 Assault Squadron, Royal Marines loaded onto RFA Lyme Bay in Devonport prior to Exercise Joint Warrior April 2018. Note the deck shelter not fitted.

Current operations

RFA Mounts Bay has been in the Caribbean since June 2017 and played a major role in relief operations after hurricane Irma. She conducted a maintenance period at Detyen Shipyards, Charleston, South Carolina with help from A&P Group engineers in May 2018. She is now back in the Caribbean and prepared to provide assistance, should she be required during this year’s hurricane season. She will stay in the region well into 2019, the longest ever sustained deployment of either a warship or RFA on this task. (RFA crews rotate with personnel typically serving for approximately 4 months at sea, followed by 3 months off).

Based in Bahrain, a Bay class vessel is permanently deployed in the Gulf for extended periods, serving as the mothership to the RN and US mine countermeasures vessels. RFA Cardigan Bay replaced RFA Lyme Bay in this role in mid-2017. Lyme Bay’s medical facilities were tested with simulated casualties and surgeries during a 7-day US-UK exercise Azraq Serpent in January 2018. In June 2018 she participated in one of the frequent US-UK Mine Countermeasures Exercises (MCMEX) which enhance cooperation, mutual mine countermeasure capabilities and interoperability.

RFA Lyme Bay completed a major refit at A&P Falmouth in March 2018 and exercised her amphibious role during Joint Warrior in April. Lyme Bay is completing another maintenance period in Falmouth and being fitted out for operations in the Gulf. In the Autumn, she is expected to participate in the tri-service exercise Saif Sareea 3 off Oman, the largest UK training activity in the Gulf region for 17 years which will involve Army Challenger 2 main battle tanks and Warrior infantry fighting vehicles.

A bright future

When permanently deployed in the Gulf the ships have not only excelled as motherships for the MCMVs, but also hosted small boats and unmanned vehicles. UUVs involved in mine warfare operate from the well dock and surveillance UAVs have been launched from the flight deck. There is a growing school of thought that suggests relatively cheap motherships hosting sophisticated unmanned systems could be force multipliers and play a significant role in future naval combat. The Bay class are in pole position to develop and expand this concept for the RN.

The Bay class design also has the potential to be the basis for a dedicated aid ship, a hospital ship or a Joint Casualty Treatment Ship (JCT). In 2001 the MoD actually began the Assessment phase for two JCT ships, slated to enter service by 2012. In desperate straits and looking for further work in 2005, Swan Hunter proposed that they convert the completed RFA Lyme Bay into a JCT but the MoD had already abandoned the project, accepting RFA Argus will have to soldier on until 2024.

With two of the there vessels almost permanently “forward-deployed” to the Gulf and the Caribbean it effectively leaves just one vessel available for amphibious work. To some extent, they have been a victim of their own success because of their ability to excel in a variety of roles. The RN’s amphibious lift which looked so healthy in the 1998 plans has now been reduced to a single LPD and a single Bay class (with a QEC carrier able to offer a part-time LPH capability from around 2023). Although a very faint hope, the aspiration to procure another 2 or 3 similar ships would be a very cheap way to help re-invigorate amphibious capability.

All three ships have recently joined Twitter and you can follow them at @RFACardiganBay / @RFAMountsBay / @RFALymeBay

from Save the Royal Navy https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/in-focus-the-highly-versatile-bay-class-auxiliaries/

#Save the Royal Navy

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