A Container full of tanks

[wibblywobbly]

You would be amazed at just how much of Englands Oak Forests were chopped down to build those old fleets. It was an incredible amount of timber. I love watching Master and Commander, that is the naval equivalent of Saving Private Ryan.

[Saxondog]

Yes that's a great movie,so is the HORNBLOWER SERIES.Did you know the coast guard tall ship was a German training vessel we took after the war.She is steal sailing,and coast guard officers train under sail on this ship.The EAGLE is a great ship.What is in YORK? Please advise.Sax

[BREL]

the National Railway Museum
Yorvik Viking centre
York minster

[Saxondog]

Thank-you Brel,that sounds interesting.Their is so much I want to see in the UK.I'm sure that we may all get a chance to meet.I would really enjoy seeing these sites with some tankers,and bovington is a must.If I could only see two things it would be VICTORY and BOVINGTON.Hopefully it will be in about two years when our twins go off to college,then me and the wife can travel which is much cheaper than with the kids.Sax

[Abo]

Saxon, I did the Victory/ naval yard thing a while back, you'll love it. I've seen the Victory before as a kid and its still awesome but I was absolutely blown away by the Warrior! Warship? More like a work of art, fantastic! The Mary Rose was pretty interesting too, very eery when the lights come on and you see the hull through the mist of the sprays. Funnily enough the thing that made one of the biggest impacts was seeing one of the Victory's sails laid out with all the cannon shot from the battle of Trafalgar, made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck!

[Saxondog]

I did not realize they had raised the MARY ROSE.Wow she went down 19 July 1545,she had been rebuilt in 1536 with gun ports on three decks.One thing about Henry VIII was he was navy minded,even ordered the foundry to make breech loaders,smart guy.How did they pull that off,and what about all the men on board?Was their not remains,at least they must of found armor,stuff from their every day life.She went down in full view of Henry and the took her captain a lord Sir George Carew,500 men with her.Sorry did not mean to carry on but navel history is my true calling,if not for an accident on my 21-birthday I would have been a navel historian.And the British fleet ruled the waves for 400years,truly amazing for such a small country.The fleet should have kept the VANGUARD,she could have changed the situation in the FALKLAND WAR.Her 15"guns would have made short work of their airstrip provided she had air support.Thankfully President Reagan understood that the Iowa class battleships were great missile platforms and tactical command ships,also 3ft.of armor is difficult to penetrate.We still have all four,they are home ported around the country in different cities.Well enough Navy talk,I've started rambling on,I have navel books every where so I had the info handy.Cheers sax

[BREL]

I did the victory too in 1988 and it was a brilliant experiance, but mind your head below decks

[nw explorer]

I have a cousin who lives in the U.S.A has some top job in the Navy.When i was a kid he got me on board the U.S Enterprise that is one massive ship.I was only very young but i still have the pennant that i was given.

[Abo]

Saxon,

Yeah they recovered lots of artifacts from the site (bones too which I think were given a naval re burial if I'm not mistaken) Long bows, tons of pewter, fabulous personal items. The surgeons kit (like the one on the Victory) for "curing" sexual diseases caught by the sailors was scary. Make me think twice about putting my family jewels where they don't belong!!

You'll love the visit when you come over, WELL worth it especially if you're into naval history. Its amazing how the navy has influenced our language too with sayings we still use today, thats how important our navy was for us in the UK. Shame Disney has a bigger surface fleet than us now!

[wibblywobbly]

Its interesting how times change. Just prior to our involvement in the 1st World War the Navy was assembled at Portsmouth for the Royal review. I think I am right in recalling (from records - not personal experience!) that the line of battleships stretched for something like 40 miles.

After the event was over they were all secretly sent to Scapa Flow in Scotland to await the offensive. The Battle of Jutland followed. Unfortunately, the British, being the British, hadn't reckoned on the German ingenuity...they were already going down the U-boat route, and within a very short period of time into the war our impressive fleet was decimated, and was then almost permanently at sea for fear of U-Boats getting into Scapa Flow and destroying the whole lot.

Of course, the British, being the British, made the same mistake with air power...we aren't very quick learners are we?? lol

Another bit of trivia - The British kept their munitions at Woolwich Arsenal, but had no idea how to fight modern warfare when the 1st World War started. Shells were all neatly stored, and strictly controlled. They were dusted off every night, and sometimes sent to the front one at a time (we couldn't go wasting shells could we?). The ingenuity of the front line troops in making their own munitions from all sorts of concoctions is a story in itself.

And another bit - The British invented Guerilla Warfare. Up to and including the start of WW1, armies drew up against each other and slogged it out on a battlefield till one side won. The British adopted the tactic of a quick and ferocious onslaught of firepower, followed by a hasty retreat. Our riflemen were the only ones in the world who could load and fire at their incredible rate. When you watch the Artillery Display at the Edinburgh Tattoo, that is what they are re-enacting, the Cavalry hated leaving their big guns behind, so had to be able to set them up, fire, dismantle them, and cart them off using horses over very inhospitable terrain.

...and that is where the idea for tanks came from!