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LUNCH/LECTURE SATURDAY 13
FEBRUARY
Thirtynine members and
guests, one of the highest attendances at a lunch/lecture for some
time, greatly enjoyed the talk given by Ms Joanne Cable, the World
Heritage Manager at Chatham Dockyard. Joanne explained how the idea of
a World Heritage site began in 1959 when the temples at Abu Simbel
were at risk from flooding with the creation of Lake Nasser. Since
then, 890 sites, including 27 in the UK, have been so designated and
the intention is that Chatham will be proposed as a site, with the bid
being submitted in 2012. The bid recognises Chatham's unique status as
the most complete dockyard in the world, and reflects the importance
of the Royal Navy in British history and in shaping Britain's world
wide influence. Joanne's presentation took us through the main
attractions of the site, and explained the economic benefits which
World Heritage status would bring. We hope to follow up this
fascinating talk with a visit to Chatham in June, details to be
confirmed.
AGM/LUNCH/LECTURE SATURDAY
13 MARCH
The Annual General Meeting
of the Association will be held on the morning of Saturday 13 March
2010. The agenda and supporting papers have been sent to members. As
in previous years, the meeting will be followed by a lunch/lecture.
Our speaker will be our very own John Woods who will describe the work
of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) for
whom he works. This year is the 125th Anniversary of SSAFA Forces Help
so it is very fitting that we will learn more about their invaluable
work. Bookings should be made with John Woods by Monday 8
March.
RECEPTION WITH MAYOR OF
WORTHING THURSDAY 25 MARCH
One of our members, Lt Cdr
Noël Atkins RD RNR, has served as Councillor in Worthing for many
years and is currently the Mayor. To mark his period in office, Noël
has invited members of SANO to join him for a drinks reception in the
parlour at the Town Hall in Worthing, to be held on Thursday 25 March.
Members who wish to attend are invited to apply through the
Secretary.
PROGRAMME FOR 2010
Here is the rest of the
programme for 2010. All details are provisional, but we hope that
changes will be slight.
|
Event |
Date |
|
Annual dinner (at Lancing College) |
Sat
17 April |
|
Lunch/lecture |
Sat
12 June |
|
Visit to Chatham Dockyard |
June (date to be confirmed) |
|
Barbecue |
Sat
24 July (note change of date) |
|
Guest lunch |
Sat
11 September |
|
Trafalgar Night Dinner |
Sat
23 October |
|
Lunch/lecture |
Sat
13 November |
|
President's Evening |
Fri
10 December |
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Members who know Lt Cdr
Nigel (“Nobby”) Hall RN will be delighted to learn that he was
recently nominated for the Turks and Caicos Weekly News Person of the
Year 2009 Award; he then made it into the final three short list, and
eventually finished up as a Joint Winner. BZ Nobby.
HMS SHOREHAM
SANO has recently heard
from Lt Cdr Antony Crabb, the CO of the ship. He tells us that she has
spent a lot of time recently working out of Kyle of Lochalsh,
supporting the Fleet Diving Squadron and conducting trials with the
RN's Mine Disposal System. Their diving support has helped the teams
to complete their training with new equipment and to reach the new
maximum depth of 60 m. The ship will be carrying out a varied
programme in the near future, including carrying out underwater
strategic reconnaissance around Britain, supporting the training of
officers of the RN and Qatar, and carrying out some self maintenance.
She intends to return to Shoreham-by-Sea before being deployed to the
Middle East towards the end of the year.
HMS SUSSEX REUNION
The annual reunion of HMS
SUSSEX Shipmates' Association will be held at the Sussex Yacht Club on
Saturday 10 April. Cost will be £8.50 to include the cost of the
buffet. More details from Dave (“Doc”) Sutton, tel 01273 870029 email
ds.charbee@btinternet.com.
NEW AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
With all the economic bad
news and the imminent General Election, there has been much
speculation (including in this newsletter) about the likelihood of one
or both of the new ships being built. A well placed source sends us
the following optimistic comments:
• Both will be Short
Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) carriers at build (we always planned
flexibility to convert to CV, if needed for future aircraft, remember
50 year life).
• Both will have the
capability of being reconfigured as Landing Platform, Helicopter (LPH)
ships. This is a legitimate requirement of the Navy and was in the
carrier requirement. documents from day 1 (ten years ago). It's to
cover for HMS OCEAN when in refit (every six years). The navy is also
being wise in giving the carriers wider utility in defence (see USN
Carl Vinson off Haiti).
• Jet numbers will be
debated in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), as will most things,
but definitely no decisions yet we haven't even got a new Government
yet!
• Carriers are brilliant
for helo's QE Class can carry a fully spread Chinook on the aircraft
lifts and take loads in the hangar so perfect for the new MOD heavy
helicopter strategy.
• Ignore all speculation
carriers have huge momentum and good political support.
• Why political support?
Six shipyards with 57 tier 2 suppliers each with typically around 90
tier 3 suppliers each.
• Why political support?
Carriers meet the future needs of defence flexible,hard and soft
power, deployable etc etc.
• Nearly all the material
for two carriers has been ordered (£1.2Bn to date) each contract is
for two sets of carrier equipment.
• The full contract is
committed and there are legal obligations with a number of
shipbuilders (eg BAE Systems 15 year throughput deal).
• SDR will be tough and
will hurt, but bottom line is that we couldn't be more confident of
delivering two carriers.
TAILPIECE
Stories about bullying in
10 Downing Street are not new. In June 1940 Clementine Churchill wrote
to Winston because she was very concerned about his behaviour towards
his staff. She concluded with the following wise words “…you won't
get the best results by irascibility & rudeness. They will breed
either dislike or a slave mentality. (Rebellion in War time being out
of the question!)” which every leader should
heed:
Best wishes
Ian
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