Paul E

Hi Francis, These Lasers (or as they are now being called directed energy weapons) are far more powerful than the range finders that we know. In fact they are so hungry for energy that they need extra generation capacity and energy storage banks to feed them, which means that there is a whole heap of big below deck equipment needed for this which is never mentioned in the glossies. Whilst there may be an advantage that the magazine never empties; I wonder like you how it would operate safely when in company with other ships or aircraft. And worse still if the Laser is reflected back off the sea surface whilst trying to bring down a sea skimming missile you are going to get a nasty dose of your own medicine.

I think you have a point. I can't see how this is going to stop a missile travelling in excess of Mach 3. Even if it heats the missile up sufficiently quickly for it to explode, there will still be plenty enough shrapnel travelling at high speed in a forward direction to give someone a bad day.

That's a better picture. And yes it is most definitely an HF wire antenna. I don't know if you can still get them but White Ensign did Photo Etch aerial spreaders but it depends on what scale you want to model at. The spacing between the individual wires is determined by the frequency and as such HF aerial spreaders for WWII IJN, USN or RN ships would all be suitable. I hope this helps.

Judging by the location and the fact there are not many whip antenna on the ship I would say that this is a wire HF radio communications antenna suspended between the masts with the feeder coming up from a base tuner aft of the funnel. It is a pretty generic sort of antenna.

I saw this when I visited DSEi this week. It's actually quite big, it's about the size of a small calibre gun mounting.

Progress I am afraid has been a little slow. I have however managed to locate a picture of HMS Hardy as she was when my father served on her which is very useful as the ships underwent a number of changes throughout their lives. As for the model, I have added Photo Etch doors and ladders and reconstructed the area after the bridge break and sanded down the model remove blemishes in the hull moulding. Next up for the hull is painting prior to me reapplying detail starting with the bollards; The anchor capstans are next on my to do list.

In my Work in Progress for my models of HMS Somerset and the Revel Type143 Fast Attack Craft I show my technique for modelling the ship underway at sea, one with a waterline hull and one with a full hull: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234979406-hms-somerset-f82/&page=5 http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235018823-revell-type-143-albatross-class-fast-attack-craft/&page=3 I use textured paper as a base and then texture paste to form the wake pattern. There are other methods which you will find on the hints and tips part of the forum. I hope this helps. Paul

HMS Argyll - my last ship. Interesting to see that the Sea Ceptor missiles are mounted at a slight angle unlike the previous Sea Wolf system. I wonder if there is a worry that if the rocket motor doesn't ignite after the soft launch there is a chance of the missile coming back to mama?

Thank you for the mention . Your Royal Sovereign has turned out rather nicely. I thought about using EZ line to rig my Victory but I was worried about there being too much tension, but you have done a good job and it looks spot on. Well done.

Martian, Chris and Beefy I think this gives the answer you are looking for: I ended up deciding the piecemeal approach to detailing was not going to work so I stripped the model down of all its moulded detail with exception of the funnel and I am going to start building up from there. Here are some of the new pieces I have built to replace the bridge and the deckhouse immediately aft of the bridge. I have been keeping notes as I go along so I have a record of dimensions and I make sketches from the photographs to give me ideas of the detail I need to apply. One advantage of stripping the model back is that it will make painting the deck and hull easier.

A fair point Steve and maybe an Abbreviations and Acronyms thread needs to be created. However let me enlighten you on those which you have listed here: OOW - Officer of the Watch. The Officer responsible for the bridge and ship maintaining it's course and look out. As the captain can't be on the bridge driving the ship all the time, this is delegated to the Officer of the Watch. If the ship needs to change course or take avoiding action the Officer of the Watch defers to the Captain for orders. OST - Operational Sea Training. All ships in the Royal Navy have to undertake periodic Operational Training which is run out of Plymouth. The Operational Sea Training organisation is run under the auspices of a Flag Officer and the organisation is collectively known as FOST (Flag Officer Sea Training). BOST is Basic Operational Sea Training and last 6 weeks and tests the ship and its crew for scenarios ranging from high tempo warfare with real submarines and aircraft to natural disaster relief. The staff of FOST are senior and experienced Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers and are very distinguishable as they wear green jackets. The staff who run the damage control part of the course are known as wreckers, I think you can hazard a guess why. OPS Room - is the Operations Room or Command Information Centre (CIC) in US Navy parlance. The OPS room is the sensor and war fighting hub of the ship and is full of computer screens displaying graphics of the radar and other sensors fitted on the ship. The picture displayed on the screens is known as the PLOT. RFA - Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Unlike the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal Australian Navy the refuelling tankers that accompany the fleet are not part of the Royal Navy but are manned by civilian sailors of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the ships fly the Blue Ensign. DRIU - Damage Repair Instruction Unit. This is a metal box on hydraulic legs in which you put sailors. Then the lights are switched off and the box is filled with water whilst simultaneously being shaken about. The aim for those inside is to stop as much of the water getting in to the box as possible before your head touches the deck head (ceiling). There is a fire-fighting equivalent which substitutes fire for water though thankfully they don't shake the fire units about. All Ratings and Officers have to undertake the Sea Safety course before they join their ships which includes the DRIU and Fire Fighting Units. TA - Towed Array. which is a Sonar that is towed behind the ship, it acts like a big sea anchor and does horrible things to the ship structure and movement. STUFT - Ship Taken Up from Trade. These are civilian vessels commandeered for Naval service. JMC - Joint Maritime Course. This is an international training exercise that is held off the North Coast of Scotland a couple of times a year which frequently degenerates into the Royal Navy showing off how it can operate in atrocious weather when all the other participant nations exercise common sense and seek shelter! RAS - Replenishment at Sea. This is where the ship comes up alongside a fleet tanker at sea to refuel and store. CBM - Chief Bosun Mate. The senior seamanship specialist on the ship and is a Non Commissioned Officer. Normally big, burly and carries an impressive set of knives. OFSTED has nothing to do with the Navy at all, but is an organisation in the UK that inspects schools and education facilities for standards. And finally the acronym for a Civilian is a Civvie. Derogatory terms are specially reserved for Pongo's (Army) and Crabs (Air Force). I hope this helps.

I had missed this post earlier. And if true it is a damning statement. Because the steering system is dual redundant plus the ship has two prop shafts. So if the wheel on the bridge fails the fall back is to close up the emergency team in the tiller flat as fast as possible and switch to independent shaft operation. In the Royal Navy when steaming in close company with other ships or in closed waters (say the Malacca Straits) then the watertight integrity of the ship is increased and personnel (Special Sea Duty Men) are closed up at the emergency steering position should such an event occur. It seems that the USN (or this particular ship) are very lax at such things. I am gob smacked!

Laurie, I am aware of that fact, I am merely pointing out that there would have likely been limitations on the propulsion system at the time of the incident. By the way reversing a prop on a Gas Turbine ship is achieved by reversing the pitch of the propeller. Dave, Your explanation seems more than plausible, but even so a bridge team which would have had experience of close ship interaction from RAS and OOW manoeuvres should have been aware of such risks.

Spot on assessment.

Laurie, The ship's speed and manoeuvrability will be determined by the Engine states and limitations. DDGs have 4 Gas Turbines for propulsion which are configured as 2 for cruise speed and 2 to give boost to maximum speed. The likely hood at the time of the incident the 2 boost Gas Turbines would have been shutdown but available at 5 minutes notice. So although in theory the ship is capable of accelerating to over 30 knots that is only possible if all 4 Gas Turbines are on-line. I do not know what the cruise speed range is for a DDG but I don't think it would be much greater than the 17knots of the tanker.