HMS Queen Elizabeth documentary

[keithjs]

Looks like this could be worth a watch. BBC 2 9pm Sunday for 6 weeks.

 

 

[One 48]

I missed it .. argh, did anyone watch it, any good?

Good to see the boat populated with F-35s at last, heh, once watched a 3 part documentary of her building and sea trials of the ship ages ago when it had no aircraft.

Edited January 23, 2023 by One 48

[Pete Robin]

On 1/23/2023 at 5:29 PM, One 48 said:

I missed it .. argh, did anyone watch it, any good?

Good to see the boat populated with F-35s at last, heh, once watched a 3 part documentary of her building and sea trials of the ship ages ago when it had no aircraft.

It was a very interesting watch for all sorts of reasons. Aren't really a Navy type but the professionalism shown in the face of, how shall we say, "purile" provocation was exceptional.

Was very strange seeing American A/C and American personnel on a British warship.

Will be watching out for the rest of the series.

Regards

Pete

 

[Filler]

I accept the production and editorial influences and that it is intended as entertainment, but having watched the first three episodes, I’m left with a sense that the RN today and the QE is somewhere between an 18-30 holiday and a crèche.

 

I’ve never served, but a year in the Sea Cadets in the late 80’s (which was a couple of hours on a Tuesday night) seemed a tougher experience.

[Pete Robin]

Just watched the 3rd, 4th and 5th episodes on I player. At times I can kinda agree with Filler in his comments above. But temper that with long, long periods away from home, the daily pressures of manning a ship of that size AND making sure you remain a top notch fighting force, I can see why the crew seem so rowdy and "childish" for want of a better word.

It seems to me that compared with a US ship, our crew numbers are down on what they might be. Someone on the programme made the remark that there are less crew but MORE jobs to do, thus ramping up the pressure on those youngsters even more.

Episode 4  was heartbreaking when the young sailor on one of the frigates committed suicide. Even with the headspace problems I suffer, I cannot imagine what set of situations or pressures could force someone of that tender age to take their own life or how nobody spotted he was struggling.

There are many striking things in these episodes. How a "new" ship can have so many mechanical failures of its equipment is baffling. Plus the general tatty state of gangways, stairwells etc. Have we reached the stage where the RN can't afford 5 litres of Battleship Grey? Compare that with the near pristine state that the ship's aircraft are kept in. No black panel  lines and faded paintwork here I'm afraid.

It's kinda sad that in the 21st century the British Royal Navy can only put a reasonably force at sea with the aid of several US Navy aircraft to make up numbers.

 

Anyways, that's a land lubbers point of view. I have enjoyed watching and am looking forward to the 6th and final part.

 

Regards

Pete

[spruecutter96]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:39 PM, Filler said:

I’ve never served, but a year in the Sea Cadets in the late 80’s (which was a couple of hours on a Tuesday night) seemed a tougher experience.

This is an interesting statement.

 

During your time in the Sea Cadets, was there a significant risk of fires, explosions, aircraft crashing on decks and lots of other types of accidents and emergencies? I have a feeling, probably not.   

 

Chris. 

[Filler]

15 hours ago, spruecutter96 said:

This is an interesting statement.

 

During your time in the Sea Cadets, was there a significant risk of fires, explosions, aircraft crashing on decks and lots of other types of accidents and emergencies? I have a feeling, probably not.   

 

Chris. 

Perhaps not significant, but being in quite a bad area and situated under the Manchester airport flightpath, it couldn't be totally ruled out.

 

I suppose if for some strange reason a film crew had come to film us over a year and used less than 6 hours of footage, they could perhaps have carefully edited a version that seemed steeped in jeopardy. I do have faint recollection that some of the officers/instructors got more vexed over our failure to execute a bowline than the tv series portrayed the officers reaction to going someone going AWOL. But time does things to our memories.

[spruecutter96]

_{The fact is that careful editing can convey anything that the documentary-makers want it to. I watched a Youtube video a while ago in which a fairly well-known actor was interviewed for an hour. The video-producers then showed you an edit of his comments that made him appear like a sexist, misanthropic, spiky and deeply-unpleasant person. They then produced a second edit, which gave him the appearance of a very liberal, reasonable and well-read individual. The thing was that a lot of the comments in the negative version were presented entirely without any real context or background. I just tried to find the video again and it appears to have been removed.} 

 

One particularly interesting section involved him starting his sentence with "It has been reported..." and then saying "I don't agree with that view at all" at the end. When they removed these comments, it made him look like a real "you-know-what hole", who was harboring some very socially-unacceptable views, by modern standards. 

 

_{That's where the "power" of editing comes in.} 

 

_Chris.