Supporters Ian_Gere Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 Just got made aware of this in an Arrse email - British warship HMS Brilliant torpedoed WHALES during Falklands War after mistaking them for enemy submarines A British warship fired on and killed three whales during the Falklands War after mistaking them for enemy submarines. The startling revelation is contained within new eyewitness accounts of the tense days aboard anti-submarine frigate HMS Brilliant during the 1982 conflict in the southern seas. Radar on the Royal Navy ship was unable to distinguish between attacking 'Wolf Packs' of subs and a pod of whales. In one instance, two of the mammals were killed by torpedoes and the third was attacked by one of the ship’s helicopters. Read more... As a vegetarian-whale-loving-pinko-long-haired-liberal-goddam-progressive-leftist-peacenik, with a lifetime of accusations and probably inclusion on several watch lists to prove it, I feel pretty guilty about finding this hilarious! Many of you will be too young to have experienced the Falklands conflict in real time, and I expect that I'd not have brought quite so much critical thinking to bear on the news as we received it, since I was only 14, had it not been for the fact that I knew people who were deployed there. No doubt you are aware of the media machine which has sprung up around the various Middle East conflicts which have been part of our daily infotainment since Gulf War I, but back in 1982 it was in its infancy and not at all sophisticated by today's standards. It was obvious that there were many things going on down there which were, and I apologise for this, fishy, but the govt. and our much loved news readers generally managed to keep straight faces while they painted a picture of righteous action conducted with the kind of professionalism and efficiency one would hope for from our "best in the world" military. Now, this all became important when we were told that the order to sink the Argentine Navy Cruiser the General Belgrano had originated from Downing St., essentially from the PM Maggie Thatcher. Through the miracles of modern command and control infrastructure, it was possible for frontline commanders to relay precise details of an engagement to anyone further up the chain of command who could thus base their decisions on accurate intelligence. There was a controversy which had several angles: was the Belgrano within the our declared Naval Exclusion Zone; if so was it steaming towards our forces or away; did it actually pose any threat either way; were the "Argies" aboard aware of any British forces which a strategic examination of the whole picture might determine were under threat; etc.? We were assured that the decision to dump the complement of around 1100 Argentinians into the South Atlantic during bad weather (and that's bad for down there where 'good' is nothing we temperate clime dwellers would recognise as ok to be without survival gear within easy walking distance), out of their 44 year old ship, was taken calmly by experts in possession of all the facts... ...turns out that for all the commander of HMS Conqueror, the sub which fired 3 torpedoes at the radar blip, Chris Wreford-Brown, knew, the 'battle group' threatening our Task Force could very well have included substantial elements of the 5 ª Malvinas Flota Territorial, Mamífero Marina Especial Escuadrilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TacMaster Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 The title should have been: "All that whaling for nothing!!" Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 classic daily fail... RADAR on the ship was unable to distinguish between whales and submarines, I'm not surprised! RADAR can see neither whales nor submarines (unless surfaced!), SONAR is what you need for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike636 Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Never underestimate what bored sailors will do to for a laugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 Not wanting to be a black catter, but during a flyex in 2012 an OOW managed to run over a whale with a type 42. when asked why she didn't just maneouvre the ship to avoid it and ask me to break off the approach she replied "I thought the ship had to be steady on course when the helicopter was within a mile". Oh dear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike636 Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Haha that's pretty specialist TBH Fish heads don't have a clue! you an AC Then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 aye, for my crimes I have been sentenced to a life stuck in the ops room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike636 Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Yeah I felt bad for our AC once when we challenged the P2 to make a surface search last 2 hours so we could watch Black Hawk Down in the hangar ! He did but then missed the grid 3 times so beer all round! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 missed the grid 3 times?! must've been on a 23 with their comically small grid. Also, who was the AC and what Sqn are you on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike636 Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 22 but it was into wind bless him cost him a fortune in Dubai ! AC was little Em Heathcote and I was on loan from the morale vacuum that is VL's SE Section! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 hahaha, I know Emma well, not as well as fair few of your ship's company do though I expect (if you know what I mean). You'll probably know George McCartney too in that case, I think he was on the scumberland at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike636 Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Haha I do indeed! Yeah he was on with us on the Cornwall for the beginning of he trip until John Piggford relieved him. Was a good trip though, sad at the end though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 5, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 5, 2013 I dunno, 22s weren't all that, there's a lot of misty eyed bleating that goes on about 'floating palaces' and other such dogshit. George was M1 on 207 flt for 2 years while I was at 815, good bloke, bit stormy though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Airsoft-Ed Posted September 6, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 So many numbers and acronyms and shit. What the hell is going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted September 6, 2013 Author Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 We are witnessing the bonding behaviour of the common or garden servicemen, Ed - we walty bastards are excluded from the camaraderie of the true operators and knowing wtf all the numbers and tla's mean is the social equivalent of a challenge coin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters jcheeseright Posted September 6, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 it wouldn't be any more legible in longhand, I promise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted September 6, 2013 Author Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 I wouldn't know my air conditioning from my elbow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters sp00n Posted September 6, 2013 Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 We are witnessing the bonding behaviour of the common or garden servicemen, Ed - we walty bastards are excluded from the camaraderie of the true operators and knowing wtf all the numbers and tla's mean is the social equivalent of a challenge coin... Why did I just read that in David Attenborough voice lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted September 6, 2013 Author Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 Why did I just read that in David Attenborough voice lol B/c I wrote it in an Atombollox accent of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike636 Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Floating palace?! Some people talk out their arses. A ship that constantly has an inch of pissy water sloshing about and no shower curtain can't be described as a palace! Yeah he could be a it stormy at times but a nice bloke over all. Ian challenge coins are a Yank thing, we Brits have a much simpler system ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted September 6, 2013 Author Supporters Share Posted September 6, 2013 You say "Can I crimp off a length in your brick bats, mate?" and if they say "Yes" you launch 'em? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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