British patrol vessel HMS Spey recently had a unique opportunity to engage in a sail past with the Cunard Line’s flagship, the RMS Queen Mary 2, off the coast of Thailand.
The meeting of these two vessels was a rare occurrence.
HMS Spey is a state-of-the-art offshore patrol vessel, whereas RMS Queen Mary 2 is a luxurious ocean liner renowned for its grandeur and elegance.
In a rare opportunity, we met up with the @cunardline @RMSQueenMary2 for a sail past! We hope the guests enjoyed the impressive sight of our 2 ships sailing together 🚢🇬🇧 #cruiseship #warship #shipspotting #cruisevacation pic.twitter.com/3JMlCdw68u
— HMS Spey (@HMS_Spey) February 20, 2023
HMS Spey was formally handed over to the Royal Navy in Portsmouth on 7 January 2021. Later in the spring of 2021, the vessel underwent “dazzle” camouflage painting in Falmouth in preparation for its deployment to the Indo-Pacific region alongside its sister ship, Tamar.
The ship’s commissioning ceremony took place on 18 June 2021 in Invergordon, its affiliated town, marking an important milestone in the vessel’s service in the Royal Navy. Subsequently, on 7 September, HMS Spey and Tamar departed from Portsmouth for their forward deployment to the Indo-Pacific region for a minimum of five years.
I hope HMG/MOD has started planning on how to escort & defend merchant shipping critical to the UK from potential threats from Russia/China if a broader conflict occurs. Anti-sub, anti missile etc. Hopefully not, but things could esily get a lot worse before things get better.
🤔🤞👍
Astutes, T23s, and Poseidons would be our contribution to NATO forces closing the GIUK Gap to Russian submarines.
As for surface ships… well we’ve seen how well Russian naval vessels have faired against a country that can only attack them from land. If the Kuznetsov is an example of how well their surface ships are maintained, and the Moskva an example of how well they’re operated, then they won’t have a navy for long…
Yes the critical cruises of the rich and famous must continue under all circumstances 😂😂😂😂
In all seriousness China would suffer incredibly from lack of trade. It depends on massive food and material imports.
Hopefully they know that. I think they probably assume that the world will not intervene a Taiwan situation. It would really depend how the first few weeks went.
If they take over most Taiwan there’s no way of getting supplies in. Will we enter into a world war if Taiwan was already mostly lost and China has blockaded the island?
There are around 30-40 US ‘specialists’ based in Taiwan. I reckon that would play into any response. I.e. China overrun & blockage Taiwan as you say, then transfer the US ‘prisoners’ freely back to the States.
May just tip the US reaction in favour of sanctions instead of war, especially if Taiwan is already lost with a massive naval blockade in place.
I really hope the time never comes again that we have to see countries invade each other. They are the same type of people on the island as the mainland speaking the same language.
I’m not sure that the Chinese population will like a major war on their doorstep either. Could they handle it especially if it doesn’t go their way? China can look after China but if they make any move on Taiwan you’d bet there will be plenty of stuff coming back their way. Like Russia is learning in Ukraine, best to stay on your turf.
A role for the T31 and maybe a few more of them.
Thailand…wonder if they managed a stop there. Yeah tough gig ….but someones gotta do it 😄.
Happy days….
QM2 is an impressive beast. The last Ocean liner. Built to cut through and power on through very high sea states. 147,000 tons equals a BIG ship. In a war she would be priceless for delivering thousands of troops and material at high speed across the Atlantic. She would need a self defence suite as no escorting warship could keep up with her in most sea states.
QE2, Canberra, did the job in 82 Canberra went right in to San Carlos STUFT were the Civvies that kept us going ,mind you neither are the size of these new generation of cruise ships Mr Bell
Prompts the question whether STUFT vessels of all stripes should/would be fitted w/ defensive suite before embarking on convoy duty? Weapons? Comm? ECM? RN/RFA manning? Budgets? Hopefully, some plan has been developed and reviewed occasionally. 🤔🤞
Thanks Former , I don’t know if this is still on the books but there used too be a clause that Ferries being built in British yards had too have the ability to Lay mines hopefully there should be Sponsons on STUFT that can be used for Armament
i’m seeing it now. Containerised CAMM and Phalanx…
The swimming pool parts like something off Thunderbirds to reveal some Mk41 cells
Actually, there was an Admiralty sponsored program, initiated in June 1939, entitled Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship(s) (DEMS) to equip 5,500 British merchant vessels w/ a combination of anti-surface ship/anti-submarine mounts (75-150 mm) and anti-aircraft weapons (20-40 mm), including Oerlikon 20 mm and Bofors 40 mm. At program height, manned by 24,000 RN and ~15,000 Royal Artillery (Maritime Regiments) personnel. My contention is, in extremis, the UK could replicate this, on a smaller scale, for high value troop/cargo/tanker ships in future conflicts. Currently, only conflict w/ the PLAN could necessitate such measures. Incidentally, both RAN and RCN instituted parallel, if smaller… Read more »