This is the United States Navy's latest ship, the USS Zumwalt. A guided missile destroyer with stealth capabilities. Named after Admiral Elmo Russell Zumwalt, a leading and highly decorated force in the navy, especially through the Vietnam War. Zumwalt was also a reformer of the navy's personnel policies in an effort to improve the life of the ordinary enlisted sailor and help in easing racial tensions.
The ship is designed to be of a multi-functional capability, to support ground attack troops in land operations, anti-air, surface and underwater warfare, also carrying a compliment of six helicopters and is armed with a range of various ballistic missiles and guns. She has a crew of 142 and can manage a speed of 33.5 knots.
Production of the ship officially began in early 2009 and has been some years in the construction, the project was given to the major American naval yard, Bath Iron Works of Maine. There have been one or two hold-ups in the production schedule, testing the ship's new wave piercing inverted bow and tumblehome hull configuration which reduce her radar cross-section, but the US Navy was able to accept delivery of Zumwalt on 20 May 2016 and commissioned the ship 15 October, later in the year.
The Royal Navy, the most successful naval fighting force in the world, is facing a bleak future with fewer ships and resources. After almost a decade of cost cutting, decommissions and Strategic Defence Reviews, the once proud Royal Navy, finds itself in something of a desperate state.
In what was originally promoted as a small and necessary cut-back of three Frigates and two Submarines, has seen the wholesale departure of no less than 14 warships and with possibly more losses to follow.
In the future Royal Naval ships, must take on a greater number of rolls in the maritime world and take on the same workload with fewer ships, when with the rapid advances in technology, physical numbers are no longer deemed relevant.
The two future and long awaited Queen Elizabeth Class, Aircraft Carriers, are still not due to enter into operational service until as late as 2020 and should operate the F 35 Lightening Attack Aircraft and various support helicopters.
The Type 45 Destroyer, building programme was originally planned to be for twelve ships, their main duty being to protect the fleet and to act as escorts for the carriers, later being cut back to eight ships and then the final order being for six ships.
Likewise the much needed and also long awaited Type 26 Frigates, supposedly to be a partial replacement for the Type 23. The original planned order for thirteen ships, now stands at eight ships.
The final size of the Patrol Submarine Fleet, aside from the nuclear fleet, is expected to be set at seven or eight boats.
A lot of the Navy's problems are also land based, with the closure of various of various dock and port facilities under the tile of; A Better Defence Estate.
The British Steel Industry, the one time powerhouse of the world, has been in a steady and downward spiral of gradual decline for a number of years, faced with a loss of sales to restrictive trading practices and cheap foreign imports, seriously undercutting the British product. Not least of all with the loss of a British Railway's rolling stock steel order to the Italians and more recently the order for steel for BAEs Warship order, being given to the French. All due to an EU ruling which says basically that a Government cannot discriminate against a tender from another company just because it's in another country. Which in turn could easily place British steel manufacturers at a certain disadvantage.
Now, it appears, there is a Ministerial promise of a order on the table for steel to build the railway tracks, for the HS2 Rail Link. Which should go to the steel works in Scunthorpe and help to preserve around 4000, skilled worker's jobs.
The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, is quoted as saying, the steel used in the £56bn project will be sourced from the UK.
The Scunthorpe plant, owned by Grey Bull Capital, a company turnaround specialist, purchased the works for a nominal £1 in May 2016, then set about pumping substantial resources and fresh life into the company. And assurances are in place, which guarantee the production of the two million tons of steel required for the rails project.
Disaster is looming for the Great British Public in the shape of a nationwide Milk shortage, all due to an increasing number of smaller dairy farms going into liquidation. Dairy farmers have been struggling for a great many years upon the general low price of milk and having to work solely to the demand of supermarket quotas. In reality this means for Xmas 2016 we could see a shortage of either Butter, Cheese, or Cream, perhaps more than one or even all three! So far this year the crisis is said to be worsening and there is a general shortage of supply throughout the industry, inevitably we are seeing the shop prices being driven upwards.
Since I first wrote this item, the price of a half-pound of butter, in UK shops, has risen by 20-30 pence, probably never to reduced!
The British military and technological company BAE Systems, recently granted the contract to build the Royal Navy's new generation of Type 26 Frigates, now finds itself under some pressure to use only British Steel, in the production.
British Steel, already struggling to compete with cheaper foreign steel producers, particularly the cheaper Chinese imports, has seen a steady decline facing the industry in rent years and to win the order to provide the steel for these ships can only be seen as a vital lifeline.
It appears the contract to supply the steel has not been finalized, although a French supplier is said to be the leading contender. The warship contract, set to safeguard a number of skilled jobs for the coming decades, could have a similar impact upon steelworker' livelihoods. The Government at the time, promised British Steel Companies would be able to compete upon a "level playing field" for the contract, also that steel orders would not go abroad if the most competitive price was British. Yet it is extremely difficult for any British company to compete with many other suppliers and the British Government, also needs to take into consideration the welfare of steel workers and the state of the British Steel industry as a whole.
Somehow, by the greatest good fortune, I've managed to avoid all the hoohah......well not really by any form of accidental good fortune, or a mysterious blessing of any monumental proportions. It's quite simple, I don't own a television set, mind you, it's all on the radio, just not quite as intense!
As any Politician/Senator, might say; "This is a good time for offloading bad news!"
It's that time of year, Autumn or even the Fall, depending upon where you are, plenty of leaves on the ground, I've already raked a dozen sacks from the front of the house! And the thing is, it's darker, it's damper and there's a serious chill in the wind, but the leaves on the trees have never looked better!
The tourist board used to call this; "Lakeland's Best Kept Secret" until they told everyone!
