"Drilling rig dredges Portsmouth for aircraft carriers"

Eeeerrrm didn,t you guys retire the Sea Harriers?

– but they may find the remains of the Ward Room piano which was “fired” from the steam catapult by some aircraft carrier just before it Paid Off.

Didn’t Pete and Dud do much the same thing ?

Well said that man (or woman!)

Its was man last time I looked although I have been pleased in the past to be described as having the X chromosome of a radical feminist. 😉

I bet they’ll find a few remains from WW2 as well – such as the odd UXB and may be bits of aircraft too. Not heard of using a drilling rig for dredging before, though:D

Whilst on the subject of catapulting things over the ends of carriers: where were they moored when they fired off the wingless Seafires whilst doing cat testing some time (I think) in the sixties?

There’s some great film of them doing it. The poor old Seafires, engines roaring – and wingless – splashing down into the water a few hundred yards ahead of the carrier.

Anon.

The company I work for are quite involved in digging big holes in the seabed to bury pipelines and cables. In 2010 I was involved in a project to bury 2 interconnect cables between the Netherlands and the Isle of Grain..despite us being within an area of heavy activity for ordinance (bombing , anti aircraft shells and mines) we’ve not come across anything yet. The upsurge of offshore wind farms is only going to increase the chances of finding something. We’re pretty well briefed on what to do in case of ordinance coming up with the machinery.

Despite the large amounts of stuff landing in the North Sea and channel, I’ve yet to hear of anybody finding anything – one has to assume anything is now buried or dissolved. However it does happen, as the crew of the Maarten Jacob found out off the coast of Gt Yarmouth in 2006 – they landed a Jerry Bomb in their nets, and it detonated as it fell onto the deck. And indeed, ordinance is still found….

I’d imagine that any approach to a naval dockyard has been fairly well investigated prior to dredging, as the last thing a dredger would want is a nasty surprise. Due to the process being pretty destructive, I doubt much will be found when they dredge….

kind regards,
Scotty

I bet they’ll find a few remains from WW2 as well – such as the odd UXB .

There could be more truth, in that, than you think; my great-uncle, a Portsmouth resident, told me how, after a raid, they would see holes, in the mud, slowly filling with water, and nobody ever went looking for them.

Dredging

I bet they’ll find a few remains from WW2 as well – such as the odd UXB and may be bits of aircraft too. Not heard of using a drilling rig for dredging before, though:D

Whilst on the subject of catapulting things over the ends of carriers: where were they moored when they fired off the wingless Seafires whilst doing cat testing some time (I think) in the sixties?

There’s some great film of them doing it. The poor old Seafires, engines roaring – and wingless – splashing down into the water a few hundred yards ahead of the carrier.

Anon.

Quite right, but I couldn’t get my sly dig in if I’d used the word Royal rather than British!

Oh and by the way, won’t it be King Alexander IV of Scotland?

No, as hopefully it’ll be a republic……:diablo:

These dredgers may not find too many aircraft carriers – but they may find the remains of the Ward Room piano which was “fired” from the steam catapult by some aircraft carrier just before it Paid Off. I was always told that the Captain – in full gold-braid uniform, and complete with sword – brought the sword down with a flourish. The steam catapult was fired, and the piano arced up into the air and then fell into the Oggin. There is, I believe, some footage somewhere of this Fishead tribal ceremony!
HTH
Resmoroh

PS Just “aviation” in that the piano was actually airborne – but nobody was ‘flying’ it.

Pity it was’nt a violin because it could then have been A Strato Various :D:D:D:D

Mike E

How wicked can you get!

Oh yes and its Royal Navy not British Navy

Quite right, but I couldn’t get my sly dig in if I’d used the word Royal rather than British!

Oh and by the way, won’t it be King Alexander IV of Scotland?

[QUOTE=aeronut 2008;1855405]Quite correct, although I presume the Queen will gain a new title ie Elizibeth the First of Scotland just like James the Sixth of Scotland became James the First of England.

Oh yes and its Royal Navy not British Navy, its only that rebelious Parlimentary scum of an army that are titled British and not Royal like the Navy, the Marines and the Air Force. Note; its also totally unnecessary to add ‘Britains’ to the titles Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force.

Well said that man………………………………………OUTSTANDING;)
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Aeronut 2008,
Well said that man (or woman!)
Resmoroh

That’s a bit of a cheap shot…. the UK will still be the UK if Scotland gets independence, only it will be one Kingdom down.

Quite correct, although I presume the Queen will gain a new title ie Elizibeth the First of Scotland just like James the Sixth of Scotland became James the First of England.

Oh yes and its Royal Navy not British Navy, its only that rebelious Parlimentary scum of an army that are titled British and not Royal like the Navy, the Marines and the Air Force. Note; its also totally unnecessary to add ‘Britains’ to the titles Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force. :p

These dredgers may not find too many aircraft carriers – but they may find the remains of the Ward Room piano which was “fired” from the steam catapult by some aircraft carrier just before it Paid Off. I was always told that the Captain – in full gold-braid uniform, and complete with sword – brought the sword down with a flourish. The steam catapult was fired, and the piano arced up into the air and then fell into the Oggin. There is, I believe, some footage somewhere of this Fishead tribal ceremony!
HTH
Resmoroh

PS Just “aviation” in that the piano was actually airborne – but nobody was ‘flying’ it.

……assuming that the British – or will it, by then, be the English, Welsh and Northern Irish – Navy then has any aircraft carriers in service. There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip!

:rolleyes:

That’s a bit of a cheap shot…. the UK will still be the UK if Scotland gets independence, only it will be one Kingdom down.

It’s for the new Chinese super carrier, not the British one.:D

Yup, and by time the carriers come into service, 2020 ish, it’ll need dredged again probably…..

……assuming that the British – or will it, by then, be the English, Welsh and Northern Irish – Navy then has any aircraft carriers in service. There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip!

😀

Yup, and by time the carriers come into service, 2020 ish, it’ll need dredged again probably….. You can get a lot of silt in 6 years….

Kind Regards,
Scotty

You know what they say, “Silt happens” 😀

I’ll get my coat

Cking

Yup, and by time the carriers come into service, 2020 ish, it’ll need dredged again probably….. You can get a lot of silt in 6 years….

Kind Regards,
Scotty

Sigh… a very misleading headline, as the text of the story just below that headline describes the actual situation…

There is NO actual dredging going on… the rig will drill a series of holes to provide final data for developing the dredging plan.

Actual dredging will only start in 2014!