Navy ships off Plymouth

philvantwo · Post by **philvantwo** » 24 Sep 2020, 4:00pm

Working in Wembury this week and have noticed 2 navy ships going round in circles in Plymouth Sound! What are they doing? Maybe Mick F will know?

mumbojumbo · Post by **mumbojumbo** » 24 Sep 2020, 4:14pm

A lot of my family worked in Portsmouth dockyard,and they told me that a good skipper would burn off their deisel to save maties from having to siphon and dispose surplus fuel.In return the shore men would do overtime so ships could return to sea before tide turned.Quickest way to burn off was to circle Solent.

philvantwo · Post by **philvantwo** » 24 Sep 2020, 4:34pm

Syphon off diesel? This is 2020 not the 60's !!!

Jdsk · Post by **Jdsk** » 24 Sep 2020, 4:35pm

What size?

The official News page is surprisingly informative:
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news

Jonathan

philvantwo · Post by **philvantwo** » 24 Sep 2020, 4:36pm

Mick F will know.........a proper sailor. Went to the Falklands.

Norman H · Post by **Norman H** » 24 Sep 2020, 4:50pm

Modern fluxgate compasses use on board computers to correct for deviation. Calibration usually involves swinging the vessel through 360°, effectively sailing round in circles. Could this be a possibility?

The other thought which occurs is that it may be something to do with degaussing? I believe there used to be degaussing grounds within Plymouth Sound. I'm not sure if they're still operational.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 24 Sep 2020, 5:27pm

philvantwo wrote:Mick F will know.........a proper sailor. Went to the Falklands.

IIRC, the correct term is "seaman" although I can see that sailor does not imply gender.

Bmblbzzz · Post by **Bmblbzzz** » 24 Sep 2020, 5:34pm

The sea has its own 'rules of the road', you can't just sail anywhere. In this case they were stuck on the Plymouth Magic Roundabout, trying to find the exit for The Crown and Anchor in Devonport (half-price pints Wednesday afternoons).

neilob · Post by **neilob** » 24 Sep 2020, 5:52pm

A number of years ago they used to undertake radar cross section measurements off Wembury which involved the warships making 360 deg turns to determine the radar hot spots which needed to be minimised. This came after the Falklands and the experience from losing ships to Exocet.

Cyril Haearn · Post by **Cyril Haearn** » 24 Sep 2020, 6:25pm

What, wasting fuel like planes that drop excess fuel on the woods to reduce their weight so they can land safely? - 1!

Hope Mick F does not turn up for a while, hoping for more imaginative suggestions from amateur experts :wink:

mumbojumbo · Post by **mumbojumbo** » 24 Sep 2020, 6:30pm

Re: Navy ships off Plymouth
Postby philvantwo » 24 Sep 2020, 4:34pm

Syphon off diesel? This is 2020 not the 60's !!!

Whats wrong with deisel?Would you use liquid gas?The wind would be eco-friendly and modernn sails are now drip-dry.

philvantwo · Post by **philvantwo** » 24 Sep 2020, 6:39pm

2 ships going round in circles, what are they doing? How many Royal Navy ships are at sea at the moment?

DaveBeck · Post by **DaveBeck** » 24 Sep 2020, 6:42pm

philvantwo wrote:2 ships going round in circles, what are they doing? How many Royal Navy ships are at sea at the moment?

Both of them! :lol:

philvantwo · Post by **philvantwo** » 24 Sep 2020, 6:50pm

I won first prize in a sarcasm competition once, a 2 week holiday to Japan!

rjb · Post by **rjb** » 24 Sep 2020, 7:18pm

Which way were they going? If clockwise HMS Troutbridge was heading down the plug hole, with Capt Thunderguts in charge. :lol: