h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

These were the words of the admiral of the Royal Navy who said would what happen if the Navy were not to be given a billion pounds.

This begs the question, are warships needed in the modern world with aircraft 'n' the internet 'n' stuff?

Is Belgium a nice place to live?

Well, you´d still need aircraft carriers.

There is some good beer in Belgium and

<>

Try moving loo roll on the internet. Or, if Argentina invades the Falklands again, send them a stiff e-mail to stop.

Troops need supplies. Aircraft can't carry supplies in large enough quantities, therefore they have to be shipped by sea. Ships need protection. More than half the Royal Navy is currently tied up alongside in Portsmouth, mothballed. Even when they do put to sea, they run on one screw at reduced revs to save fuel. Except in dire emergencies, a Skipper needs direct authorisation from the MOD to order full speed ahead. And even then he'll spend six months filling out forms explaining his actions.

The Royal Navy is being turned into a joke. A warplane can be built in a week, a tank in a day. A warship takes years to build. The cutbacks being forced onto the Navy are removing its ability to carry out tasks in a meaningful way.

I'm not sure I'm understand post 1. Is the admiral going to get the whole Fleet to sail along the channel and turn off into Belgium? Won't that rather damage the boats?

Are we allowed to say Belgium here?

Anyway, to answer the question, Belgium is a very nice country, very underrated. Quaint houses, scenery not unlike the East of England. Cows and stuff.

The Belgians are generally quite nice, too - just like any other country's people really. Except that Belgium seems to have produced a rather alarmingly high rate of paedophiles for some reason.

But it is also one of the most ugliest countries in the world
especially the Flemish countryside

But is this a post about Belgium or about warfare?

>> ...is this a post about Belgium or about warfare? <<

There was a time, oh about 1000 years ago, when there would be little to distinguish.

In the Age of Vikings, Belgium was the heart of any notion of a Viking Empire. There was as a pagan holy-site there as holy as any in Christendom which even the Roman legions had not dared to challenge.

In the intervening millenium things have gone downhill and now they all drink beer that tastes like sucking on a linen pillowcase and about half as satisfying.


~jwf~

I was shocked when a friend told me how few nations have aircraft carriers. I had always assumed that every country with an air force and a coastline had a few, but it seems that they're even more rare than nukes.
I think we ought to retain our privileged ability to carry out a military campaign anywhere in the world, even if we don't intend to use that ability. Unlike a nuclear arsenal, the very existence of a navy is not considered to be an implied threat in diplomatic circles, so a pacifist argument is distinctly weakened.

You wouldn´t believe what the danish navy has been reduced to. It is laughable.

It can't have gone as far downhill as the Phoenician navy.

>>the very existence of a navy is not considered to be an implied threat in diplomatic circles<<

How does that follow? If you keep your navy in dock, then sure. But it's hard to see what the American practice of parking carrier fleets in the Gulf is if not an implied threat.

Yes, but even having nukes in your own country is seen as a threat. A naval aircraft carrier you can get away with.

It is interesting how Belgium has been used for so long as a measure of size. And now Belgium´s navy is being used as a description of the size of a navy. Is it just pressure from the belgian tourist industry, or just a coincidence they use Belgium so much?