UK carrier commander: Japan visit underscores partnership

Military cooperation and alliances among numerous democratic nations at China's doorstep is a nagging reminder of what China "may" need to overcome if it intends on taking Taiwan by force as it has continuously threatened.

China requires now all vesseles to register with them before entering South China Sea. Quite recently royal navy vessel was chased off Sevastopol (Black Sea). Should I get some pop-corn?

akadakeToday  09:55 am JST

China requires now all vesseles to register with them before entering South China Sea. Quite recently royal navy vessel was chased off Sevastopol (Black Sea). Should I get some pop-corn?

Maybe, But I doubt China is ready to up the stakes to that level. Yet anyway.

Should I get some pop-corn?

No. It will take years for UK to send another warship to the Far East. The Royal Navy does not have enough ships even to patrol home waters and North Atlantic. This visit was just a shakedown cruise for the newest carrier, plus "Britain is strong" media offensive. No resources for a sustainable military presence in the region.

AsakazeToday  12:47 pm JST

No. It will take years for UK to send another warship to the Far East.

HMS ARGYL, HMS ALBION, HMS SUTHERLAND arrived in Japan in 2018.

HMS MONTROSE arrived in 2019.

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH in 2021.

Keep dreaming.

@OssanAmerica

So? Unable to see the difference between occasional port calls and sustainable military presence? You can check facts:

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2020/06/24/royal-navy-carriers-hampered-by-lack-of-support-ships-watchdog/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly95YW5kZXgucnUv&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAC_vhP3dcUruY8prD7u7zVqQscfMBTS9eu2Rf0g6TiRq94FPGJfMgmwPXyDEJi6rgwZ0lVMndyQ4ZHa39OIkFrO5bnxFfNeA1ghSJg3fINa2MDw40wGxgt3D7uS4zXHD8kd5ZvOK_kCpbVgavHXAJU4B5K8mSoM0vmTPKvU81DR

https://www.forces.net/services/tri-service/5000-faults-recorded-type-45-destroyers

or keep dreaming.

Your beloved dictatorship China is not going to be permitted to play empire buidling in the 21st century. Keep on dreaming.

@OssanAmerica

Very illogical post. Dreaming about what?

First, any reason to call China my beloved dictatorship? I neved made any comments supporting China's actions. Second, if you are going not to permit China "to play empire buidling", good luck with that, you'll just need a lot of force, a lot of resources. It's rather lacking now, that was my point. Try to comprehend other's posts before writing your comments.

It will take years for UK to send another warship to the Far East. The Royal Navy does not have enough ships even to patrol home waters and North Atlantic. This visit was just a shakedown cruise for the newest carrier, plus "Britain is strong" media offensive. No resources for a sustainable military presence in the region.

Guess again. Two HMS ships deployed for the next five years to the Indo-Pacific region.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/08/asia/british-warships-pacific-deployment-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

Any help to balance China and make a credible deterrent will have benefits in the long run by avoiding bigger conflicts, bigger wars.

akadake, no HMS Defender was sailing in internationally recognised waters of Ukraine in a recognised shipping lane, she ignored the Russian navy and simply continued on her pre existing course. Not chased anywhere.

The QE strike group sailed through the international waters of the South China Sea, ignoring the warnings of the PLAN.

The UK does not intend to base a fleet in the Indo-Pacific region, but what it does demonstrate is support and backing for those countries being bullied and threatened by China and a deepening relationship with Japan that will be to both countries advantage and strengthen Japan’s ability to defend its self.

Zichi, quite right, a telling point is that when ever the Russian navy deploys out of its own area their ships are always accompanied by tugs!

Zichi, quite right, a telling point is that when ever the Russian navy deploys out of its own area their ships are always accompanied by tugs!

I can remember even during the Soviet era out in the Indian Ocean you would see their larger, cruiser sized BKPs (BKP stood for Large Anti-Submarine Ship) towing smaller frigates and minesweepers behind them. The engineering plants of their smaller ships wouldn't stay together on the long voyage from Petropavlosk to the IO so they towed them to the area of operations and back.

Read an article about that last week. They even expect military ships to register.

The Chinese say that but it won't happen. No navy is going to register. Under international law there is no such obligation. Any navy may use international waters regardless of anything coming out of Beijing. The second the Chinese try to detain a foreign warship a nasty naval war will break out. I don't think the Chinese will actually try anything, it's just empty words.

@Peter14

Two HMS ships deployed for the next five years to the Indo-Pacific region

Two offshore patrol ships. One 30-mm gun per ship, no offensive capability. In Japan such ships ane manned by the Coast Guard. Well, let's hope these ships will stop the Chinese.

@zichi

Russia can not send its only carrier, Admiral Kuznetso. It would probably sink on the way

What the connection? And what for send this carrier to the Pacific? And she did not sink when took part in operations off Syria, by the way.

@englisc aspyrgend

what it does demonstrate is support and backing for those countries being bullied and threatened by China

Nice gestures and demonstrations are appreciated, but it's hardly enough to stop the Chinese if they do something serious. So far no protests or demonstrations prevented China from its maritime expansion.

a telling point is that when ever the Russian navy deploys out of its own area their ships are always accompanied by tugs

Such tugs would have been very handy for the Royal Navy too when the destroyer HMS Diamond lost power in the Persian Gulf in 2017. And RN actually needed a lot of tugs when both its carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales took a lot of water in flooding accidents in 2017 and 2020.

Such tugs would have been very handy for the Royal Navy too when the destroyer HMS Diamond lost power in the Persian Gulf in 2017. And RN actually needed a lot of tugs when both its carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales took a lot of water in flooding accidents in 2017 and 2020.

The only ship I have ever deployed on that didn't have some sort of engineering casualty that left us without power for many hours in the middle of the ocean was USS Sacramento. The four Sacramento Class AOEs each had half of an Iowa class battleship's power plant (taken from two Iowa class that were never completed before the end of WWII) and those ships were uncommonly reliable. Every other ship had some sort of major breakdown, most often a problem with the chemistry of the boiler feed water clogging the boiler tubes with mineral deposits. An hour's inattention to feed water chemistry is about all it takes to cause this problem and cleaning the boiler tubes at sea and relighting the boilers is hard work, especially so when water temps are pushing 30 degrees C and air temps are 35-38 degrees C. The RN ships experienced their problems during their builders trials, which is exactly where you want to find them, not decades later. The Russians have used pretty much the same boiler design since the late 1950s and it has always been troublesome for them. India's Russian built carrier failed its first sea trials when 7 of the 8 boilers failed. The US Navy finally got away from oil fired steam plants in favor of gas turbines, which are much more reliable, but the Russians never were able to build a reliable gas turbine with the power necessary for a large warship.

@Desert Tortoise

the Russians never were able to build a reliable gas turbine with the power necessary for a large warship

Not correct. Actually the Soviets were the first in the world to introduce the gas turbine propulsion on mass production warships (Kashin class). I think you saw them in the high seas:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashin-class_destroyer

20 units for the Soviet Navy, plus 5 units ordered by India.

Your comments are highly enlightening.