Fred Rift. Sea Harriers had fixed wings and the 'Through Deck Cruisers' were commonly referred to as Aircraft Carriers.PS I didn't say I drove as I wasn't the Commanding Officer, however as OOW whenever I was on watch I was responsible to the Commanding Officer for the safe operation of the Ship.
My Dad worked on the catapult system on HMS Victorious.My mistake.
When I hear fixed wing I think of cats & traps - not STOVL
he proberbly shot a mate of our off the deck a few times then. He was Obs/Nav on both types
I will call up ship [Not RN, Peter, I just dip my flag for them] if I am concerned that we are going to pass fairly close [for instance when she is 4 miles astern on the same heading as me with a CPA of .06Nm. Mainly to see if they are aware of my existence and to get some idea of whether they are likely to pass to Stbd or Port. One often wonders who you are speaking to. I sometimes wonder if it is the Watch Officer or someone else on the bridge, maybe the cook delivering the tea. I always assume it is the Watch Officer as they generally tell me that they will take action to increase the CPA and do.
I nearly got run down by one near the Owers, I was well clear and getting clearer put boat on autopilot and went down to check chart when I heard a loud shout, sprinted upstairs and it was heading directly for me. When I looked back it looked as if it was dumping rather than dredging. Suspect it had reached its dumping ground and was circling round doing that.
