The morning started noisily with a small arms’ shoot on the after end of the Flight Deck, which lasted for about half an hour, but after that things quietened down a bit. I seem, in fact, to have more work on at the present time than for the whole of Operation Corporate (the Falkland Islands campaign), with vast numbers of packs and so on needing some attention, as well as briefs to prepare, and the Air Office needing a certain amount of sorting out.
We had a RAS with Brambleleaf to enliven the afternoon, and I went out onto the Quarterdeck while it was going on, and I was there slightly surprised to see that the Brambleleaf has been fitted with both CHAFF launchers and 20mm cannon. (Chaff comes in various shapes and sizes, but is basically a missile containing radar-reflecting foil, which is designed to either swamp radar sets or to seduce radar-homing missiles into thinking that it is a ship). I was aware, of course, that the RFAs had been armed for the Falklands conflict, but I had vaguely thought that it was only those with RN detachments on board (ie, those with helicopters) which had weapons. Obviously that is not the case.
It was a beautiful, flat calm and baking hot day, and I stayed for quite a while, watching the RAS in progress (though in truth there is very little to see once the two ships are plugged in and pumping has started) and looking at the sea. I am still occasionally surprised by just how stable this ship is, but I was talking the other day to one of the Chaps who Know About These Things, and he said that the ship is extremely stable, due in principal to the very square edges to the hull (I will investigate this when the ship goes into dock), and that you can actually put an additional two and a half thousand tons of weight on the Flight Deck without the ship’s stability being greatly affected, which is very comforting, though not terribly applicable in the present weather – an open cardboard box wouldn’t have all that much trouble staying afloat round here.
I watched ITV a little later in the afternoon, as they were showing a very entertaining episode of ‘Fawlty Towers’, which was quite hysterical, and which was followed by an undersea programme about scallop-farming off the south coast of Britain, which, while not wildly funny (in fact, not funny at all) was certainly interesting.
There was a Wardroom Quiz this evening, which I didn’t bother staying up for, as I was not really eligible to take part anyway, having helped to set (or rather record) some of the musical questions, so I retired to bed early, just for a change.