Once again, a hectic day. We were under attack again almost as soon as we weighed anchor, and had a really rather successful day, splashing almost everything that came anywhere near us, usually with the Harriers.
The air side of things does seem to have its act screwed together rather well at the moment, though there are, of course, the inevitable problems. Flying finished just after two in the afternoon, to all intents and purposes, but we then went straight into an NBCDEX (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and Damage-control Exercise), with the emphasis on the damage-control side of things. For exercise purposes, we were hit hard near the bow, and a wide variety of systems toppled, necessitating special power cable runs and so on, together with medical treatment for a host of casualties, all very realistically made-up.
There was a certain amount of amusement when we were ‘hit’ a second time, as the announcement that we had suffered another attack preceded the dropping of the scare charges by the staff by a good three or four minutes. That, however, was the only light relief. This exercise finished at about five, and shortly after that we were heading once again towards Portland and an anchorage.
An excellent meal in the Wardroom tonight – a mixed grill – followed by an, er, interesting film, if that’s the word I really am looking for. It was called ‘Scanners’ and purported to be about a group of people who could not only read other’s minds, but could also induce fairly bizarre results with this ability, the high spot of the film undoubtedly being when one poor soul’s head detonates, spraying blood and gore everywhere.
And on that note, to bed, after a last lingering look at the lights of Portland and Weymouth reflected in the flat calm sea.