Home / Series / Man Alive / Aired Order / Season 1981 / Episode 2

'... Something Wrong With Our Bloody Ships Today ...'

Admiral Beatty's famous comment as he watched another battle-cruiser blow up at Jutland would, in the view of some authoritative critics, not be inappropriate today. For example, on a recent exercise in the North Atlantic, some destroyers had to refuel after only three days at sea - otherwise, without the weight of fuel in their bunkers, they would have become top-heavy and unseaworthy. For what roles has our Navy been built? And how well is it equipped to fulfil them? Are our ships over-sophisticated and thereby overpriced? Could they effectively fight a limited war? Jeremy James asks if the Royal Navy still remembers Admiral Fisher's famous dictum that ' he who strains at the gnat of perfection will swallow the camel of unreadiness

English
  • Originally Aired January 8, 1981
  • Created June 7, 2022 by
    AddingStuffIsFun
  • Modified June 7, 2022 by
    AddingStuffIsFun