Subscribe
Notify of
guest

15 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
TimH

I wonder how much lower CLs cost base is than APs. Falmouth as well as being quite a small and isolated place is become an increasingly expensive to live as more and more homes become second homes. Merseyside is still relatively low cost as well as having a large potential labour pool. This sort of maintenance work is very labour intensive, so a company’s hourly rate as well as its land use costs are key.

Andy

Plus the local council in Falmouth has been very slow in helping the docks expand .
Falmouth has a fantastic natural deep water harbour and the docks under AP are busy but the local authorities are so tourist focused they do little to help.

SGP

From my personal experience of being back and forth to Falmouth Dockyard over the years, I have experienced numerous complaints about associated yard & ship noise from residents who ironically chose to live in new developments built right next to the dockyard.
Whilst the ships in question provide safety and security to those very residents on an international level, these complainants have no idea that their complaints are also having a detrimental impact on the local economy. Falmouth shall soon lose its biggest industry like many other towns.
I really did think A&P had Tide class in the bag. Once the Bay Class go…..

Airborne

One of the main points you can read into this is the fact their seems to be no RFA cuts in the so called MDP and the up coming budget. With the contracts being costed and signed, it would seem that we may be hoping for a refreshed and manned RFA, but hopefully not at a cost to the frigate force. If I am wrong it’s because I am just a pongo land lubbing fellah with an interest in keeping our 3 services combat effective. Here’s hoping.

Steve

Slightly off topic but what happened to Argus? As a hospital ship with a large helicopter capability, it would have been the perfect ship to send to the Caribbean either this year or last, but instead the bays went. I haven’t heard of it being used for any active missions in a while, even though they have had to use enterprise because of lack of bigger ships.

Rowan Wagstaff-Weston

Bear in mind that the Bays have a dock (giving the ability to operate LCVP/LCU/Mexe), enough troop and vehicle space to support a large HADR contingent and their heavy equipment, and a role 2+ medical facility (plus the space and connectors to carry and deploy a containerised hospital facility). For purely medical support the Argus is a better ship, but for medical support combined with infrastructure repair the Bays are hard to beat.

Steve

Considering Argus is one of the few vessels outside the frigates/destroyers that has a fixed hanger, I think making more use out of her would make sense. If nothing else an effectively hospital ship arriving in a disaster zone makes for great PR.

Sam

For a second there I thought you meant HMS Argus the Aircraft Carrier built in 1918 lol was about to say she has been gone a long time lol ?

Michael McGuffin

It would seem a greater need for the Royal Navy is staffing. Considering the depleted number of ships in the RN and RFA, it would seem greater efforts need to be made to attract and keep qualified personnel. I once read the RN had entered into a contract with the US Coast Guard to fill key positions. Perhaps there should be an effort to procure staff from Commonwealth navies to fill key positions in arguably the most professional navy in the world. Considering the small size of Royal Navy assets compared to their global commitments, it is essential that sufficient staffing is maintained. This could be a win-win for everyone.

Mike

Funnily enough chatting to a member of the Australian Navy in Sydney a few years ago, there was some discontent that all the best jobs in the RAN were going to current or former members of the RN.

Ian Willis

Locals in Falmouth aren’t too happy with the Dockyard. Especially since the crane collapse last year that left dozens of people evacuated from their homes because emergency services had to clean up a chemical cylinder spill.

Then you also have problems with noise, gangs of young men on the town on Friday evenings none-too-friendly, harassing young women and getting into fights. To be fair this happens anywhere where there are idling young guys hanging around.

Finally, the dockyard is impeding the tourist trade in the area and building luxury housing.

Andy

But the dockyards make more money for the local area all year round than the tourist trade.
It was the council which rezoned the area round the docks as residental leading to people buying apartments next door to a busy industrial complex .
Falmouth dockyards have always been busy and the local plod are use to boisterous boys getting into scraps , but Falmouth is a model of soberiety compared to West street in Brighton at the weekend where the plod are underseiged by drunk snowflakes of falmer and the Chavs of whitehawk .

I like Falmouth chatting to the visiting sailors in the pub is always amusing.

TimH

Who owns the freehold on the Docks? Is there a risk that they will work with the council to replace the industrial docks with housing and leisure boating. I suspect the dockyard land is worth far far more for housing than as a shipyard.

MarkB

This could get scary as I don’t think UK Docks is up to it. They have not had the kind of support structure BAE have supplied in the past and the Tyneside facilities would have to be built up from the boatyard they show in their website. It may be OK for the P2000 boats but SVHO are much larger.