The title of the article should say, “This is the U.S. Navy’s new Zumwalt-Class destroyer out at sea for the very first time.”

Great article, Tyler.

They do tend to do things their own way :-)

Probably because the guys pumping fuel over to you on the RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) vessel, were and still are civvies. They get paid extra and overtime for different ship evolutions, for example - RAS’s after dark.

Yeah. With a stores and ammo RAS, gear would come over by both cab and cable at the same time normally. It’s going back a bit now since I served but they were called Vertreps, like you say. As I was a Stoker they were just RAS’s. Stokers didn’t really get involved unless it was a RAS(L). You can’t trust dabbers and…

In the Royal Navy this is called a RAS (pronounced raz) - Replenishment At Sea.

Couldn’t agree more Jack.

Them Fullbacks are great looking aircraft.

I was out there at the same time on Armilla Patrol aboard HMS Hermione. I remember when the USS Ranger called in at Mombasa, Kenya for some R+R. They practically took the place over.

That’s quite chunky compared to the one that was on the last “carriers” the Royal Navy had. I remember being pretty astonished when I first entered the bridge on the Illustrious. I wasn’t expecting something so flimsy looking.

There is no “the” before HMS.

It’s boringly called Procedure Alpha in the Royal Navy.

I use ZenMate, a Chrome plugin.

New York was my first foreign port of call back in Feb 1984 aboard HMS Illustrious. To say that New York was an eye opener for a 16 year old, from a small town in the Staffordshire Moorlands, is a massive understatement. I loved it in the Big Apple.

I flew in one of the prototype Lynx “cabs”, when we had it frontline in the Gulf on Armilla Patrol back in ‘87. Nimble and super fast. It was only for a jolly though. My part of ship was the boiler room.

I served aboard 4 Royal Navy ships, HMS Illustrious, HMS Invincible, HMS Hermione and HMS Jupiter. Four great ships with great names.

Simply stunning.

He can't get mad because he's already bonkers.

No harm done. There's more accidents on that stretch of road than you can shake a hairy stick at. Nearly always bikers. I think it's in the top 3 or 5 roads for the most accidents in the UK.

Actually, we're classed as the West Midlands here in the Staffordshire Moorlands. You'll have proper northerners coming after you with pitchforks.