An index to all my stories about living on a boat, places I have visited along my wake and matters of my maritime of interest — These stories might not all seem marine-related — but they are, even if only related to life on a boat. You may be surprised… The Battle of the River Plate An innovative design and heavy armament was not enough to save the Graf Spee from the British pursuersmedium.com Self-Steering on a Boat A reader asked me to write about the self-steering system and autopilot on my boat, so here’s what works for me — and…medium.com

It has the sinking of the Moskva on its scoresheet, but does it have other capabilities? — The cruiser Moskva was the flagship of Russian’s Black Sea fleet and the world was astounded to learn on 14 April 2022 that it had been seriously damaged by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles — so seriously, in fact, that it could not be saved and soon sank. The cruiser was the…

And do they really need F-16s as the launch platform? — The US Pentagon recently announced a $192 million contract award to Raytheon for the production of Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) for Ukraine as part of the Department of Defense-led Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The contract did not specify the quantity of missiles. Wikipedia quotes the unit cost as…

It’s a crazy concept that some ways of killing fellow humans on the battlefield are ‘nicer’ than others? What’s the rationale behind the Geneva Conventions? — Burn them with a flamethrower. Pour boiling oil over them. Incinerate them with napalm. Shred them with shrapnel. Gas them with nerve agents. Asphyxiate them with a thermobaric bomb. Sink their ship. Irradiate them to die slowly. Skewer them with a bayonet. Kill them cleanly with a head shot.

It sounds incredible, but could there be any truth in these latest Chinese claims? — Chinese scientists are claiming that they can detect non-natural underwater sounds using 6G sensors. According to some commentary, this might enable detection of submarines, and also open a new submarine communications channel. The technology “will have significant application potential in underwater vessel detection and other areas”, according to the research…

Force multiplication: Recover an enemy tank. Russia minus 1, Ukraine +1. Net change = +2 for Ukraine — Treating wounded vehicles is almost as important as treating wounded soldiers. And damaging enemy combat recovery equipment is a force multiplier. Stop them treating their wounded tanks and BMPs and you are multiplying your own force. Recover one of their damaged or abandoned machines and the multiplication improves even more.

The USA is lagging behind in the hypersonic cruise missile race with Russia now having the 3M22 ‘Zircon’ in operation — Basics To start, let’s be clear — this story is specifically about hypersonic cruise missiles (HCM), not hypersonic ballistic missiles. And by hypersonic, I mean a missile capable of speeds in excess of Mach 5. Ballistic missile may be used to launch hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV). These are not powered after…

Crypto in the hands of government is bad news — Russia will likely be the first, but others will be close behind and it’s a frightening future. Global Walkout is resisting… — Russia’s Ruble is in trouble with the Russian Central Bank raising its base rate from 8.5% to 12% in one jump on 15 August 2023 as the ruble rate touched 100 to the US dollar. A week later, the rot seems to have been halted, at least temporarily as the…

Putin is between a rock and a hard place, his Army is losing, he has to up the ante and make the West stop and think before he loses Crimea… — Between a rock and a hard place, holed up in his Moscow bunker, President Vladimir Putin surely has three immediate priorities (I’m ignoring the ruble crash as just being ‘noise’ to him) : His personal safety (family optional) Preservation of his power base