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Post by amitch on Jun 28, 2007 13:53:17 GMT 12
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 28, 2007 14:18:58 GMT 12
Wot a ‘Pocket Rocket’. Thanks for the pics. Looks like this “frigate” :-) will do a great job for the RNZN. The Multi-Role Vessel is what the RNZN calls it on their website - that seems more appropriate. MVR.
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Post by Bruce on Jun 28, 2007 15:39:07 GMT 12
she looks very purposeful (lets face it, shes not pretty) - thats a fair sized door on the Starboard side! . Looks cool with the two sprites sitting on the back too. The two landing craft are useful - with decent looking cranes as well. providing all the expected little teething glitches are resolved, I think the new vessel will be a useful addition to the inventory.
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Post by corsair67 on Jun 28, 2007 16:23:31 GMT 12
Wonderful shots, Alex. Thanks for being there for those of us who couldn't. Not a pretty vessel, but (hopefully!) pretty effective. Being an ex-pat Cantabrian, I would still prefer to see the name HMNZS Canterbury associated with either a Nimitz class aircraft carrier or a Ticonderoga class Cruiser.
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 28, 2007 17:30:02 GMT 12
Cantabrian Canberran? Don't say that inebriated. :-)
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 28, 2007 18:42:47 GMT 12
Excellent shots Alex. Wow, it's a large vessel isn't it? I saw the live report on the lunchtime news as it was docking and thought then it looked cold down your way. It's bleedin cold enough here right now.
Will you be going aboard during the open day on Sunday?
I was wondering, I remember when the two ANZAC Frigates were built in Australia there was much outcry over the fact that they were not built here as back then we had an adequate shipbuilding industry. The other night on the America's Cup coverage, it was claimed by some government expert that making boats is now New Zealand's biggest manufacturing industry, which thoroughly surprised me. Would this country easily be able to handle making big vessels like this one? Or is it only fibreglass yachts that NZ makes? Does anyone know?
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Post by corsair67 on Jun 28, 2007 19:00:07 GMT 12
Didn't a shipbuilding firm in New Zealand built large sections of the superstructure for the ANZAC Frigates?
Australia has enough trouble keeping it's shipbuilding companies in work, so I don't know how a small nation like New Zealand would be able to - unless the Govt was going to chuck large sums of money their way.
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Post by amitch on Jun 28, 2007 19:11:17 GMT 12
Will you be going aboard during the open day on Sunday? No, I may just stay in bed to keep warm. I would still prefer to see the name HMNZS Canterbury associated with either a Nimitz class aircraft carrier or a Ticonderoga class Cruiser. Here's a thought, get the fleet of Fokker Triplanes (New Zealand's most common fighter) and they me be able to fly out of the back door! Not just a people mover, but also an aircraft carrier.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 28, 2007 19:29:15 GMT 12
Craig, yes NZ companies made components for the ANZAC frigates but there were some quarters that reckoned we could build the whole ships - that was of course when we were buying four of them.
Alex, that's a classic idea regarding the Fokkers. Isn't it scary though to think that they are indeed our most numeous fighter type.
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Post by Radialicious on Jun 28, 2007 20:58:43 GMT 12
People Mover? Makes it sound like a Toyota Previa!
SAFE Air in Blenheim spent a lot of time making pre-fab modules for the NZ/AUS ANZAC frigate programme. I'm not sure what they were actually for, but they were like 6 x 6 metre rooms with wiring and services plumbed into them.
I liked how they named the passages throughout the boat with prominent Christchurch street names.
My first impressions: - Just how much of the boat is underwater? I imagine she is pretty light but she looks bloody top heavy. - Just how cold would those sailors have been decorating the front as she sailed into the harbour. - Did the designers from LEGO and Britten Norman get together to produce those lifeboats? - What do those huge grilled air inlet/intakes service? - Where are the guns? I know it isn't a battleship but it still has Her Majesty's association. Even a plastic Phalanx cannon would keep me happy.
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Post by Radialicious on Jun 28, 2007 21:04:41 GMT 12
I take that back. The LEGO and Britten Norman boats appear to be landing craft not lifeboats.
Also can anyone spot the civvy on the Canterbury in these photos?
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Post by amitch on Jun 28, 2007 21:07:57 GMT 12
- Just how cold would those sailors have been decorating the front as she sailed into the harbour. Very - Did the designers from LEGO and Britten Norman get together to produce those lifeboats? - What do those huge grilled air inlet/intakes service? Vents the fumes from the Triplanes - Where are the guns? I know it isn't a battleship but it still has Her Majesty's association. Even a plastic Phalanx cannon would keep me happy. All it needs is a Spud gun!
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Post by amitch on Jun 28, 2007 21:08:38 GMT 12
I take that back. The LEGO and Britten Norman boats appear to be landing craft not lifeboats. Also can anyone spot the civvy on the Canterbury in these photos? The plonker in high vis.
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Post by lesterpk on Jun 28, 2007 21:18:19 GMT 12
Radilalicious, answers to your questions. 1. Pretty friggin cold I'd say, I'd expect the boys would have had long johns on under their SD's. 2. The lifeboats? The two big grey things under the cranes are the landing craft, capable of moving 55tons of thereabouts each trip. There are only 6 liferafts fitted, each capable of around 100 people, shopuld be fine since max ships company + embarked force is about 350. 3. The grilled areas on the starboard side and at the rear are ramps. The stbd one is so vehicles (LAV/LOV) can drive straight off onto the wharf, ditto the rear or can be used at sea (when calm) to laod vehicles onto the landing craft. 4. 3 guns fitted, 2x 0.5cal machine guns above each wing of the bridge and the 25mm cannon (same as the LAV) is on the foredeck.
Its going to be a great asset, imagine a deployment to Timor now, load it all on the Canterbury and be there in a week. All those Herc trips and flying hours saved and the gear ready to go as soon as it gets there, not stripped down for transport.
Les.
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Post by Radialicious on Jun 28, 2007 21:25:05 GMT 12
You got it Alex! Hi-Viz really grips me at times. There is a time and a place. The military has always been the most safety conscious workplace in NZ and was worlds ahead of the rest of industry when H&S became trendy. I do remember going for a ride in a Skytrain C-130 one year. For some reason it was safer for us passengers to stand on the webbing seats and observe the load going out the back. Because we were doing so, we had to wear parachute helmets to protect us if we fell off said seats.
I have yet to see the safety benefit of us standing on our seats versus sitting on them with feet on the seats opposite.
I tell you what also grips me. News footage of an MP/VIP visiting a factory in fluoro's, HARD HAT and safety glasses when NONE of the workers are so attired!
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Post by 30sqnatc on Jun 28, 2007 21:30:38 GMT 12
My first impressions: - Just how much of the boat is underwater? >:(Its a ship not a boat My first impressions: - Just how much of the boat is underwater? As little as possible - less for the subs to hit - What do those huge grilled air inlet/intakes service? Air intakes on the front for the concealed jet engines and to allow the vehicle deck to be unobstructed - Where are the guns? I know it isn't a battleship but it still has Her Majesty's association. Even a plastic Phalanx cannon would keep me happy. On front between the air grills. 25 mm ATK M242 (former Boeing and ever more former McDonald Douglas product.). Multi Roll Vessel. Would you believe one of the roles is to act as a radar decoy for the USS Enterprise hence the large slab sided superstructure. ;D
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Post by Radialicious on Jun 28, 2007 22:37:52 GMT 12
Lester, I gathered the openings at the side and back were as such. It is the ones on the flat front face that made me curious.
I agree, she will be a useful addition to the NZDF.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 28, 2007 22:51:32 GMT 12
I can see this ship being very useful next time the Cook Strait Ferries go on strike. In fact, between deployments maybe the Navy could set up a cut-price interisland service to help pay for the ship. They can call it training.
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Post by 30sqnatc on Jun 29, 2007 18:41:47 GMT 12
I can see this ship being very useful next time the Cook Strait Ferries go on strike. In fact, between deployments maybe the Navy could set up a cut-price interisland service to help pay for the ship. They can call it training. Replace the SATS run Devonport - Wellington - Picton - Lyttleton. The alocation of cabins will renew the use of the term POSH ;D
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jul 2, 2007 7:52:13 GMT 12
I went and had a look at the new Canterbury yesterday (along with most of the rest of Chch by the size of the crowds!). I'll post some photos tonight. Initial impressions - BIG, definitely of commercial design and not military, just like a Cook Straight ferry but with a gun and helipad.
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