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Cloudy with the chance of a passing Chinese frigateā€¦
Navy News ^ | 17 June 2016

Posted on 06/17/2016 1:46:19 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki

HMS Somerset escorted the brand-new Chinese frigate Xiangtan through the Dover Strait as the Far Eastern warship made for Germany.

During the several hours in company together, the Brits provided the Xiangtan with a weather forecast to help them on their way to Kiel for that city’s annual maritime spectacular.

Picture: LA(Phot) Guy Pool

SO AS a Brit, what do you do when you encounter a stranger and need to pass the time?

That’s right, you chat about the weather.

HMS Somerset met up with brand-new Chinese warship Xiangtan and escorted the frigate through the Dover Strait as it headed from the Middle East to Germany to take part in Kiel Week.

Having established communications and exchanged formalities, the Chinese vessel – only commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Navy in February – requested a weather forecast from the Plymouth-based British frigate.

Somerset – the Fleet Ready Escort, the ship at immediate notice to sail on missions in and around home waters – duly obliged. Being mid-June in the UK it was, naturally, unsettled…

“This was the second Chinese naval group to enter the Channel within the last eight months and duties of this type are routinely conducted on passing warships from non-NATO navies,” said Somerset’s Commanding Officer Cdr Michael Wood.

It signals the Royal Navy’s readiness to provide security at sea while being minded to promote friendly partnerships with others.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: china; frigate; plan; royalnavy

1 posted on 06/17/2016 1:46:19 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
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To: sukhoi-30mki

And I am sure more than that was going on all the while. The crew were sizing up the handling characteristics of the Chinese ship, electronic measurements were made of everything that could be measured, and photos were taken of anything which might be curious.


2 posted on 06/17/2016 2:33:20 AM PDT by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: wbarmy

Chinese very shortly will not have a two ocean navy, but will actually be able to deploy that navy to all oceans.

And Obola is cutting the defense budget.
And spending military money renaming seamen, firemen, and officers to satisfy his homosexual agenda of hatred and despair.


3 posted on 06/17/2016 3:22:10 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE
"Chinese very shortly will not have a two ocean navy, but will actually be able to deploy that navy to all oceans."

They can't even unrep a full battle group yet.

How do they deploy to all these oceans without stopping for gas?

4 posted on 06/17/2016 6:01:56 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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