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PROM MALTA W I Dur i ng t he Ar k ' s l ast v i s i t t o Ma l t a i t was qu i ck l y d i scove red t ha t a v i s i t i ng U. K . danc i ng group on t he i s l and was do i ng a James Bond rou t i ne , So wha t be t t er excuse f or i nv i t i ng t hem on boa rd t o pose f or a p i c t ure i n f ron t o f Phan t om 007? Seen on t he f l i ght deck a r e t he Sa t i n Be l l s - Susan McG i l l , E l i zabe t h L i ng and Fa i t h Bro t he r son . The nava l t r i o comp l e t i ng t he p i c t ure compr i ses EM ( AW ) Yog Page , LEM ( AW ) Rocky Fox and LEM ( AW ) Padd i ng t on Gr i f f en.

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LONG L I VE ARK!

W i t h days to go be fore the Navy ' s l ast f i xed-w i ng car r i er H. M . S . Ar k Roya l re turned to Devonpor t for the l ast t i me on a wave of emo t i on and pub l i c i ty , i t became of f i c i a l l y known tha t the name is to l i ve on i n an assoc i a t i on w i th sea-borne a i rcra f t .

A mass i ve sw i t ch i s br i ng i ng e l ec t r i f i ca t i on to t he Roya l Navy ' s Ma r i ne eng i nee rs as pa r t of t he deve l opmen t to ensur e t ha t t he F l ee t has t he organ i za t i on t o mee t new t echno l ogy i n pa r t i cu l a r t he gas t urb i ne and nuc l ea r propu l s i on sys t ems . -

N a me s are be i ng announced of 2 , 656 ra t i ngs t rans f er r i ng f rom t he Weapon Eng i neer i ng to the Ma r i ne Eng i neer i ng branch , i n order to ensure tha t t he " ma r i ne " s i de has the necessary sk i l ls, bo t h mechan i ca l and e l ect r i ca l , to dea l w i th a l l aspec t s of propu l s i on and sh i p serv i ces .

The ra t i ngs t rans f er r i ng a r e t ak i ng t o t he Ma r i ne Eng i nee r i ng br anch essen t i a l e l ec t r i ca l exper t i se . I t means tha t i n f u t ure t he Weapon Eng i nee r i ng br anch w i l l no l onge r be t he so l e depos i t ory o f e l ec t r i ca l know l edge , bu t w i l l be ab l e t o concen t r a t e on t he pr i me t ask o f ma i n t a i n i ng weapon sys t em e f f ec t i veness , w i t hou t t he d i s t rac t i ons o f h i gh -powe r e l ec t r i ca l gene r a t i on and d i s t r i but i on , and t he e l ec t r i ca l aspec t s o f propu l s i on and aux i l i ary mach i ne r y .

Rema r kab l e ma t ch I

t has been poss i b l e t o ma t ch men ' s pr e f e r ences t o t he need f or t rans f er to a r ema r kab l e degr ee i n t he sur f ace f l ee t . I n gene r a l serv i ce ' no ra t i ngs on t he t r a i ned s t reng t h have been t rans f e r red t o t he ME sub-br anch a f t er express i ng a pr e f e r ence t o r ema i n VTE. . Examp l e o f t he a r m badge (Con t i nued i n ac page and r i nh t hnd ( PO rnI I

A t t he l aunch a t Wa i l send -on-Tyne of H , M. S . I l l us t r i ous , second of t he new an t i - subma r i ne cru i sers , t he announcemen t was made t ha t t he t h i rd o f t he c l ass i s t o bea r t he name Ar k Roya l . An orde r has been p l aced w i t h Swan Hun t e r Sh i pbu i l de rs f or cons t ruc t i on o f t he sh i p , wh i ch w i l l i ncorpor a t e some i mprovemen t s ove r t he f i rst t wo sh i ps i n t he c l ass. She w i l l be t he f i f th sh i p o f t he Roya l Navy to bea r t he f amous na e , " By Chr i s t mas " The Las t Fa r ewe l l , " r ecorded by t he Ar k cho i r ( RESL 61) had so l d mor e t han 40 , 000 cop i es and had r eached No . 60 i n t he Top 100. See a l so pages 9 and 19 .

Sh i ps w i l l ge t mo r e Ma r i nes Mor e of the Navy ' s f r i ga tes and some des t royers are to have Roya l Ma r i nes de t achmen t s to i ncrease the i r amph i b i ous capab i l i ty . I t means tha t i n the event of rap i d need for commando presence , these men wou l d be ava i l ab l e f rom the neares t f r i ga te or des t royer ,

i n t he new r ange o f badge We apon Eng i nee r i ng badges t o be wo r n f r om Sep t embe r . The l e t t e r H o r 0 be l ow t he dev i ce w i l l i nd i ca t e r ad i o o r o r dnance spec i a l i sa t i on .

ADM I RALS MOVE UP

Adm i r a l S i r Te r ence Lew i n , F i rs t Sea Lord s i nce Augus t 1977 , i s t o be Ch i e f o f t he De f ence St a f f and Cha i rman of t he Ch i e f s o f St a f f Comm i t t ee on Sep t embe r 1 i n success i on t o Ma r sha l of t he Roya l A i r For ce S i r Ne i l Came ron , The nex t F i rs t Sea Lo rd i s t o be Adm i r a l S i r Hen r y Leach , a t p r esen t Commande r - i n- Ch i e f F l ee t , who succeeds Adm i r a l Lew i n i n Ju l y , V i ce -Adm i r a l J. H. F . Ebe r l e i s t o be promo t ed adm i r a l on May 4 and to be Commande r - i n-Ch i e f F l ee t i n success i on t o Adm i r a l Leach i n t ha t mon t h. Fu l l de t a i l s on page 12 .

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A t pr esen t on l y a f ew o f t he Roya l Navy ' s f r i ga t es ca r ry R. M . de t achmen t s . I t i s be i ng s t ressed tha t t he new move i s no t espec i a l l y des i gned w i t h o i l f i e l d pa t ro l i n m i nd ; t he a i m is t o i nc rease capab i l i t y i n gene ra l . I n add i t i on , i t shou l d prov i de add i t i ona l expe r i ence f or sa i l ors i n t he sh i ps wh i ch w i l l now have Ma r i nes ' who a r e expe r t s i n secur i t y and dep l oymen t ashore . I t i s unde r s t ood tha t t he de t achmen t s go i ng to sh i ps unde r t he new p l an w i l l compr i se abou t t en men and a se rgean t .

Pr i nce hopes to f l y Navy

A f t e r unde r go i ng a se r i es o f t es t s , i nc l ud i ng an a i r c r ew med i ca l exam i na t i on a t Sea f i e l d Pa r k , H , M . S . Daeda l us , Pr i nce And r ew I s se t t o make f o r ma l app l i ca t i on t o j o i n t he Roya l Navy . He hopes t o t ake up a 12 - yea r sho r t Ca r ee r Comm i ss i on f or f l y i ng du t i es a f t e r l eav i ng Go r dons t oun t h i s yea r . He wou l d j o i n as a m i dsh i pman a t B , R , N . C . Da r t mou t h .


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