Menovering; Movements Afloat

Sitting here by the mighty Clyde, long-timers will know I get to see all sorts of shipping activity. Everything from little local 'tinnies' with outboard motors, yachts from one of the several clubs on the coastline, small cargo ships and tugs, giant floating hotels and tankers... and naval shipping. HMNB Clyde (Faslane) is just a few miles up the water. Mostly I see the frigates and minesweepers, and sometimes catch one of the nine submarines which call it home port. Some of you may recall this image from my archives:

Originally shown on my now-retired photography blog (where, if you are so inclined, you can go to the Shipping Label and indulge in all the different vessels spotted over the years - some are even rather fine photos, if I say so myself), this was one of the nine. For the image-curious, yes, that was the actual lighting of the day - you can just make out the green on yonder hillside. It is not a black-and-white photo! Back to submarines. Note the configuration of the conning tower, the length... now compare it to this one spotted moving out a couple of weeks back:

Rather longer, slightly sleeker-looking... checking my AIS app, it was revealed only as "USA naval vessel"; which was more than I sometimes get, as many of the military ships quite literally fly under the radar. That is to say, they are not obliged to turn on the Automatic Identification System if they are deploying. Anyway, this glimpse reminded me of one of my 'indulgent watches', the film Hunter Killer. I rather like submarine films. Das Boot was a classic, of course... but let me not get distracted. That's a subject for another time!

Another vessel my eye was attracted to was this one;

It was quite different to other stuff seen here on a regular basis. Well, that was interesting! I couldn't quite make out the name, even with my binoculars, as it was on the far shoreline, but the AIS revealed it to be the RRS Discovery. Yes, the same name as the ill-fated ship that Robert Scott and his team sailed to Antarctica. You can read all about this scientific research vessel on the rather magnificent website of the National Oceanography Centre. There's lots to explore (no pun!) there. 

I was rather taken with the fact that the third officer is a young lady - on a ship's crew made up entirely of men. Also, the current captain is an Edinburgh-born fellow who, in this short video, gives you all the basics of the job, the ship, the purpose... (and I bet you weren't expecting this sort of post today!)