HMS Dragon - A Type 45 Destroyer

I recently came across a posting about the launch of the 4th Type 45 Destroyer-named HMS Dragon. What caught my eye was the painting on both sides of the bow, was a dragon.

Checking out some other websites, HMS Dragon has a 18-meter long Welsh Dragon painted on it's 152 meter length hull when it was launched from BVT shipyard at Govan into the river Clyde on November 17, 2008.

This ship is the fourth of eight planned Type 45 destroyers for the British Royal Navy. This type of vessel is planned as escorts for the new British carrier (yet to be built). The rear flightdeck can operate helicopters up to the size of a Chinook type helicopter. It will normally carry a Lynx or Merlin type helicopter.

It has the latest satellite communication systems and packing the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS). Other missile systems include Surface-toAir (SAM) Sea Vipers. Then smaller Aster 15 and Aster 32 missiles.

As for guns, it has 1 Vickers 4.5 inch and two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx Close-in Weapon systems guns.

Max speed will be about 29 knots and the ship can cruise up to 7000 nautical miles at 18 knots. Crew numbers about 187.

As an added bonus, in my search I came across the Marine Traffic.com website and it showed the current postion of this warship as it was sailing down the Clyde. Pretty cool. In time of war, I hope that the British (or the American) warships are not tracked like this.

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Ref.

1. Armed Forces UK, Navy ( http://www.armedforces.co.uk/navy/listings/l0014.html ).

2. Kincardineshire Observer. "" by . August 27, 2011. ( http://www.kincardineshireobserver.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/warship_dragon_heads_to_new_home_1_1808760 ).

3. Marine Traffic.com. HMS Dragon ( http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=235053408 ).

First Airplane in Antarctica remains found

News from the Mawson's Huts Foundation has found the remains of the first airplane ever taken to Antarctica back in 1912.

Quoting team member Tony Stewart on their blog from Cape Denison (in Antarctica's Commonwealth Bay, on Jan 2, 2010) "The biggest news of the day is that we've found the air tractor, or at least parts of it."

That expedition to Antarctic by the Australian team in 1911-14 used the airplane as a tractor/sled since the wings were damage. The airplane itself is of a single-engine Vickers that was built in 1911. This is just 8-years after the Wright Brother's first flight folks! Eventually, the engine just could not stand the cold and so it was eventually abandoned.

In the 1970s, the remains where photographed. It appeared to be encompassed in the ice or almost. Now, it is underwater and the photographs on their blog show the fragments.

This posting will be posted on both of my blogs to start off the new year with.

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Ref. Yahoo.news. January 3, 2010. AP writer Tanalee Smith. (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Frank-Hurley-Antarctica/photo//100103/481/8df8f64c065341e599a3f5f6079ea771//s:/ap/20100103/ap_on_sc/as_antarctica_explorer_s_airplane;_ylt=AvHiDsiYPpXMDWwlLd5Ey55xieAA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5M2V1OGVlBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9yX3RvcF9waG90bwRzbGsDaW50aGlzMTkxMmlt). Image is also from this posting.

Mawson's Huts Foundation blog (http://www.mawsons-huts.org.au/cms/blog/).