ISSUE 14 : Jan/Feb - 1979 - Australian Defence Force Journal

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 7armoured cruiser as a supplementary to thebattleship.Secondly, Mr Pelvin goes on to say that theRussian ships were of extreme age and doubtfuldesign. The nucleus of the 2nd PacificSquadron was made tip of four battleships ofthe Borodino class, launched in and after 1902,therefore just three years old when sent intobattle. The 16 other major Russian warshipswere on an average ten years old, ranging fromthe Osliaba launched in 1902 to the VladimirMonomakh launched in 1881. If these are shipsof extreme age at the time of the battle, what dowe call our three RAN DDGs? (launched 1963-66). The flagship Kniaz Suvoroff sank aftermore than four torpedo hits and after havingbeen under concentrated fire for five hours andtwenty minutes. Not bad for a ship of 'doubtfuldesign' and overloaded with coal.Finally in regard to the speed of the QueenElizabeth Class Dreadnoughts, Mr Pelvin andthe book under review are both wrong.Although the ships were designed for 25 knots,it is understood that 24 was about the bestobtained; as for the Queen Elizabeth herself,best speed in service was 22.5-23 knots. 1 havequoted these figures from Sir Oscar Parkes'book British Battleships.^Office of DNP,1. StrasserCanberra, ACTLeading SeamanVSTOL VARIATIONSA.k. Richardson's letter (DFJ No. 12September October 1978) could be consideredconfusing when he states that Vstol Variations(DFJ No. 9 March/April 1978) claims that'Aircraft weight is less than total lift prior topoint Z, equal to the lift of Point Z, and greaterthereafter'. "Prior", in this sense, would applyto the relative location of the event as depictedin Figure 1A when reading from left to rightacross the page; the opposite is of course true if"prior" is taken in the more commonly usedtemporal sense (as addressed in the article).Apart from some confusion caused (at leastto this writer) over the above, Mr. Richardson'spoint is well taken that an error has been madein the printing of Figure 1A and that weightwould in fact eqtial lift at the point of inflexionof the flight path, ie. approximately at point Y,(it would also have been clearer if Figure IBhad been printed to 'line up' with Figure 1A).A.K.R.'s observation does not of course alterthe basic theory of the situation.Ski-jump trials are apparently proceedingapace and over 17° has now been achieved.Launch weights of 3000 lbs. over and aboveflat-deck launch weights are expected — whichif converted to fuel endurance equates toperhaps an extra hour's thing time. Thebenefits of the ski-jump can therefore bereadily appreciated and the incremental aircraftperformance obtained cannot but amelioratesome of the criticisms which have been laid atthe door of sea-based VSTOL aircraft. WAustralian Division, A.M. HicklingCanberra Branch Honorary SecretaryThe Royal Aeronautical SocietyCOUNTER TERRORISMI have just been browsing again through theJuly/August issue (No. 11) of your DefenceForce Journal and 1 noticed your reference inthe Editorial to "Counter Terrorism".It struck me that the recently published bookPeace-keeping in a Democratic Society byRobin Evelegh might be a suitable book forreview. The author was a Colonel in the 3rd.Battalion of the Royal Green Jackets and hedeals with countering terrorism in general basedon his experiences in Northern Ireland. My ownreading suggests that he is rather too legalisticalthough 1 am inclined to agree with his verdictthat the Army there has not been given thepowers necessary to cope with the situation. IICliviger, Lanes, England VV.F. WhiteheadIN SUPPORT OF AN AUSTRALIANAMPHIBIOUS FORCEWhat a great job Commander Peter Shevlin hasdone pushing the amphibious bandwagon in theface of growing home and overseas opinionthat the sun has already set on the golden age of"gator" navies. I too believe that there is a rolefor an Australian Amphibious Force; castingaside the logistic, disaster relief and evacuationroles which are obvious, I would like to add afew thoughts to the section devoted tooperations on the Land Commander's rearwardflank. A quote from the Commandant of theUS Marine Corps, General Louis U. Wilson Jr.would not go astray. Speaking of striking at theflanks or rear he said,"Used in this way, amphibious forcesprovide, as they did in World War II, astrategy option which the enemy cannotignore. If history is an accurate guide, an