Shelter WW2.
1,300ft complex of tunnels built to shelter people from Nazi bombs
A secret underground air raid shelter buried 100ft beneath Clapham Common has been turned into an exhibition run by Transport for London and the London Transport Museum.
The Type 23 frigate will work with a multinational Nato task group, taking part in exercises and operations.
The 180-strong ship’s company will be permanently available to Nato a range of tasks and diplomatic visits to countries in the region.
Iron Duke’s commanding officer, Commander Ben Aldous, is looking forward to the deployment.
‘We have been preparing for this deployment throughout 2015 with a great deal of effort making sure we have a ship and crew that is ready for the task,’ he said.
‘This has included a number of equipment upgrades, making Iron Duke one of the most capable ships in the fleet.
‘The ship’s company has put in a huge amount of effort during our pre-deployment training.’
Many of the ship’s company have never deployed overseas before, including 30-year-old engineering technician Owen Goodridge, a weapon engineer from Portsmouth.
He said: ‘I’m very much looking forward to operating with Nato and getting the opportunity to see some new places.’
Iron Duke leaves on Monday morning.
The Archer class (or P2000) is a class of patrol and training vessel in service with the United Kingdom"s Royal Navy, commonly referred to as a Fast Training Boat.[2] Most are assigned to University Royal Naval Units, although HMS Tracker and HMS Raider are armed and provide maritime force protection to high value shipping in the Firth of Clyde although are most commonly employed as escorts for submarines transiting to Faslane.
HMS Defiance was the Fleet Maintenance Base at HMNB Devonport between 1972 and 1979, and again between 1981 and 1994 when it was absorbed into the main base. One ship was renamed HMS Defiance whilst serving as the establishment"s depot ship.
HMS Forth was HMS Defiance from 1972 until 1978.
China Completes Second Mega-Cutter
China has built a second 12,000-ton displacement coast guard ship for patrol service in the South China Sea, reports Chinese Communist Party media
