The Bilge Pumps

Welcome because this week the Bilgepumps Crew think they have escaped reality... as they grapple with the news of the Type 32...  Britain's increasing its defence spending... and most importantly the Bilgepumps Curse.

So without much further ado, this Bilgepumps, Episode 25, - good Jamie is back, bad news our guest couldn't make it... good news thanks to Boris Johnson's latest announcements and recent events we had plenty still to discuss... So sit back, relax, enjoy as poor Jamie does  the work that should actually earn him a paycheck and tries to keep Alex & Drach from disappearing down all sorts of random rabbit holes.

In the past Alex has said, once it reached Episode 25... he could no longer claim "#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue"... The crew are actually starting to get the hang of it, although they need to work on their endings... so no if it can't claim to be new... Well we can still hope you enjoy the easy listening relaxed atmosphere as our three normal crew attempt to make sense of the world around them. Whilst imbibing a lot of Irn Bru and catering to the needs of some rather large fluffy research assistants who seem to only want us for our beds.

Thank you to our audience for staying with us, for those who  it's a first listen, we hope you enjoy and return. As always we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us as we are always eager to hear them.... to find us the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 24, Parts 1 and 2. Be afraid, be very afraid...that most terrifying circumstance has come to pass once more, Jamie was busy... and the episode needed to be done. So it is just Alex and Drach for two whole hours on air defense at sea. It is either very good, or should be locked away somewhere with instructions for it only to be opened in the event of major war looming large...

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 24, Parts 1 and 2. Be afraid, be very afraid...that most terrifying circumstance has come to pass once more, Jamie was busy... and the episode needed to be done. So it is just Alex and Drach for two whole hours on air defense at sea. It is either very good, or should be locked away somewhere with instructions for it only to be opened in the event of major war looming large...

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 23. The Bilge Pumps Crew is joined by Dr. Simon Elliot (@SimonElliott20) the expert on all things Roman navy history and archeology, plus Julius Caesar. Visit his book list here.

With such a wide area of history to draw from where could Bilge Pumps go? Well, we start off with the Classis Britannica and work out from there, through the designs of the ships and the wars Rome fought as a Republic and an Empire. We also of course consider the defense of islands and coastlines with forts, the infrastructure and realities of economics and logistics, and the importance of a good public relations effort.

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 22. We're being very current, almost bang up to date for Bilgepumps! No guest unfortunately, it's just your regular crew, but we hope you will enjoy our musings on the SBS, the future of ship to ship boarding, and all the other things it sparked. However, with no guest and it being rather late in the UK and extremely early in Australia, we decided to call it a night. But it felt too short, so we added in the bonus episode we had been saving for when Navy Con (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/navycon-2020-a-tickets-125821115343) goes live... enjoy.

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 21... and this is special...this is one of those times that the Bilge Pumps team just gets amazed! We just cannot believe how lucky we are to have this person come on our podcast. This is Stephen George, Commander, Royal Navy (ret.), an aero engineer the likes of which you will rarely get to speak in public.

Commander George was a part of the unprecedented effort which went into achieving over 80 percent availability from nine aircraft for nearly 120 days during the 1982 Falklands War. It was a marathon engineering effort, involving HMS Invincible, their aircraft carrier under the leadership of Captain J.J. Black, a forward operating base, working on a really intricate engine while rotors were still turning and heli-taxiing through Port Stanley. Unsurprisingly, this is two parts, and we haven't even started on Steve's role and knowledge of the F-35 or Queen Elizabeth-class projects.

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 21... and this is special...this is one of those times that the Bilge Pumps team just gets amazed! We just cannot believe how lucky we are to have this person come on our podcast. This is Stephen George, Commander, Royal Navy (ret.), an aero engineer the likes of which you will rarely get to speak in public.

Commander George was a part of the unprecedented effort which went into achieving over 80 percent availability from nine aircraft for nearly 120 days during the 1982 Falklands War. It was a marathon engineering effort, involving HMS Invincible, their aircraft carrier under the leadership of Captain J.J. Black, a forward operating base, working on a really intricate engine while rotors were still turning and heli-taxiing through Port Stanley. Unsurprisingly, this is two parts, and we haven't even started on Steve's role and knowledge of the F-35 or Queen Elizabeth-class projects.

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Bilge Pumps, Episode 20... just who knew... and this week the crew of Alex, Drach, and Jamie have gone very topical, we've gone with the new Manhattan Project, the savior of future naval operations.... the Network, yes the thing that has been coming for about 30 years. Finally it is getting the Bilge Pumps treatment and that is all down to the recent statements and especially the recent David Larter article. It's a well written and well-researched article, but for all three of us in the Bilgepumps crew it brought on shivers like we were 1970s USN veterans and someone had just said "sea control ship."

#Bilgepumps is still a newish series and new avenue, which may no longer boast the new car smell, in fact decidedly more of pineapple/irn bru smell with a hint of jaffa cake and the faintest whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

So it's that time again, time for the Bilgepumps to turn to their favorite source of What? Why? How? With that supra-regional nation state, China, its navy and especially its carrier program, with some exploration for why you may not need to worry about tomorrow, but definitely need to start pondering the next decade.

We have made it to Episode 19 and we are reunited with a rejuvenated Jamie to keep Alex and Drach to time. But it is a China episode, so he may be distracted...

#Bilgepumps is a still newish series and new avenue, although it may no longer have the new car smell, in fact more of pineapple/irn bru smell, with the faint whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepumps), at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).

Today it's just two naval history geeks, and so it is a two-parter as Alex and Drach wrestle with RapidRazorback's question: what bits of history do we think have been forgotten that need to be remembered?

We've made it to Episode 18 and this will be the first time a crewmate is missing from the  Bilge Pumps crew. So be prepared to be very afraid because this could be long, this could go down rabbit holes, we could start out discussing history and end up debating sci-fi...Honestly, the only people more scared than you of what this could be is Drach and Alex themselves. But still, for you, they did it! 

So after all that what is Episode 18 about? Well, the #Bilgepumps team after being so topical for so many weeks, is continuing this by asking what history has been forgotten that shouldn't be. Come listen and see how long Alex manages to contain himself from discussing HMS Unicorn! 

#Bilgepumps is a still newish series and new avenue, although it may no longer have the new car smell, in fact more of pineapple/irn bru smell, with the faint whiff of cork– but we're getting the impression it's liked, so we’d very much like any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the #Bilgepump Crew (with #Bilgepump) at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).