In part one of this discussion between Dr. Gary Blackburn and host Iain Ballantyne, they investigate the recently published UK Defence Command Paper (DCP). 

It was meant to lay out how British national defence and security will be achieved, especially in light of the on-going Ukraine War. However, it is regarded by some as nothing more than a ‘word salad’ - an opaquely worded smokescreen to hide the fact that Britain doesn’t have enough money to defend itself properly.

Gary highlights valid points made by the DCP, while also suggesting its weaknesses. Iain proposes the DCP should actually be called the ‘No Money Command Paper.’ Iain and Gary look at ‘wonder technologies’ versus traditional combat mass (and how the former has for decades been used as a mask for defence cuts in various UK defence reviews).

Other things touched on during Gary and Iain’s chat include Russia’s moves in Africa and China’s ability to build as many warships as it likes with no regard for the sort of political-economic imperatives that Western democracies have to take into account.

A hot topic also considered is the Ukraine War at sea, including attacks by maritime drones on Russian vessels and Moscow’s ‘Black Sea Grain Gambit’ - the weaponization of grain exports to the rest of the world (or lack of them).

When it comes to sea drone attacks on Russia’s ships, some historical context is provided – basically, the use of such equalising weapons by weaker nations against stronger ones is nothing new, as Gary and Iain point out. So-called ‘kamikaze’ maritime drones are just the latest variation on an old weapon…

Aspects of this fascinating discussion are covered also in the new (September) edition of Warships IFR magazine, which is OUT NOW! 

Warships IFR is available in shops and direct as a both a hard copy mag and digital edition. You can make sure that you receive a regular delivery of global naval news and features by subscribing bit.ly/wifrsub 

For more information on Warships IFR magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag 

Follow it on X (formerly known as Twitter) via @WarshipsIFR and on Facebook @WarshipsIFR

• In part two of their podcast discussion Iain Ballantyne and Gary Blackburn provide their opinions on the Hollywood movie ‘Oppenheimer’, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the atom bomb.’ It includes a discussion on the historical context of The Bomb’s use to end WW2, especially in light of the US Navy already bringing Japan to the brink of surrender. Finally, in part two Iain and Gary also weigh up the worth of the latest revelations in the story of UFOs (aka UAPs) and how the mystery craft have interacted with the US Navy. Might the Warships Pod one day feature an alien lifeform as a special guest!?

• Dr Gary Blackburn is an honorary fellow of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull, which seeks to enhance understanding on the nature of war and strategy while also providing guidance on best practice in war and strategy to professional stakeholders. Gary has taught Security Studies and Military History at the Universities of Leeds and Hull, respectively - and has written for Defence Studies and The Critic, and for the latter about aspects of the UK’s 2021 Integrated Review of Defence and Security. 

Follow him on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) via @gjb70

• Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of Warships IFR. He is also author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade’ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, with his most recent books being ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ and ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron’ (new editions for Canelo History).  For more details on Iain and his books visit the web sites http://iainballantyne.com and https://www.bismarckbattle.com/ 

Follow him on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) via @IBallantyn

In the second and final installment of our discussion with British submarine captain Commander Rob Forsyth, we hear how a hard-charging Soviet spy vessel forced him to order HMS Repulse to ‘crash dive’. It happened as the Polaris missile submarine deployed from Scotland on a deterrent patrol in the early 1970s. 

With the UK and its NATO allies locked in the Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, it was vitally important the best of the best became submarine captains, able to take such split-second, life-or-death decisions at sea.

And so Rob Forsyth also tells Warships Pod host Iain Ballantyne about the tough job of being a Perisher course ‘Teacher’, deciding who had the right stuff to command a Royal Navy submarine against the Soviets.

Next, we hear how Rob was given command of the new Swiftsure Class nuclear powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Sceptre in the late 1970s. Aside from bringing the SSN into service and through sea trials, Rob was given a mission in the Mediterranean to find and trail a Russian Navy aircraft carrier and gather vital intelligence.

Among other things Iain and Rob discuss are latter day developments such as the AUKUS defence pact between Australia, the UK and USA that will see a new generation of submarines constructed for both the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy. 

Rob and Iain also ponder whether or not a return of diesel-electric submarines in the British fleet is a means to relieve the operational strain on a small number of SSNs. Rob considers whether, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nuclear deterrence still works today, especially when conventional UK and NATO forces have arguably declined too far.

• Follow Rob Forsyth on Twitter @RStanleyForsyth 

• Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of WARSHIPS International Fleet Review magazine. 

For more details on the magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag Warships IFR is a monthly naval news magazine, also packed with commentary and analysis and offering a dash of naval history and culture. Available from shops and direct from the publisher.

Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and Facebook @WarshipsIFR

Iain Ballantyne can be found on Twitter @IBallantyn

• To find out more about the Royal Navy’s submarines and submariners during the Cold War at sea, including the exploits of Cdr Forsyth, read the book ‘Hunter Killers’ by Iain Ballantyne. More details here https://iainballantyne.com/hunter killers/

We continue our occasional series talking to Cold War undersea warriors with the first installment of a two-episode dive into the submarine career of Commander Rob Forsyth.

Entering the Royal Navy in the 1950s, after a brief excursion into the surface fleet, Rob found himself aboard the submarine HMS Auriga, undertaking a patrol during the Cuban Missile Crisis of late 1962.

With Warships Pod host Iain Ballantyne, Rob also discusses a submerged transatlantic transit in the same diesel-electric boat, which turned out not to be the record-breaking voyage everybody hoped for (due to a messy technical difficulty).

After succeeding on the notorious Perisher- the Royal Navy’s very demanding submarine command course - we learn how Rob in the early 1970s took command of the famous HMS Alliance. The Alliance is today preserved at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire.

Aside from learning how HMS Alliance battled stormy seas on patrol in the Bay of Biscay, in this podcast episode we also hear how a rather smelly jumper received a burial at sea.

The chat then moves into the nuclear submarine world, with Rob as second-in-command of the Polaris ballistic missile boat HMS Repulse, one of the UK’s strategic deterrent vessels.

In the next episode Rob tells us about how Repulse was forced to conduct a ‘crash dive’ by a rather persistent Soviet spy vessel; the Perisher from the perspective of running the course; being CO of the hunter-killer submarine HMS Sceptre while pursuing a Russian aircraft carrier across the Mediterranean.

• Follow Rob Forsyth on Twitter @RStanleyForsyth

• Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of WARSHIPS International Fleet Review magazine.

For more details on the magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag Warships IFR is a monthly naval news magazine, also packed with commentary and analysis and offering a dash of naval history and culture. Available from shops and direct. Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and Facebook @WarshipsIFR

Iain Ballantyne can be found on Twitter @IBallantyn

• To find out more about the Royal Navy’s submarines and submariners during the Cold War ate sea, including the exploits of Cdr Forsyth, read the book ‘Hunter Killers’ by Iain Ballantyne. More details here https://iainballantyne.com/hunter-killers/

In part two of a discussion by Mark Grove and Dr Gary Blackburn with host Iain Ballantyne, the tasty and varied menu includes naval aspects of the Ukraine War and whether or not a new Battle of the Atlantic is shaping up as Russia seeks to win its so-called ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine it has sought to establish stronger links with China, so this begs the question, which Iain puts out there: what does Moscow have to offer Beijing? Does the answer possibly lie in naval technology?

After also touching on Russia reinforcing its submarine forces in the Pacific, the chat turns to the Ukraine War itself. Among the topics touched on are Moscow effort’s to impose a distant blockade in the Black Sea and the use of drones, plus implications for the Royal Navy as it struggles to achieve critical mass in aerial capabilities. The discussion turns to the new contest in the Atlantic between Russia and the West. Bearing in mind this is the 80 th anniversary year of the Allies gaining a decisive upper hand in the WW2 struggle for that vast and strategically vital ocean, does naval history offer anything relevant to where we are now?

Would convoys of merchant vessels need to make a comeback if the 21 st Century Atlantic contest turns hot? And, as a worthwhile digression, what about the importance of safeguarding seabed infrastructure - especially in the wake of the Nord Stream sabotage attack - and how to avoid dangerous escalation? The expert analysis and commentary of Mark and Gary on all the above subjects is well worth a listen.

Also touched on in this episode is China seeking to exert sea control in oceans off its shores, via land-based ballistic missiles, but why? The conundrum of prioritising UK army or naval expenditure is mentioned, along with the folly of the UK’s notorious 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Mark Grove is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies specialising in Maritime Strategy, Warfare, and Security at the University of Lincoln’s Maritime Studies Centre at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, where he has taught for 24 years, originally working directly for the Ministry of Defence. Mark has written on amphibious warfare, the naval history of the Second World War, and the Falklands. Over the last decade or more has spent most of his research time examining the threats posed by the Russian and Chinese navies, on which he has provided briefings for several UK and NATO Headquarters and Government Departments. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJGrove

Dr Gary Blackburn is an honorary fellow of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull, which seeks to enhance understanding on the nature of war and strategy while also providing guidance on best practice in war and strategy to professional stakeholders. Gary has taught Security Studies and Military History at the Universities of Leeds and Hull, respectively - and has written for Defence Studies and The Critic, and for the latter about aspects of the UK’s 2021 Integrated Review of Defence and Security. Follow him on Twitter @gjb70

• For more on Warships IFR magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and on Facebook @WarshipsIFR

• Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of Warships IFR. He is also author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade’ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, with his most recent books being ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ and ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron’ (new editions for Canelo History). For more details on Iain and his books visit the websites http://iainballantyne.com and https://www.bismarckbattle.com/ Follow him on Twitter @IBallantyn

In part one of a two-part special, guests Dr Gary Blackburn and Mark Grove discuss an array of hot topics with host Iain Ballantyne.

Iain asks Gary and Mark to give their perspectives on submarine aspects of the Australia- United Kingdom-USA (AUKUS) defence pact following the recent big announcement on the way ahead in San Diego. They consider the implications, along with the scale and nature of the challenge, both industrially and strategically.

The UK’s Integrated Review 23 Refresh’ (IR23) comes under scrutiny to assess what we know so far and what may be to come, including naval cuts/or reshaping that will be revealed in the forthcoming Command Paper. How the UK might weight its defence forces is considered.

Britain’s much-vaunted Pacific Tilt in relation to China v. West tensions is also discussed, along with the prospect of a retreat from major naval commitments in Indo-Pacific - under a possible new Labour Government - as the Army lobbies for a return to a focus on a new ‘Central Front’ on land against Russia.

• Part two will look at naval aspects of the Ukraine-Russia War and what a future Battle of the Atlantic may be like. It is an apt topic in the 80th anniversary year of the culmination in the WW2 struggle for the Atlantic.

Mark Grove is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies specialising in Maritime Strategy, Warfare, and Security at the University of Lincoln’s Maritime Studies Centre at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, where he has taught for 24 years, originally working directly for the Ministry of Defence. Mark has written on amphibious warfare, the naval history of the Second World War, and the Falklands. Over the last decade or more has spent most of his research time examining the threats posed by the Russian and Chinese navies, on which he has provided briefings for several UK and NATO Headquarters and Government Departments. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJGrove

Dr Gary Blackburn is an honorary fellow of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull, which seeks to enhance understanding on the nature of war and strategy while also providing guidance on best practice in war and strategy to professional stakeholders. Gary has taught Security Studies and Military History at the Universities of Leeds and Hull, respectively - and has written for Defence Studies and The Critic, and for the latter about aspects of the UK’s 2021 Integrated Review of Defence and Security. Follow him on Twitter @gjb70

• For more on Warships IFR magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag  Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and on Facebook @WarshipsIFR

• Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of Warships IFR. He is also the author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade’ (Weidenfeld & 

Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, with his most recent books being ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ and ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron’ (new editions for Canelo History). For more details on Iain and his books visit the web sites http://iainballantyne.com and https://www.bismarckbattle.com/ Follow him on Twitter @IBallantyn

Michael G. Welham is our guest, talking to host Iain Ballantyne about the mysterious world of undersea warriors known as ‘combat divers’.

Michael has been involved with diving, both military and civilian, for some 40 years. He was a Royal Marines Commando, with skills in diving, canoeing, and parachuting. Mike was also a member of 21 Special Air Service Regiment and of 95 Commando Naval Gunfire Support Royal Artillery, both British elite Reserve units. 

To start things off, Iain asks Mike to provide a definition of a combat diver. Who can be described as such? What is it that attracts a certain kind of person to what is a highly demanding and very dangerous job, even within the risk-taking world of Special Forces?

The origins of combat diving - WW2’s Italian and British ‘frogmen’ - are discussed, including the legendary Lieutenant Commander Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb and also the exploits of the Royal Marine Boom Patrol Detachment, the famed ‘Cockleshell Heroes’.

The often overlooked role of Royal Marine specialists and other Allied frogmen in enabling troops to get ashore in Normandy on D-Day 6 June are mentioned, as are the origins of the famous US Navy SEALS during WW2 and their evolution in the Vietnam War. 

The activities of Russian combat divers and submersibles in Scandinavian waters during the Cold War - along with recent suspected intrusions into Swedish and Norwegian waters - are discussed, along with last year’s Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage act.

Bringing things right up to date is some expert analysis by Mike of the possible role of Ukrainian combat divers in the sinking of the Russian Navy landing ship RFS Saratov, in the occupied port of Berdyansk, on the Sea of Azov. 

He also provides insights into the role of Ukrainian combat divers, including their use of Swimmer Delivery Vehicles during the fight for Zmiinyi Island (Snake Island) in the northwest Black Sea. Mike reveals how, during a daring operation across the River Dnieper, they also saved the lives of hundreds of civilians by enabling their escape from Russian oppression.

•‘Combat Divers’ by Michael G. Welham, is published by Osprey, at £35.00 hardback. In addition to Mike’s expert analysis it is packed with photos and other illustrations. It is available from online retailers and via book shops.

• For more on the magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag

Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR 

On Facebook @WarshipsIFR

• Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of Warships IFR magazine. He is also the author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’, ‘The Deadly Trade’ and ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’. For more details on Iain and his books visit his web sites http://iainballantyne.com and https://www.bismarckbattle.com/

Follow him on Twitter @IBallantyn

In this podcast our guest is a legend of the Submarine Service. He is Doug Littlejohns, who had a remarkable career in the Royal Navy, both as a submarine captain and in command of an intelligence-gathering warship during the Cold War.

Across a fascinating podcast discussion with our host Iain Ballantyne, we hear from Doug about his exciting time on the famed Perisher submarine command course; daring surveillance missions against Russian naval vessels in the diesel submarine HMS Osiris; how he brought the badly damaged nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Sceptre (and that boat’s crew) back to fighting efficiency.

Doug also relates how, after reading Tom Clancy’s novel ‘The Hunt for Red October’ during a visit to the USA, he met the blockbuster author and ended up inspiring a character in the master story-teller's next bestseller, ‘Red Storm Rising’. Revealed also are Doug’s adventures in command of the Type 22 frigate HMS London, which included forcing a Russian submarine to surface and staging a mock funeral to prank a shadowing Soviet surface ship (both in the Baltic). Doug and HMS London also went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Iranians in the Arabian Gulf during the Tanker War.

Doug reveals how he introduced a special premiere of the Hollywood movie of the ‘Hunt for Red October’ in London and, after leaving the Navy, worked with Clancy. They founded the famous computer games firm Red Storm Entertainment, becoming pioneers of strategy and also tactical-shooter genres, via ‘Rainbow Six’ and others.

For more on the magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag 

Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and on Facebook @WarshipsIFR

Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of this magazine. He is also the author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ and ‘HMS London’ which, among other things, tell the story of Doug Littlejohns’ exploits as an undersea warrior and also as a surface warship captain. For more details on Iain and his books visit his websites http://iainballantyne.com and https://www.bismarckbattle.com/

Follow him on Twitter @IBallantyn

In this episode host Iain Ballantyne talks to Andy Benford, a Cold War undersea warrior who saw service in diesel ‘dirty boats’ of the British and Australian navies and aboard nuclear submarines, not only in hunter-killers but also the UK’s Polaris deterrent force.

Aside from Andy’s brush with death during a notorious 1972 hovercraft accident in the Solent, they also discuss what inspired him to join the Royal Navy and become a submariner.

Starting with service aboard the HMS Finwhale in 1970 - operating out of Singapore, including an exciting encounter with the Special Boat Service (SBS) - by 1977 Andy had graduated to the nuclear navy.

As a young officer in HMS Sovereign, he played a key role in Operation Agile Eagle in the late 1970s. This was reputedly the longest trail of a Soviet Submarine in the Cold War, with nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Sovereign stealthily following a Yankee Class ballistic missile submarine for weeks in the Atlantic. 

After that, in 1980 came the famed, and ruthless, Perisher submarine command course - also discussed - after which Andy was posted ashore to work in a nuclear blast-proof bunker at the Fleet HQ of the Royal Navy.

Next Andy commands the Australian diesel submarine HMAS Oxley, with his exploits including taking part in a Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise off Hawaii in 1984, during which his boat ‘sank’ a US Navy carrier.

After all that excitement in diesels and attack submarines, Andy became second-in-command of a Polaris missile submarine, deploying in HMS Revenge for five nuclear deterrent patrols between 1986 and 1990.

Overall Andy provides a deeply fascinating insight into the life in a steel tube packed with cutting-edge tech and weapons.

In addition, our guest has distinguished himself in recent times by devising a board game inspired by his life under the sea, called ‘They Come Unseen’, prototypes of which were ‘road-tested’ under the sea on submarine patrol.

• Andy Benford is on Twitter @Perisher80

• Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of WARSHIPS International Fleet Review 

magazine. He can be found on Twitter @IBallantyn

• For more details on the magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag

Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and on Facebook @WarshipsIFR

In this episode of the Warships Pod, host Iain Ballantyne is joined by two long-time

and highly valued contributors to Warships IFR magazine and also to the “Guide to

the US Navy.”

They are Dr Robert Farley, who currently teaches at the Patterson School of

Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky and David Axe, a

journalist, author and filmmaker based in South Carolina.

Topics discussed include: the general ‘State of the US Navy’ today and if it is still

able to enforce Pax Americana; whether the USN is adequately coping with the here

and now while getting ready for the future; the nature of threat (and level of

competition) it faces from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China and

Vladimir Putin’s maritime forces (especially in light of the Russian Navy’s

performance in the Ukraine War).

Other topics touched on include: the strange saga of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS);

confusion over the future of the so-called Gator Navy (the amphibious warfare forces

of the USN and the US Marine Corps); whether or not the new Constellation Class

frigate will plug the surface combatant gap; the plus and minus points of the modern

American fighting fleet.

For more details on WARSHIPS IFR magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag

Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and on https://www.facebook.com/WarshipsIFR/

To buy the ‘Guide to the US Navy 2023’ https://bit.ly/gusn2023

• Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of Warships IFR magazine and the author of numerous

naval and military history books, including ‘HMS London’, ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to

Doom’ and ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron.’ He also contributes commentaries

on naval and Defence topics to various media outlets. Twitter @IBallantyn

• In addition to teaching at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International

Commerce at the University of Kentucky, Robert Farley writes extensively about an

array of Defence issues. They include airpower, sea power and military innovation.

He is a Senior Editor of ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money’ and manager of the LGM

podcast. Twitter @drfarls

• David Axe writes for ‘Forbes’, ‘The Daily Beast’ and ‘Rolling Stone.’ His most recent

book is ‘Drone War: Vietnam’ (Pen & Sword Military). Twitter @daxe

Our guest for this episode of the Warships Pod is Dr. Philip Weir, a much esteemed naval historian who specialises in the history of the Royal Navy in the first half of the 20th Century. His most recent book is ‘Dunkirk and the Little Ships’. 

Discussing that famous event is the major topic during his chat with podcast host Iain Ballantyne. In looking at the ‘miracle of Dunkirk’ of May and June 1940 - a story that still grips peoples’ imaginations even more than 80 years later – Iain asks Phil if it is just another example of the British turning a military disaster into some kind of triumph? Or a bona fide victory in the face of impossible odds?

Iain also asks if the role of the famed ‘little ships’, in what was called Operation Dynamo, is misunderstood. What impact did they really have on the evacuation effort? And what exactly were ‘the Little Ships’? Also, has the Royal Navy’s major contribution to (and sacrifice in) Operation Dynamo been overlooked?

Among the other things Iain and Phil discuss is the greater role of the Royal Navy in that so-called ‘Spitfire summer’ of 1940. Has the Royal Navy’s major part, in deterring a cross-Channel invasion by the Germans while fighting the U-boats in the Atlantic, been unjustly consigned to the shadows of our collective memory?

The career of the remarkable Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay - the man who commanded Operation Dynamo - is also discussed.

Aside from also chatting about notable movie depictions of the Dunkirk evacuation Iain asks Phil if he was given the chance to save and preserve any warship from the past, which vessel would it be and why? The answer may be a surprise…

•For more details on Phil Weir’s book about the heroic Dunkirk evacuation

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dunkirk-and-the-little-ships-9781784423759/

Follow him on Twitter @navalhistorian

• Iain Ballantyne is the Editor of WARSHIPS International Fleet Review magazine.

For more details on the magazine http://bit.ly/wifrmag

Follow it on Twitter @WarshipsIFR and on Facebook @WarshipsIFR

Iain Ballantyne can be found on Twitter @IBallantyn