News, Articles and Comment

Ed. Our correspondent provides an appreciation of Royal Navy leadership maintaining strategic direction during the COIN era.

Ed. The author proposes adapting the Royal Australian Navy’s ‘Ship Zero’ concept for the Royal New Zealand Navy, by providing a pathway for crew training and integration before platforms are fully delivered. A 15 minute read.

Ed. Our correspondent with the UK Carrier Strike Group relays the increasing tempo of joint and multinational operations as HIGHMAST continues. A 5 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers an edited  volume examining combined naval operations in the Korean War.

Ed. The author, who has written a monograph on the subject, examines the all too apparent operational failures of JUBILEE, the Dieppe landings of 19 August 1942, and the historiographical myth-making under the influence of Lord Louis Mountbatten that followed. A 30 minute read.

Ed. Bold decisions will be necessary to match budgets to ambitions while addressing real security and defence concerns as the Strategic Defence Review progresses. In a ‘One Defence’ environment, what will be the RN’s role? A 20 minute read.

Ed. In the words of Admiral Lord Nelson

“No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.”

Even if the Officer of the Watch has become the Logistics Officer! This account does not mention how seriously wounded Stanning was when the Bridge took the direct hit. The sangfroid of both Churchill and Geoffery Stanning belongs to a different age. With grateful thanks to members of the Naval Review Forum, and the RNZN oral history project. And, of course, Sir Winston Churchill, Admiral Geoffery Stanning and George Heppell. “The price of freedom is not free!”

Ed. Extreme weather events and climate change have increased the stakes for regional engagement in the South Pacific, with China and the US vying for strategic influence. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) will need renewed investment to continue tackling climate emergencies. A 35 minute read.