Navy warships dispatched as Spain invades seas around Gibraltar

DailyMail.uk ^ | 23rd May 2009 | Daily Mail Reporter

[yankeedame]

Navy warships dispatched as Spain invades seas around Gibraltar

Royal Navy warships have forced heavily armed Spanish ships to retreat from British waters around Gibraltar. Relations between the 30,000 residents of the British outpost and mainland Spain have become strained following what the Foreign Office described as 'a violation of British sovereignty'.

The warships were dispatched after Spanish ships sent boarding parties to inspect fishing boats in British waters, despite having no authority to do so.

DISPUTE: Inhabitants are concerned the Spanish authorities
want to control the British outpost of Gibraltar

The Rock's inhabitants fear Spain could damage their economy by making moves to seize control of its sea and air traffic.

The incident on May 8 is the latest in a long series since Britain was handed Gibraltar in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

The Spanish Government has refused to recognise that territorial waters were a part of that agreement and made repeated attempts to reclaim them....

The latest incident followed a day after Gibraltar's government vowed to block EU moves to give responsibility for the environment around the Rock to Spain. A spokesman for Gibraltar's opposition GSLP/Liberal party said: 'The latest incident is far more serious than anything that has happened before. It represents a frontal challenge to British sovereignty, jurisdiction and control over Gibraltar's territorial sea. 'As such the UK must not only respond to Spain, but must also extract guarantees from Madrid that it will never happen again.'...

STAND-OFF: The Royal Navy sent warships to see off Spanish vessels
which had entered Gibraltar's waters

[EternalVigilance]

[autumnraine]

Wow, did we have a history flashback? Spain and Britain having a naval clash!

[Red_Devil 232]

To bad the Brits will not defend their homeland from the hoards like they are defending this outpost!

[cranked]

Once again, amother confirmation that the Spanish Government is wacko and another attempt to deflect Spanish public attention from the mounting serious social and political crises’ in Spain.

[Paladin2]

Maybe Spain just wants them to drive on the same side of the road as the rest of Europe?

[Paladin2]

Why can’t Spain just come and reclaim Cuba?

[dfwgator]

Spain and Britain having a naval clash!

Just trying to build things up for Wednesday's Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.

[Titus-Maximus]

Two bald men fighting over a comb.

[johniegrad]

The last thing we need now is NATO members fighting each other.

[nathanbedford]

This would be Opera bouffe were it not for its frightening portents for our own future. I have been posting since before Obama was elected that he can very dangerous and very likely to make war somewhere. Do not be deceived that he is another Jimmy Carter, he is very possibly another Fidel or Hugo.

He is an ideologue of the left and once they gain power they can be very aggressive.

[Last Dakotan]

Why can’t Spain just come and reclaim Cuba?

Or the Philippines?

[Last Dakotan]

The Royal Navy still has Warships? Who knew?

[Paladin2]

Cuba is closer and more in need of a regime change.

[dfwgator]

The Royal Navy still has Warships? Who knew?

Do they still have rum, sodomy and the lash?

[Landru]

"Royal Navy warships have forced heavily armed Spanish ships to retreat from British waters around Gibraltar."

HA!!
Say what you will about the Brits, they still know how to run a navy.

Strange, one would've thought the Spaniards would've learned their lesson, and more than just once.

Then again Spain's a socialist state these days; so, guess the *bold* display of abject stupidity makes sense.

[mad_as_he$$]

They kept like 4 since they still had payments on them.

[Last Dakotan]

Do they still have rum, sodomy and the lash?

They're down to just sodomy.

[Larry Lucido]

Seriously, I thought this was gonna be a 1939 thread.

[LongElegantLegs]

Maturin’s going to be pissed...

[Joe Boucher]

Been awhile but there is a whole lot of history there.
Now if we can just get France and maybe Portugal involved we’ll really have something.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Seriously, I thought this was gonna be a 1939 thread.

Me too. "Who's poaching on my territory?"

[IbJensen]

The Brits under their clueless socialist leaders (our socialist leader is a genius) couldn’t wipe out the New York State National Guard, let alone intimidate neo-socialist Spain.

[gscc]

Britain had little to risk. The moslem terrorists recently proved the Spaniards will run with their tail between their legs if they are challenged.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Maturin’s going to be pissed...

Once the Surprise is provisioned we'll show those Spaniards a thing or two.

[EternalVigilance]

He is an ideologue of the left and once they gain power they can be very aggressive.

I nominate this as the post "most likely to prove prescient" in Obama's case.

With a son in the military, I view this likelihood with the utmost seriousness.

[sjmjax]

I’d suggest the Spainish Government consider how a similar move by Argentina worked out.

[dfwgator]

I’d suggest the Spainish Government consider how a similar move by Argentina worked out.

You forgot one little minor detail, back then Maggie was in charge.

[Strategerist]

The Spanish Navy today is quite an impressively-armed and modern force, far superior to Argentina in 1982.

[LongElegantLegs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhL8723V4kE

[river rat]

"You forgot one little minor detail, back then Maggie was in charge."

Roger that!

Maggie was the last Brit Prime Minister with the necessary balls.

Generations of excluding fudge pounders from military service has resulted in killing off the men and expanding the fudge pounder population to majority status....

The reality of what happened to the Brits should be the strongest argument for forming 100% pervert Battalions and placing them "into the breach"....

[dfwgator]

Maggie was the last Brit Prime Minister with the necessary balls.

Well in the figurative sense. ;)

[tflabo]

New Andalusia rises again for the new leftist/islamic alliance of Spain. OK...so thats a little melodramatic I admit but not so far-fetched.

[dfwgator]

I still maintain that the two World Wars killed off the best of the British manhood, and they will never completely recover from it. In fact, the same could be said about most of Europe.

[rawhide]

Interesting history and facts (I always thought Gibraltar was an island just off the coast of Spain): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar

[combat_boots]

Calling Elizabeth I. Paging Elizabeth.

Call for Sir Francis Drake. Urgent.

[El Gato]

Do they still have rum, sodomy and the lash?

Yes, probably, and no, AFAIK.

[Jonny foreigner]

Royal Navy warships have forced heavily armed Spanish ships to retreat from British waters around Gibraltar...

---

Sorry but this whole story sounds like a little unimportant incident which has been totally hyped by some “news” reporters. let me guess how they forced them to retreat... the spanish “heavily armed armada” ;-) achieved a phone call to please turn away because they have been in british waters.
End of story

[El Gato]

The Spanish Navy today is quite an impressively-armed and modern force, far superior to Argentina in 1982.

The Argentine's capital ships were pretty badly out of date, but their aircraft, were fairly modern, and had been kept up to date and they had more than the Brits were able to bring to bear in theater. Their pilots were well trained also. Their disadvantage was operating at the extreme of their range, like the Luftwaffe over Britain in WW-II. The Argentine army, OTOH, was a bunch of ill trained conscripts, little more than an armed mob, with officers that didn't deserve the title.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Why not give Spain Porto Rico? France can have Haiti.

[Skooz]

Aren’t the Spanish about 0 - 435 versus the Royal Navy?

I lost count around 1820.

[exDemMom]

When I was stationed in Spain in the early 80s, Americans were not allowed to travel directly to Gibraltar because of the ongoing feud between Spain and England. We had to go to Morocco and take a ferry to visit Gibraltar. During my stay, relations between England and Spain thawed somewhat, and Americans were then allowed to walk across the bridge to Gibraltar (Spaniards could drive).

Nice to see some things never change...

[One_who_hopes_to_know]

The French have offered a plan whereby they would oversee the area as an honest broker to both the British and Spanish. The only condition is that it be renamed as “De Gaulle Stone”

[tanknetter]

Say what you will about the Brits, they still know how to run a navy.

Hardly.

The only area where the RN has a qualitative advantage over Spain is in nuke subs. And in a littoral fight Spain's subs would have an even fight with what the RN would throw at them.

Setting aside the submarine issue (which would end up being a matter of one side or the other getting a lucky shot), the RN voluntarily abandoned organic air cover for it's Invincible-class CVLs when they retired the Sea Harrier. The RAF/RN Joint Harrier Force's GR.7s and 9s would get eaten alive by Spain's AV-8Bs, which are radar-equipped (the APG-65, which is also carried by the F/A-18C Hornet) and can bring AMRAAMs to the fight -- giving them a beyond-visual-range engagement capability that the RN couldn't counter.

Unless the RN were to throw their Vanguards into the fight and turn Madrid and some of Spain's other major population centers into smoking glass, Spain would be the odds-on favorite (favourite?) to win. Possibly in a cakewalk.

[tanknetter]

Should add, that I was only talking about Navy-on-Navy. The Brits also have an airworthy Vulcan and an airworthy Victor to tank it. Plus a Lancaster. So they’ve got the heavy-bomber category, hands-down.

[Nik Naym]

“New York State National Guard”

Careful there, buddy. The NY National Guard has much to be proud of, and could probably kick many countries ass all by themselves.

[wtc911]

Do you mean the same NYS National Guard that has seen multiple Iraq deployments, or is there some othe group whom you wish to insult?

[IbJensen]

Well, let's refer to the Vermont National Guard then if that makes you happier.

My Army days were concluded after I fought in the Korean War and received a serious injury that still remains. I did get a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for my experience.

Now, since you're ready to jump my ass, what has been your experience and why would you take offense when I was trying out a metaphorical example?

[IbJensen]

Read my #48, then fire away!

[river rat]

I agree...completely...

Though there are still some fine men - and lots of them in Britain, not as many as there should be and not as many as they need.

We in the U.S. are in no position to gloat.
To paraphrase Michelle — for the first time in my adult life, I no longer regard the majority of Americans as being worthy of the sacrifices of the many fine men whose losses we remember this week who have been lost while defending the Republic or the freedom of others

We are clearly overrun by assholes, perverts, Leftists, lazy, corrupt, dishonest, drug addled and inept clowns in America. The election of Obama confirmed my low opinion of most of today’s “Americans”...

This generation will be cursed by our grandchilden and their children...