Free Republic

HMS Duncan, the UK’s sixth Type 45 Destroyer, has entered into service with the Royal Navy four months ahead of schedule. The ship was scheduled to enter service in early 2014, but thanks to the hard work of both the ship’s company and industry since her arrival in Portsmouth, HMS Duncan is ready to take up duties. The 7,500 tonne vessel will now embark on a programme of trials to prepare the ship and her crew for operational deployment. HMS Duncan is the final Type 45 to enter service with the Royal Navy. Her handover to the Fleet marks the...

Awww! That is cute! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZTrZSUhB4s

Dragon roaring to life 06 January 2011 REMEMBER, remember the fifth of November. Not for any of that Guy Fawkes malarkey, but if you can cast your minds back two months it was the day when HMS Dragon first put to sea. The ship has now resumed fitting out and tests on the Clyde at Scotstoun with the engineers and ship’s company more than pleased with her performance on her first stint of sea trials. Indeed, the ship surpassed the 29kts top speed expected of her when the class was ordered a decade ago. She ‘throttled up’ to reach 32...

NOWY TARG, Poland – With every step toward the gate, Jerzy Bielecki was certain he would be shot. The day was July 21, 1944. Bielecki was walking in broad daylight down a pathway at Auschwitz, wearing a stolen SS uniform with his Jewish sweetheart Cyla Cybulska by his side. His knees buckling with fear, he tried to keep a stern bearing on the long stretch of gravel to the sentry post. The German guard frowned at his forged pass and eyed the two for a period that seemed like an eternity — then uttered the miraculous words: "Ja, danke" —...

SALT LAKE CITY -- A puppy rescued from the bowels of a deep slot canyon is now recovering in Salt Lake City after a close brush with death. The man who rescued him documented much of the incredible story with his own video camera. Imagine trying to get a dog that's near death out of a deep canyon, all by yourself -- and at the same time, getting yourself out by rope. On top of that, imagine shooting video much of the time. That's the story we have to tell. They don't know his real name, so they just call...

aring, the first of the Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyers, has successfully tracked a Typhoon aircraft from Manchester to the west coast of Scotland as part of the second stage of her sea trials. During the five week trial the 7,350 tonne vessel has completed all power and propulsion testing, as well as a series of tests in open water off the west coast of Scotland which included extensive Long Range Radar and navigation systems trials, medium calibre gun blast trials and weapon alignment tests. Combat System trials have seen good performance across a wide range of equipment and numerous...

BAGHDAD, July 29, 2007 – The top U.S. general in Iraq presented awards to four Apache pilots for their part in the July 2 rescue of two other pilots downed by enemy fire during a July 27 ceremony in the Victory Base Complex here. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq, honored the four pilots of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, and eight others who helped rescue the pilots. Chief Warrant Officer Allan Davison and Chief Warrant Officer Micah Johnson, both AH-64D Apache attack helicopter pilots for Company A, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, received Distinguished...

In a dramatic rescue worthy of any action movie, two Army helicopter pilots shot down south of Baghdad Monday evaded capture by their attackers and then flew to safety, one of them strapped to the side of an Apache helicopter not designed to take additional passengers.

Staff Sgt. Bryan Resh stands in front of a medical evacuation helicopter at Forward Operating Base Sykes where he is serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Resh is one of several crewmembers of Dustoff 77, which has been awarded the Army Aviation Association of AmericaÂ’s Rescue of the Year Award. U.S. Army courtesy photo Air Ambulance Team Awarded for Daring Rescue The crew of Dustoff 77 risk life and limb to save the lives of their fellow soldiers. By Spc. Daniel Bearl 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 29, 2007 --When the soldiers from the 68th Medical...

SACRAMENTO - Ramping up his push to rebuild antiquated schools, roads and levees, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted Wednesday that whittling his decade-long, $222 billion infrastructure plan down to just one year would be "unacceptable." Some powerful lawmakers, staggered by the duration and size of the proposed plan, have been suggesting just that. In a 45-minute interview Wednesday evening with Knight Ridder, Schwarzenegger said he is willing to entertain many proposed additions and changes to his plan -- but not that one. "Sometimes you hear the rumbling that maybe they'll come down with a one-year plan or something like that," he...

EXCLUSIVE Don't Dare mess with us Awesome ... Sun man on supershipPictures: PAUL EDWARDS       By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence Editor THIS is the deadliest ship ever built — the Navy’s awesome new Type 45 destroyer. HMS Daring boasts an extraordinary array of firepower. And The Sun was given an exclusive tour of the state-of-the art warship. Daring is the first of a batch of eight Type 45 destroyers — built at a total cost of £6BILLION. Weighing in at 8,000 tonnes, the 14-deck monster is almost twice the size of the current Type 42s. She is armed...