Iain Ballantyne
@iainballantyne
Editor of Warships IFR magazine and its associated guides to the US Navy and Royal Navy. Author of books, including 'Hunter Killers', 'The Deadly Trade', 'Killing the Bismarck', plus the new novel 'Martin's Eyes' published by Chiselbury.
USS Cero (pictured below) took part in American ‘wolf pack’ attacks on Japanese shipping during WW2, sinking more than 18,000 tons of enemy vessels, helping to cut Japan off from vital war materials. Image: US Navy. #submarine #naval
A history feature in the latest Warships IFR mag by Usman Ansari, with a contribution by myself, is headlined ‘The Trouble with Submarines and a Cold War Quarantine’. This pic shows action aboard US Navy boat USS Cero during a simulated torpedo attack. Photo: US Navy/US National Archives. #ww2
'Thoroughly enjoyable & quite gripping read. Weaves a story from a policeman’s wartime beat to investigating Nazi atrocities in occupied Europe...the twist in the end a believable construct. Highly recommended - an excellent summer read.' Nicholas Messinger www.amazon.co.uk/Martins-Eyes... #histfic
The new Warships IFR magazine is out! The Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in Tokyo is the cover star. Pic: Yoshiharu Fukushima. An edition packed full of news, commentaries and analysis on hot global naval topics. warshipsifr.com/subscriptions/ #naval #geopolitics #warships
The Daring Class (Type 45) destroyer HMS Dauntless of the Royal Navy is seen here inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, at the end of last week. HMS Dauntless recently emerged from a maintenance period at Portsmouth. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger. #warship #royalnavy #hmsdauntless
Ex-HMS Montrose, a Duke Class warship, today departed Portsmouth under tow. Photo: Derek Fox. Decommissioned 2023, laid up in Fareham Creek, Portsmouth Harbour, she is to be scrapped in Turkey. Right-hand photo is Montrose returning to her home base of Devonport, Dec 2022. Photo: Steve Jagger.
British wartime supremo Winston Churchill makes a cameo appearance in 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury.bsky.social during a rather raucous meeting with the Soviets at the Kremlin in Moscow in my #ww2 #coldwar #historicalfiction More info here chiselbury.co.uk/product/mart...
Keeping warships on station when not possible to use a friendly naval base/dockyard for support or repairs needs a floating workshop &/or replenishment vessel. Such is the case with elderly support & repairs vessel RFS PM-82 which has been supporting RFS Grigorovich. Taster from new Warships IFR 👇
The Duke Class (Type 23) frigate HMS St Albans of the Royal Navy inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth this morning. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR magazine.
2/2 However, our piece is well worth a read to help understand how we got to where we are - why it led to the MoU (to extend the ceasefire while negotiations continue) that was signed by President Trump in the Palace of Versailles this week.
1/2 The new edition of Warships IFR magazine is officially published today, with the Royal Danish Navy frigate HDMS Iver Huitfeldt as the cover star (an image by Michael Nitz). It does appear since we went to press the 'stalemate at sea' in the Iran War has been (sort of) resolved....
This is Russian Navy guided-missile frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich. Today in international waters south of the Isle of Wight, she objected to a yacht coming too close. Warning shots were fired, possibly by an upper deck sentry. Grigorovich often operates in waters off the UK, escorting cargo ships.
5/5 And so, there you have it - connection explained. The Tower of #London (seen here last week) just gets a mention in 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury.bsky.social but hints at there being more going on than might be expected across the span of the story, until the biggest twist of all is delivered.
4/5 Mixed up in the mayhem - spoiler alert! - is the main protagonist, who ends up in Tregantle Fort where a mysterious British Army officer fills him in on background details (including a traitor in the Tower). A fateful meeting, it changes the protagonist's life, plunges him into war-torn Europe.
3/5 Getting back to the #Cornish beach connection - near it on the coast is Tregantle Fort. For the purposes of my yarn it is host to commandos and some coastal artillery. Anyway, it is a bad spot for enemy agents to go ashore - somebody screwed up planning for the landing. They get a hot reception.
2/5 Last week when up in London, to discuss magazine publishing matters and future book-related developments, I took a walk along the north bank of the #Thames, which took me by St Paul's Cathedral on my way to the Tower.
The Royal Norwegian Navy corvette HNoMS Skjold outbound from HMNB Devonport, Plymouth, southern England last week. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR magazine.
A Tridente Class diesel-electric submarine of the Portuguese Navy inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport Plymouth, England. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger. It has been suggested that this boat is NRP Tridente herself.
My #novel 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury.bsky.social has 5 parts & the deeper readers get into a story spread across #ww2 & #coldwar the closer they get to discovering secrets at the heart of it, sort of like a Matryoshka doll. I have 3 with 2 bought in the Soviet Union 1991 as it collapsed into chaos.
Artwork by Dennis Andrews for my 'Warspite' @penandswordbooks.bsky.social showing legendary battleship HMS Warspite on the way to Rosyth, 1 June 1916, after fighting at Jutland and encountering a U-boat (see tip of periscope in foreground). She dodged torpedo attacks several times but made it. #ww1
4/5 A lasting memorial in the heart of the English city is the ruined Charles Cross Church, the devastated interior of which can also be seen in the gallery at The Box.
3/5 During my walk I also visited the city's @theboxplymouth.bsky.social museum. It does its bit to recall the blitz, not least in its archives and in a gallery on the naval base and dockyard.
2/5 A couple of weeks ago I went for a stroll that took me past a few reminders of the Plymouth blitz which destroyed the heart of the Devon port and naval city in WW2.
1/5 Two men face each other across a table at the beginning of my new novel 'Martin's Eyes'. One has the other under the gun. The German asks the British soldier to tell him about his experiences in WW2. The Briton begins by taking us back to his time as a policeman in Plymouth during its blitz.
Battle of Jutland, in HMS Warspite the XO, Cdr Walwyn, came across this: "The body of a 12-inch shell was found above engineer’s workshop, unexploded & a couple of stokers were trying to chip the fuze out. I luckily stopped this little effort." As told in my 'Warspite' @penandswordbooks.bsky.social
The Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Bartolomeu Dias inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, England, this morning. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR magazine.
Why did HMS Dorsetshire pick up 'only' 86 survivors - HMS Maori got 25 more, U-74 three & German weathership Sachsenwald a further two? Here's context from my 'Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom' @canelobooks.bsky.social POV of a rescued German from Bismarck & a teenage sailor aboard HMS Dorsetshire. #ww2
As the latest anniversary period concludes here's my 'Bismarck Action trilogy' (researched & written 2004-2021) - paperback eds of 'HMS Rodney' (3 chaps relevant), 'Killing the Bismarck' & 'Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom'. Different in style and perspectives offered. #ww2 #WW2Veterans #battleships