Naval Damage Control Event Sails Off

Today, Navy Leaders kicked off its Naval Damage Control Event in Southampton. The day saw leaders of both the civilian and military world talk about how to best prevent, limit, and deal with damage on naval vessels. Helping to set the agenda was Peter Litchfield, Business Development & Technical Director, from CSD Sealing Systems who quoted Winston Churchill during his days as the First Lord of the Admiralty, “The true picture of a battle between modern battleships is not men in armour striking with heavy swords, but a battle between two eggshells striking each other with hammers.” 

Starting off the morning we heard a series of talks from experts and military officials including the Deputy Naval Authority and Team Leader for Surface Ships and Boats in the U.K. MOD,  Allan Bain. Mr. Bain stressed the importance of cross country collaboration within NATO and further afield.

Continuing on to the next section, attendees received a brilliant talk from Greg DeVogel, Chief Technology Officer from the Port Hueneme Surface Warfare Centre. In his talk, Mr. DeVogel contended with Mr. Churchill in his analysis of the fragility of modern battleships arguing that ships are survivable but due to the complexity of modern surface vessels, more work needs to be done to keep ships in the fight after enemy action. Through his argument he touched on the time of Churchill when an U.S. Navy vessel, in World War two, took two kamikaze plane hits but was able to continuously fire its guns and reverse its way home to friendly waters. 

Towards the end of the day we were privileged to hear a talk from Warrant Officer John Leybourne and Lieutenant Commander Simon Shirer from the Royal New Zealand Navy. They were able to share with us a wealth of expertise that New Zealand has learned from being a small force with a large operating area that has forced it to get the most out of every resource it expends. 

We look forward to providing some further insights at the second day of our event, tomorrow.