The British Royal Navy had won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 (an irreverent alternative to the real Nobel Peace Prize) for ordering its sailors to save money on cannon shells during training exercises by shouting “BANG!” instead of actually firing any. Well the Royal Navy is now favourite to be the first outfit to pick up the Ig Nobel Peace prize for a second time.
On this occasion, the Royal Navy actually managed to fire a real weapon: a Stingray anti-submarine torpedo from the starboard side of HMS Argyll, a Duke-class Type 23 frigate, on 12 March 2014. The problem was that the ship was in port at the time. Thankfully, despite flying through the air onto the dockside, no-one was hurt by the weapon as it did not have a live warhead. The only thing “sunk” was a security fence and a metal container on the Devonport dockside in Plymouth.
Thank goodness the Royal Navy does not see fit to arm its torpedoes with live warheads when in harbour. And thank heavens they are not scooting around in space armed with Star Trek-style “photon” torpedoes either.
HMS Argyll was on a "training exercise" at Devonport dockyard in Plymouth when the torpedo "unexpectedly jettisoned onto the wharf", said the Royal Navy.
It said the Test Variant Torpedo was a dummy weapon with no explosive content, but it did cause minor damage. The result of the investigation will determine what actions will be necessary to avoid any repeat of this incident in the future." Plymouth-based HMS Argyll, which was built in the late 1980s, is the longest-serving Type 23 frigate in the Royal Navy.
- See more at: http://seradata.com/SSI/2014/03/on-a-lighter-note-royal-navy-makes-its-b...