Destroyers vs Frigates. Ship Classification Discussion

[Navy_Pete]

As someone who spent a lot of time on the bridge, I have definitely seen people kicked off the bridge for various reasons, including just being there. That said, often the person was being disruptive in some way. Most operations spaces are marked "Authorized Personnel Only", even if it's not strictly enforced.

I would kick randos out of the chart shack anytime I saw someone not Met or Nav there, apart from Coxn, XO, CO, STG.

Yeah for sure, but I've also never seen anyone formally ask for permission; just people being dickheads getting removed, or the ops room being cleared during briefings etc for anyone that didn't have a need to know.

 

[Furniture]

Yeah for sure, but I've also never seen anyone formally ask for permission; just people being dickheads getting removed, or the ops room being cleared during briefings etc for anyone that didn't have a need to know.

Fair, point. Weirdly, I have seen people ask permission to enter the bridge, though it was usually junior ranks asking permission/clearance from the boatswains mate or lookout. I have also seen the BM turn people away without a single word being said to the OOW.

I suspect being an officer made things a bit different for your experience, just like being a Met Tech Sgt made my experience different from most. I can only recall ever being aske to leave the bridge once, and it was because we were doing a boarding, and I wasn't wearing a frag vest and helmet like everyone else.

 

[Navy_Pete]

Fair, point. Weirdly, I have seen people ask permission to enter the bridge, though it was usually junior ranks asking permission/clearance from the boatswains mate or lookout. I have also seen the BM turn people away without a single word being said to the OOW.

I suspect being an officer made things a bit different for your experience, just like being a Met Tech Sgt made my experience different from most. I can only recall ever being aske to leave the bridge once, and it was because we were doing a boarding, and I wasn't wearing a frag vest and helmet like everyone else.

That's completely fair, and I probably took that for granted most of the time (although plenty of times it would have been nice to just show up on watch and then be off). I was also usually required to be somewhere else when we were doing SSDs so didn't really see the bridge outside of pretty quiet times, or when up there for RAS or something similar.

Spent a few years in the MCR though, and never saw anyone ask for permission to come in, mostly just asking when it would be a good time to do something in a req package.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Do sailors normally need permission to enter the bridge?

As long as you are quiet and stay out of the way there usually is no problem with it. Its best not to go up there during evolutions like entering/leaving harbour or a RAS.

But I am basement dweller and I go up all the time in heavy weather. I just be quiet and stay out of the way. Anecdotal point, as a non-smoker now I would go days and days without going outside and seeing sunlight on my last deployment. The med in the summer is glass clam.

@Navy_Pete maybe its because we are tied at the hip but I have never needed permission to go into the MCR. Its not a place I hang out, but I will go in to chat with someone I need too or make a pipe. I defiantly feel welcome.

 

[Navy_Pete]

As long as you are quiet and stay out of the way there usually is no problem with it. Its best not to go up there during evolutions like entering/leaving harbour or a RAS.

But I am basement dweller and I go up all the time in heavy weather. I just be quiet and stay out of the way. Anecdotal point, as a non-smoker now I would go days and days without going outside and seeing sunlight on my last deployment. The med in the summer is glass clam.

@Navy_Pete maybe its because we are tied at the hip but I have never needed permission to go into the MCR. Its not a place I hang out, but I will go in to chat with someone I need too or make a pipe. I defiantly feel welcome.

I think as a general rule of thumb, if you have a reason to be there and aren't being disruptive and not in the way you are good to go for all those spaces, but like Furniture mentioned probably a lot easier when you are higher rank (and generally had a reason to go into each space). At the end of the day they are a work area where people need to get things done, so you wouldn't just wander into the galley, workshops or other spaces on the ship either.

I did get kicked out of the Ops room before though; I went to talk to the OpsO or something and caught the tail end of a simulated surface attack drill or something. Whoever it was at the console started yelling out 'Bang bang bang' after they simulated shooting the 76mm and I started to laugh pretty hard. I'm sure they were probably bored out of their mind and trying to keep engaged as they had done a lot of them, and probably pretty effective but was still funny.

 

[Underway]

Oh god, I can't even imagine going into the galley if I wasn't doing rounds. You'll end up in the soup for sure if you piss them off. Or the back of one of the freezers found only when the ship goes into the ditch.

 

[Navy_Pete]

Oh god, I can't even imagine going into the galley if I wasn't doing rounds. You'll end up in the soup for sure if you piss them off. Or the back of one of the freezers found only when the ship goes into the ditch.

I used to occasionally stop in and help out the night cook when I couldn't sleep; they didn't need any help but I think liked the company, but yeah, definitely an area where you stay out of their way.

Would regularly pop my head around the corner when they were doing meal prep just to ask if all the kit was working or there were any issues, which occasionally helped get minor things fixed like blocked grease trap or whatever. We had great cooks so was in everyone's interest to keep them happy lol.

 

[Underway]

Here's a nice quote from Finland why they named their 4300 ton Corvette a Corvette instead of a frigate. Not NATO but here it is.

While the Finnish Navy and the Ministry of Defence refer to the new surface combatants as multi-role corvettes, several commentators have pointed out that by displacement the 4,300-tonne (4,200-long-ton) vessels should be classified as frigates. In late September 2019, shortly after the construction contract was awarded, MP Johannes Yrttiaho (Left Alliance) submitted a written question to the Parliament of Finland about, among other related topics, the classification of the new ships.

In the official blog of the Finnish Defence Forces, Flotilla admiral Jori Harju (Commander of the Finnish Navy) noted that one of the reasons leading to the increased displacement is the additional strengthening of the hull, propulsion shaft lines and propellers required for year-round operation in the seasonally freezing Finnish territorial waters. He also pointed out that the Pohjanmaa class is intended to operate primarily in coastal waters whereas frigates are traditionally considered as the smallest class of warships operating in the high seas as part of a so-called blue-water navy.

For reference these things are basically armed and sensored up like the Halifax Class, very comparable. But they don't go as fast, and do not have the same legs as a Halifax class.