FGS Braunschweig visits London

The German Corvette FGS Braunschweig visited London and played SF music when it passed Tower Bridge, from German news coverage it might have created a slight hiccup with diplomats. The German Navy claims that the captain is a Star Wars fan and it has no meaning.

Since BBC reported it, it went kind of official I wonder if you English took note of it or you thought it funny and ignored it.

My guess is that the captain might prefer a spanking to a slump in his career (The German language and pronunciation steered me toward carrier since the German 'ie' is pronounced like the English 'ee').

FGS Braunschweig visits London

Well, I can only speak for myself, but this particular veteran found it wonderfully funny and a great testament to the friendship between our nations. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to construe a brilliant show of good-natured humour as anything else.

On a past trip to Hamburg, we saw a Corvette in the final stages of being built in the ship yard.

@CarolinaPaddler

I don't know where exactly the yards on the German coastline are, but I was always sure it wasn't Hamburg since it doesn't exactly lie on the coast. On the North Sea I assumed Wilhelmshaven, Bremen/Bremerhaven and to a smaller extent Emden were the main building points.

In 1971/1972 we were on holidays in North Frisia which is part of the state Schleswig-Holstein where we were told you need to go to Kiel shortly before comes the Navy memorial where you can visit a Wold War II type VII submarine. Our father drove us to Kiel, but to the submarine memorial. only there was no submarine only a trench filled to the brim with brass plates showing of the names of the crews of all submarines lost over the course of both World Wars.

Back to topic:
It seems a bit immature that the commandant of warship on a mission to the capital of an ally plays the Darth Vader March to introduce himself. Especially when his ancestors behaved like Darth Vader.

Hamburg is one of the largest ports in Germany. Back to school for Moody, i think.

The Bismarck was built in Hamburg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blohm%2BVoss), so a mere corvette should not be a problem.

@Smachtai
Small hint: In Germany we had compulsory military service in the 19hundreds. 40 years ago I got my basic training in the Lettow-Vorbeck barracks in Hamburg.(6th maintenance battalion of the 6. Panzergrenadier Division)

@BashfulBob
It's not that simple. The new lock in Wilhelmshaven was shortened since Britain feared that post World War II it might be used to station battleships to threaten Great Britain again. In addition the British unsuccessfully tried to blow up Helgoland (Heligoland) {spell check tells me that I mean Falkland not Helgoland}

@all
Did you ever wonder why Hamburg is displayed by HH on the car's license plate while Hanover has the single H? It's the same reason why Bremen has HB. Both were Hansestädte (Hanse cities)

I just saw a news that the British frigate 'HMS Iron Duke' is coming for a 4days visit to Hamburg. (From thursday 05.09.2024 until monday 09.09.2024)
I wonder if they will play a Jedi march
Or decide that they won't immitate a servant and go for an Imperator Palpatine theme if there is one.