Respekt The Planet Dudez. Luv The Coral.
This is the cruiser USS Port Royal, or, as St Crispin would see it, A-Gun-Platform-I-Can-Shoot-At-Things-From.
However the State of Hawaii sees it differently. A revenue opportunity. Does the world really regard this 9,600 tons-and-change guided-missile cruiser as they do?
On the 5th Feb somebody managed to lodge it on top of a reef outside Hawaii. For four days it sat there. Not being able to defend the free world. Not protecting our allies from attack. Not defending a battlegroup or any of the other stuff in the small print of their contract. But that’s not the problem – they are in trouble for damaging the coral.
The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said it will file an admiralty claim against the Navy to repair the damage the warship did to the reef. Also pending are possible fines by the state Health Department because the vessel dumped 7,000 gallons of waste water to prevent it from backing up and endangering the crew.
The Honolulu Star Bulletin does briefly mention the fact that the ship was damaged before returning rapidly to the fact that the career of Captain John Carroll was toast and as the Port Royal is the last Ticonderoga-class cruiser there are no spare parts available for repairs.
But no. The defence of the free world is an afterthought. The Star Bulletin rapidly returns to theme:
Both the Navy and the state DLNR have declined to release photos of the reef damage, citing the ongoing investigation. This week, divers will continue to map and photograph the extent of the damage and identify coral colonies that might be salvaged.
State and Navy divers have been reattaching live corals using quick-setting cement, as well as hauling nonsalvageable pieces out to deeper waters.
Yeah yeah yeah, so where did the expensive great big grey pointy thing with the guns and the missiles go in all of this story? $18 million dollars and 4 months patch-up job is where, but you have to read until the last paragraph to find out.
But think of the cooooooooral. TheEye hates treehuggers.
I had to read the article before I knew that you weren’t taking the p***.
But coral is cool, dude. You wouldn’t have necklaces for surfers without it.
TheEye hates to admit that you have a point, although notes that none of the girls in BayWatch wore necklaces with their swimsuits.
I paid very close attention to such editorial detail and also studied for potential continuity errors.
The first person to link the words “necklace”, “pearl” and “babe” in the same sentence on this thread gets an instant IP block.
Me and my babe had our anniversary yesterday. She bought me an iPod. I bought her pearl earrings and a gold necklace.
Not in the same sentence so you survive but don’t push the patience of your hosts.
My Auss cousin Jessie in her first around the world adventure early 1970’s arrived at my north London home with a gift of an Hawiian coral necklace. She thought this tawdry bribe would make up for stealing my bedroom for some weeks but she was wrong.
nb, 40 years on we remain great friends and I look forward to imposing myself upon her and her family in my dotage.
Climate Changists moan about the demise of Coral Island Nations as the result of rising sea levels but, excuse me; Coral is formed under water which means that … ?