3 her typical helicopter aircraft are either the AgustaWestland Merlin EH-101 HM Mk 1 or the modified Westland (Future Lynx) Lynx MHA 3/8. Whether or not Daring is ‘the most advanced surface warship in the world’, one is tempted to speculate what Nelson would make of her. I believe he would be excited at the progress of technology and amazed at Daring’s capabilities, which would have been unimaginable in his era, although he could reflect on how Victory was the super weapon of his day. He would surely regret that the original order for the Daring class has been halved to six. Ultimately with Nelson, however, we know he would focus on the values and traditions of the service itself: the quality of leadership, the practice of ‘mission command’, of which he was a master, and the professionalism and ‘can do’ attitude of the ship’s company. I am sure he would also derive a little satisfaction from the fact that every warship, including Daring, still salutes his old flagship as they pass her berth! In this way the ethos of the Royal Navy is like a golden thread that connects the past with the present and the future. The Club’s conservation work is linked to this thread, and there is much it wishes to achieve in the future - like the Royal Navy, with limited resources. This is why at this year’s Members’ Day and Annual General Meeting at The Old Royal Naval College on 25 April, I was again delighted to pay tribute to the untiring work of all of the Club’s Council members. They have been a tremendous team: enthusiastic to a fault, creative in their ideas and skilled in their actions. It is sometimes easy to overlook that they are all volunteers. May I take this opportunity to pay particular tribute to Barry Coombs, who has now stood down from Council. For two years he was a superb Events Officer. Both big and small events ran smoothly under his calm and friendly stewardship. This is also the opportunity for me to introduce you to two new Council members: Susan Amos, who takes the reins from Barry, and Lindy Mackie who takes over as Treasurer. Council has also co-opted another new face: Captain Peter Hore. I am sure you will join with me in extending a very warm welcome to them all. Appropriately, Susan’s first event is a celebration of the laying down of the keel of HMS Victory with the Club visit to the Historic Dockyard Chatham on 25 July! Progress continues to be made on all fronts but I shall, if I may, highlight just three of them: The Website Educational Programme, The Nile and Copenhagen Captains Memorial and Membership. Dianne Smith, working with students from Admiral Lord Nelson School, Portsmouth, has completed the first stage of the ambitious Website Educational Programme, which will be launched this year. The students have designed web-based material about Nelson and the Royal Navy for their peer group(s), which will be accessible through The 1805 Club’s website. While this first step is a small one, the potential is enormous, since it is a ground-breaking way for the Club to excite younger people about the heroes of the Georgian sailing navy. Dianne will be the first to give all the credit to the students, but I hope she will also take a bow for the innovative nature of the project and the hard work hard she has put into developing it; also Peter Green, for being the vital link between Dianne and the students; and, of course, Admiral Lord Nelson School itself. We look forward to a close and rewarding relationship between the Club and the School. The Nile and Copenhagen Captains Memorial has reached the point where we can begin surveying the identified graves and memorials, prior to fundraising for those considered to be at risk. I very much hope we shall be able to publish another book similar to The Trafalgar Captains Memorial, and that the short biographies will again be written by Club members. If you have a favourite captain at either of these battles and would like to write about them, please let me know. Meanwhile, for this year the Club will direct its funds towards a number of ad hoc conservations, which we shall report in a subsequent issue. The membership of the Club has fluctuated between 450 and 500 for the past three years, and in this issue Linda Ebrey, the Club’s Membership Secretary, sets us all a challenge to help take it above the 500 level again! As ever, my thanks to Randy and Dana Mafit in the USA and to Paul and Penny Dalton in the UK, for putting together yet another fine issue of The Kedge Anchor. With kindest regards to you all, Peter Warwick
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTYyMzU=