iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

1/2 Ex-US Navy frigate Klakring, retired in 2013 and a veteran of the 1980s Tanker War, was the target in an Anglo-US sinking exercise (SINKEX) off NW Scotland. During Ex Atlantic Thunder. Destroyer USS Paul Ignatius fired Standard Missile 6 weapons at the specially prepared Klakring. Video: USN.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

New British attack submarine HMS Agamemnon seen here departing the Walney Channel this morning, having yesterday exited the Barrow-in-Furness submarine construction yard. Pic by David Billinge for Warships IFR, demonstrating finely tuned anticipation. More in next mag. #submarines #royalnavy #SSN

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Great news the 6th Astute Class #submarine HMS Agamemnon finally at sea, a year after commissioning. For comparison, here's HMS Trafalgar (at the 2005 Trafalgar 200 International Fleet Review, a Jon Eastland image). Lead boat in her class, laid down 1979, launched July 1981, commissioned May 1983.

HMS Trafalgar at the Trafalgar 200 International Fleet Review in 2005. Photo: Jonathan Eastland/AJAX. Lo rez, his copyright.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

In Sept 1944 it was hoped the European war might very soon be over via the #operationmarketgarden effort. For all the heroism it was not to be. That is conveyed by this video, a taste of my book 'Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron' www.canelo.co/books/arnhem... @canelobooks.bsky.social #ww2 #arnhem

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

An interesting contrast and compare between Europe's two leading navies in the new edition, from the French perspective and by @midshipnews.org - includes a warning for the Marine Nationale to learn by what has happened to the Royal Navy.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

1/2 Looking crisp is the preserved #WW2 corvette HMCS Sackville, of the Flower Class, at Halifax, Nova Scotia. A pic (lo rez version) of the Battle of the Atlantic veteran by our Warships IFR magazine regular contributor Yoshiharu Fukushima.

Looking crisp is the preserved WW2 corvette HMCS Sackville, of the Flower Class at Halifax, Nova Scotia. A pic by our Warships IFR magazine regular contributor Yoshiharu Fukushima (lo rez version).

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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 19/09/2026

The RNLI is the closest you will ever get to actual Batman. When rescue is visibly, viscerally, obviously impossible; when the water is a smothering, thundering black wall and the wind is screaming straight from Hell; when you are absolutely going to die: someone’s hand pulls you out and you don’t.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

1/2 The future USS John F. Kennedy US Navy is cover star of the new edition Warships IFR mag. Out now! Second of the Gerald R. Ford Class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, it is a striking image, courtesy of HII Newport News Shipbuilding. Shows the ship completing acceptance sea trials.

The future USS John F. Kennedy US Navy is cover star of the new edition Warships IFR magazine, out now! Second of the Gerald R. Ford Class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, it is a striking image courtesy of HII Newport News Shipbuilding, showing the ship completing acceptance sea trials.

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Mika Paananen @painmike1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A 1976 letter of appreciation from the Royal Air Force to the Finnish Defence Forces concerning the participation of four Finnish Air Force DC-3/C-47s and their crews into Exercise NEW MARKET in filming 'A Bridge Too Far'(1977).

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Here's the British air-defence destroyer HMS Dauntless #RoyalNavy last week, in Plymouth Sound, heading for Devonport Naval Base. A video by Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR magazine. Loving #warship with contrasting yacht and dinghies busy on the water & fields above Jennycliff in the background.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

A few days ago exchanged messages with a nephew of Harry Tucker, during #WW2 a corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. #OTD Sept 1944 in action yet again, this time at Arnhem. Harry suffered a minor injury during the march from the DZ towards the road bridge (see extract).

Extract from 'Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron' by Iain Ballantyne and published by Canelo.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

'Dostoyevsky took another draw on the cigarette, exhaled a cloud of self-satisfied smoke and added:"They all signed confessions, providing certain useful information before they were, unfortunately, killed while trying to escape".' A Russian on the fate of some Hungarian fascists. amzn.eu/d/00BJsw4R

amzn.eu

Martin’s Eyes

Martin’s Eyes eBook : Ballantyne, Iain: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

6/7 When it came to writing my recently published ‘Martin’s Eyes’ @chiselbury.bsky.social I slipped in a brief duel on the Eastern Front between a Tiger and T34. The Tiger tank is seen here using the #historicalfiction #novel ‘Martin’s Eyes’ for cover...

Solido Tiger tank using the novel 'Martin's Eyes' by Iain Ballantyne for 'cover'.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

1/3 Such amity between wartime allies in this famous US Army Signal Corps photo. They are fine ambassadors for the Allies who had just defeated Germany. However...

An American and Russian soldier celebrate the end of WW2. Photo: US Army Signal Corps/US National Archives.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

1/5 Here's something about nuclear-powered Fleet (hunter-killer) #submarines (aka SSNs) off the Falklands after the 1982 conflict between Britain and Argentina. In the following extracts from my 'Hunter Killers' @orionbooks.bsky.social it is HMS Courageous.

The British nuclear-powered Fleet submarine (aka hunter-killer) HMS Courageous at sea during the Cold War. Photo: HMS Courageous Association.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

1/7 Tank theme! There are various books lurking about the place here that have survived from childhood. There's my Ronald Welch, Michael Bond & Richmal Crompton collections for starters (including ‘Tank Commander’ by R.W.), but also a few objects, including vintage toy tanks as seen below.

'Tank Commander' a 1970s WW1 adventure novel by Ronald Welch.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Three Royal Navy naval units - destroyer HMS Duncan, frigate HMS St Albans & patrol vessel HMS Severn - recently monitored two Russian Navy warships, a tanker & sanctioned cargo ships in the Channel. Pic: RFS Admiral Levchenko monitored by HMS Duncan & HMS St Albans (b/g L to R). Photo: Royal Navy.

Three Royal Navy naval units - destroyer HMS Duncan, frigate HMS St Albans & patrol vessel HMS Severn - monitored two Russian Navy warships, a tanker & sanctioned cargo ships in the Channel. Pic: RFS Admiral Levchenko monitored by HMS Duncan & HMS St Albans (b/g L to R). Photo: Royal Navy.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The forthcoming (4th edition) of the Warships IFR mag 'Guide to the #USNavy' has gone to bed. The mighty, and venerable, warship in the pic here is on the front cover - USS Nimitz, but with an active flight-deck. So, not this shot (from 2022) but it may yet get in the mag itself. Cover shared soon.

Caption: USS Nimitz (CVN 68) makes its way past Manchester State Park as it exits Rich Passage February 7, 2022 after departing Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Washington. PSNS & IMF, by Scott Hansen.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

The new (Sept) edition of the magazine now deployed, with Royal Norwegian Navy sub HNoMS Utstein as cover star, an image by Michael Nitz. Goes with a profile of the RNoN's Ula Class boats inside. Avail in shops or direct from the publisher in both hard copy & digital warshipsifr.com/subscriptions/

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Enjoyed talking to Neil Caddy on BBC Radio Devon today about my new @chiselbury.bsky.social book, the WW2 and Cold War thriller ‘Martin’s Eyes’ www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... If you want to check out our chat, it's on after Kool and Gang’s ‘Get Down on It' 😎 at 1:45:24 into the show.

Enjoyed talking to Neil Caddy on BBC Radio Devon today about my new @chiselbury.bsky.social novel, the WW2 and Cold War thriller ‘Martin’s Eyes’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002zp9s If you want to check out our chat, it's on after Kool and Gang’s ‘Get Down on It' at 1:45:24 into the show.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Inspiration for woods and mountains passages in 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury.bsky.social span the decades: wanderings through the trees as a four-year-old roaming free, while at a Midlands nursery - it was the late 1960s after all; a stay in the Austrian mountains in the 1990s (inset, top left)...

A passage from 'Martin's Eyes', a novel by Iain Ballantyne. Published by Chiselbury books.

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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

"The U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command became a major source of munitions for the Iran war, with many of its Tomahawks and other long-range missiles in the region — critical to a fight with China — transferred from its stocks."

nytimes.com

The U.S. Is Burning Through Weapons in Iran. Russia and China Are Taking Note.

The Iran war has depleted U.S. weapons stockpiles, resulting in a significant erosion of firepower. A more drawn-out Iran conflict benefits Moscow and Beijing, some analysts say.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

HMS Lancaster, Duke Class (Type 23) frigate in Plymouth Sound. Early 2000s (possibly) or slightly earlier, with Fort Class fleet auxiliary in the background (left) and ferry departing (right). Maybe I was visiting Lancaster when I took this.

HMS Lancaster was considered in too poor condition after her long career (34 years) to make the trip home to Devonport for decommissioning, so taken out of service at Bahrain in the Gulf (last December). Assigned for disposal and still languishes there.

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midshipnews.org @midshipnews.org · 30/07/2026

🚀📖 💙📚⚡️⏳#aviation #OSINT #History Honored to see my novel Maskirovka reviewed in the August issue of Warships International Fleet Review! @iainballantyne.bsky.social You can read the full review here: (also available in shops). pocketmags.com/warships-int... Join the crew: Midshipnews.org

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Seabed protection ship RFA Proteus at Plymouth yesterday. Under its Defence Investment Plan (DIP) the UK Govt has promised £300 million in 'critical underwater infrastructure protection' including 'enhanced capabilities for RFA Proteus.' Video: Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Warships Pod 51: 'Suez on Steroids And Britain’s Naval Identity Crisis'. David Murrin begins the #podcast discussion by considering US President Donald Trump’s gambits in the Middle East as he seeks to prevail over Iran. Among other topics touched on is the state of the Royal Navy. pod.fo/e/44b3d7

Episode 51 of the Warships Pod is called 'Suez on Steroids And Britain's Naval Identity Crisis', and is hosted by Iain Ballantyne talking with returning guest David Murrin.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

A history feature in the latest Warships IFR mag by Usman Ansari, with a contribution by myself, is headlined ‘The Trouble with Submarines and a Cold War Quarantine’. This pic shows action aboard US Navy boat USS Cero during a simulated torpedo attack. Photo: US Navy/US National Archives. #ww2

Well worth a read: a history feature in the latest edition of @WarshipsIFR by Usman Ansari, with a contribution by myself. Headlined ‘The Trouble with Submarines and a Cold War Quarantine’ it takes a look at how submarines have proved decisive in cutting nations off from their Sea Lines of Communications. This image shows the busy scene in the conning tower of USS Cero during a simulated torpedo attack. Cero would later take part in American ‘wolf pack’ attacks on Japanese shipping during WW2. Photo: US Navy/US National Archives (USNA).

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

'Thoroughly enjoyable & quite gripping read. Weaves a story from a policeman’s wartime beat to investigating Nazi atrocities in occupied Europe...the twist in the end a believable construct. Highly recommended - an excellent summer read.' Nicholas Messinger www.amazon.co.uk/Martins-Eyes... #histfic

'A thoroughly enjoyable and quite gripping read that weaves a story from a policeman’s wartime beat to investigating Nazi atrocities in occupied Europe. The narrative is excellent, the characters believable, and the twist in the end a believable construct. Highly recommended - an excellent summer read.' Review by Nicholas Messinger, of 'Martin's Eyes' by Iain Ballantyne. On Amazon.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The new Warships IFR magazine is out! The Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in Tokyo is the cover star. Pic: Yoshiharu Fukushima. An edition packed full of news, commentaries and analysis on hot global naval topics. warshipsifr.com/subscriptions/ #naval #geopolitics #warships

The new Warships IFR magazine is out! The Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in Tokyo is cover star. Pic:Yoshiharu Fukushima. An edition packed full of news, commentaries and analysis on hot global naval topics. https://warshipsifr.com/subscriptions/

#naval #geopolitics #warships

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midshipnews.org @midshipnews.org · 20/07/2026

🚀📖 💙📚⚡️⏳ #ColdWar #Spy #thriller Honored to see Maskirovka reviewed in the August issue of Warships International Fleet Review! @iainballantyne.bsky.social You can read the full review here: (also available in shops). pocketmags.com/warships-int... Read Maskirovka here: Midshipnews.org

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

The Daring Class (Type 45) destroyer HMS Dauntless of the Royal Navy is seen here inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, at the end of last week. HMS Dauntless recently emerged from a maintenance period at Portsmouth. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger. #warship #royalnavy #hmsdauntless

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

South West Sunset at the edge of the sea.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Ex-HMS Montrose, a Duke Class warship, today departed Portsmouth under tow. Photo: Derek Fox. Decommissioned 2023, laid up in Fareham Creek, Portsmouth Harbour, she is to be scrapped in Turkey. Right-hand photo is Montrose returning to her home base of Devonport, Dec 2022. Photo: Steve Jagger.

Ex-HMS Montrose under tow departing Portsmouth today, in a photo courtesy of Warships IFR contributor Derek Fox. The frigate is headed for scrapping in Turkey.

HMS Montrose returning to her home base of Devonport for the last time in December 2022. Photo: Steve Jagger for Warships IFR magazine.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

My #novel 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury.bsky.social has 5 parts & the deeper readers get into a story spread across #ww2 & #coldwar the closer they get to discovering secrets at the heart of it, sort of like a Matryoshka doll. I have 3 with 2 bought in the Soviet Union 1991 as it collapsed into chaos.

There are five parts to my novel 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury and the deeper readers get into the narrative - spread across WW2 and the early Cold War - the closer they get to discovering the secrets at the heart of it all.

Reflecting that structure, I happen to have three Matryoshka dolls - two of them bought in the Soviet Union as it collapsed into chaos in 1991. Both procured from a street vendor - one in Moscow (the forlorn-looking young lady) and the other in Sevastopol (which included Stalin, seen here, and he yields a tiny Lenin).

The pirate one was made in China and I have no idea where he came from. They all have their counterparts in the story...sort of - innocent civilian victims of war, brigands (pirates ashore), while Stalin even puts in an appearance.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

British wartime supremo Winston Churchill makes a cameo appearance in 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury.bsky.social during a rather raucous meeting with the Soviets at the Kremlin in Moscow in my #ww2 #coldwar #historicalfiction More info here chiselbury.co.uk/product/mart...

British wartime supremo Winston Churchill makes a cameo appearance in 'Martin's Eyes' @chiselbury during a rather raucous meeting with the Soviets at the Kremlin in Moscow. As related by the ebullient St. John Spendlove, boss of a freebooting unit in the British Army that handles rather special tasks as part of my #ww2 #coldwar #historicalfiction

‘Uncle Joe was certainly enjoying these idiot capitalists playing William Tell. Winston, meanwhile, stood by smoking a cigar and scowling like an angry bulldog.’

More info here https://chiselbury.co.uk/product/martins-eyes/

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

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Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

In politics, we’re torn between ideals and practicalities, aspirations and realities, the world as we want it, and as we find it But one day a manifesto comes along that reconciles both in every pledge. A rare moment of clarity and hope

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Alex Luck @alxluck.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Type 075 LHD 31 Hainan has finally left the Hudong legacy yard on the Huangpu river in Shanghai. Her stay lasted ca 6 months, incl drydocking in April. While there, the vessel received containerised payloads on the flightdeck. Via "ACuriousPLAFan"/SDF

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Keeping warships on station when not possible to use a friendly naval base/dockyard for support or repairs needs a floating workshop &/or replenishment vessel. Such is the case with elderly support & repairs vessel RFS PM-82 which has been supporting RFS Grigorovich. Taster from new Warships IFR 👇

Pictured: the elderly Russian support vessel RFS PM-82 features in a news story in the July 2026 edition of Warships IFR magazine, now out. Both images by Michael Nitz.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

The Duke Class (Type 23) frigate HMS St Albans of the Royal Navy inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth this morning. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR magazine.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Btw more to come about the Iran War and the deal agreed by Tehran and Washington in a forthcoming Warships Pod episode. In the meantime please do check out the other eps podfollow.com/warships-pod...

podfollow.com

Warships Pod

WARSHIPS POD aims to put a spotlight on the world’s navies and features warships past, present, and future. We’ll cover current defense issues alongside interviews and commentary on the Royal Navy, US...

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

1/2 The new edition of Warships IFR magazine is officially published today, with the Royal Danish Navy frigate HDMS Iver Huitfeldt as the cover star (an image by Michael Nitz). It does appear since we went to press the 'stalemate at sea' in the Iran War has been (sort of) resolved....

Caption: the Royal Danish Navy frigate HDMS Iver Huitfeldt is cover star of the July 2026 edition of Warships IFR magazine, an image by Michael Nitz.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

This is Russian Navy guided-missile frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich. Today in international waters south of the Isle of Wight, she objected to a yacht coming too close. Warning shots were fired, possibly by an upper deck sentry. Grigorovich often operates in waters off the UK, escorting cargo ships.

RFS Grigorovich during a European seas deployment in 2025. Photo: Michael Nitz, Naval Press Service.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

1/5 The thread of connection between the Tower of London and my #novel 'Martin's Eyes' started with a walk I did along the South West Coastal Path and this beach - to my eyes an ideal place (?) in #WW2 for Nazi agents to land...

The thread of connection between the Tower of London and my novel 'Martin's Eyes' starts with a walk along the South West Coastal Path and this beach - to my eyes an ideal place (?) in WW2 for Nazi agents to land...

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

The Royal Norwegian Navy corvette HNoMS Skjold outbound from HMNB Devonport, Plymouth, southern England last week. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger for Warships IFR magazine.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

A Tridente Class diesel-electric submarine of the Portuguese Navy inbound to HM Naval Base Devonport Plymouth, England. Video courtesy of Stephen Jagger. It has been suggested that this boat is NRP Tridente herself.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

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