WCERN Commander Admiral Lloyd Bridges today manouvered
the fleet's newest supercarrier, Basil Rathbone, through the downtown
Expatdom *, en route to the Wuxi Freeport.
Admiral Bridges told the 150,000 journalists and press photographers assembled on the Rathbone's flight-deck that "she, Basil Rathbone, is the most formidable vessel I've had the pleasure to helm".
He said that the new carrier has state-of-the-art electronics, and an array of weaponry including atomic cannons, ack-ack guns, torpedoes, and, "a few other
bang-bangs that I'm not at liberty to reveal", he said.
With the dexterity of a surgeon, Admiral Bridges deftly steered the carrier
through the throngs, and the traffic at a stately steady-as-she-goes 25 knots.
"The Rathbone is amphibious", the Admiral continued, "just like a frog - as agile on land as she is on the high seas".
Standing proudly at the bow, Admiral Bridges inhaled deeply, expanding his
cavernous and broad manly chest. "It's here", he told the reporters, "when I gaze out across the rooftop of GOME, and catch the heady tang of Taihu, well, it makes my old sailor's heart skip a beat!".
Basil Rathbone will be moored at Lake Taihu where she will be fitted-out.
Next month, Her Majesty Queen Ayira will perform the time-honoured launching ceremony by hurling a six-pack of Tsingtao at the new carrier.
[*Note - the photographer who captured the above-image can't be contacted, so the precise location isn't known. If any Expats recognise this part of the Expatdom,
please let the editor know].
That is the corner of Zhongshan Road and Xueqian street not too far from the Dangle's Participle Pub.
ReplyDeleteThe department store Wuxi Yaohan, formerly Ba Bai Ban, and the only store to sell clothes in the WCE is near the intersection as well
I also see the church where Neils Bohr got married in the photo.