August 22, 2013

Finest Hour 110, Spring 2001

Page 28

BY SIR CHRISTOPHER MEYER KCMG, HM AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES

Burlee’s words remain as true today as they were 226 years ago

I think Sir Winston Churchill would be enjoying himself if he were here today. I hesitate to speak for the great man, especially when his daughter and grandson are here to correct me. But I am confident he would revel in this magnificent Anglo-American occasion. And I am sure he would be moved and delighted to have his name associated with this extraordinary ship. Mr Secretary, naming it for Sir Winston is a great tribute to his lasting memory, and it is a privilege for the people of the United Kingdom. So, I am going to risk being corrected later by the formidable Churchill family, to offer you three reasons why I think Sir Winston would be immensely proud of what we are doing here today.

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First, like so many British heroes, Churchill knew a thing or two about the Navy. He twice led the Royal Navy as First Lord of the Admiralty: from 1911 to 1915, and again in 1939-40. So he had an eye for a good ship. Before the First World War he championed the technological generation shift from coal to oil power. He wanted fast, powerful battleships. There can be no doubt that he would approve of the breathtaking technological achievement of the Arleigh Burke class of destroyer. The USS Winston S. Churchill is a powerful ship. Its capabilities for land attack warfare and air defence are amongst the best in the world.

Second, Winston Churchill knew the importance of marshalling military strength and determination in the cause of freedom. He himself saw action as a young officer in Africa and India. Almost half a century later Churchill led the British people in the most complete wartime mobilisation in our history. Long before other people woke to the danger in 1930s Europe, Churchill was urging the nation to prepare, if freedom were to be defended. As he said in the bleak days of February 1941, “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.” He would understand the strength of purpose with which the U.S. Navy is today equipping itself to defend freedom in a new century.

Third, Churchill was a passionate believer in the fundamental friendship and partnership of the British and American peoples. He was the son of an Anglo-American family. On the day in 1941 when it became clear that the United States would add its might to the war effort, Churchill announced that he went to bed and “slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.” Churchill above anyone else forged the unique British-American partnership which turned the course of history in the Second World War. And I believe that Churchill, with his strong sense of the sweep of history, would be proud and impressed to see the way that this enduring alliance still flourishes today.

Around us we have the evidence of a rich and enduring partnership as friends and allies in the world. It is a partnership of shared purpose: the United States stood with Europe through the long years of the Cold War. Today, Britain and the United States are working together still, where our shared values and interests are at stake around the world. In Europe, our alliance in NATO is, and must remain, the cornerstone of our security. In the Persian Gulf, British and American pilots are working together in the perilous skies above Iraq. In the Balkans our troops work together to prevent the horror of war from returning to the European continent.

Our alliance is also, and must remain, a partnership of common equipment and ways of working. Churchill himself laid the foundations for sharing technology across the Atlantic: sonar, radar and nuclear technology. These mutual transfers still bind our forces today. The Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy, and our submarine services, have enduring ties, built on the 1958 nuclear agreement.

Using common equipment is vital for the future of our combined operations. For both sides it is good military policy and it is good economics. Over the last six months Britain has committed to nearly $4 billion of U.S. defence systems ranging from aircraft to missiles.

Lastly our partnership, United States and United Kingdom, is a partnership of shared service. Our armed forces work together on a daily basis. Some 57 British naval officers serve with the U.S. Navy, acting as U.S. officers under U.S. command. A total of 142 British personnel serve in this way across the United States services. A similar number of American men and women serve with UK forces. I am delighted that navigating officer Lt. Angus Essenhigh RN, is with you serving on the USS Winston S. Churchill. We are privileged to have his opposite number serving on HMS Marlborough. We trust Lt. Essenhigh will be the first in a long line of British officers serving in this ship.

Cdr. Franken, you have an outstanding ship named for an outstanding man. We all owe Winston S. Churchill a debt for his leadership, for his advocacy of a strong transatlantic alliance in defence of freedom. We have all inherited the cause of freedom that Churchill proclaimed, and the partnership Churchill helped to build. All of you on this ship should be proud to sail in that tradition.

In 1775—a slightly fraught year for British-American relations—the great English parliamentarian, Edmund Burke (who had a lot of sympathy for the colonists’ cause) described the transatlantic relationship like this: “It is as light as air; and as strong as iron.” That remains as true today as it was 226 years ago.