WHY? or alternate title: Can one of you Brits explain this to me?

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by malcolm erik bogaert

not getting into a shooting war over this but we British led the world at one time in (over) engineering everything might be a tad over-engineered but it all works....

In the Canadian book on the First Gulf War by Jean Morin, Operation Friction, he has some wonderful descriptions of the supply ship. In 1990 there were NATO standards, but for a whole variety of reasons each nation had their own fuel couplings. The HMCS was a refueler, and she had to carry a selection of fittings to fuel the British, American, Canadian, French, Argentinian, Spanish etc. What wasn't shared for the duration, was quickly made up in their shipboard machine shop. After the war some deck ape asked about a particularly impressive piece. The reply was, "'It big, it's brass, it must be British."