A War Ship in the Thames?

The Pageant will only sail from above Battersea Bridge to just below Tower Bridge with the boats/ships dispersing towards Greenwich where HMS Ocean is anchored so shouldn't cause too much of a log-jam..
It does all fly in the face of peace and harmony I agree..

or even fire at the barge off with my head!

Perhaps the warship will fire a salute at the royal barge?

Blimey the Thames is going to bit a tad crowded on the Queens flotilla day hope there is room for everything - what nonsense it all seems. Imagine if you were from another planet and there is this species cheering and waving pieces of coloured paper at an elderly member of the species who is sitting on a very colourful barge sailing amongst all the paraphanalia of war - which we need in order to stage the olympics that are supposed to be about everyone coming together in peace and harmony,it all seems totally pointless somehow, and you would be very hard pushed to guess what it was all about I would imagine.

I'm sure that there is far more to our defensive capability than that which is obvious.
Hopefully everything will pass off without incident and we can all say what a waste of money it was.

I don't think I'm naive enough to think all this posturing will put off the determined terrorist but at least we can't be accused of not being prepared if something is 'thrown' at us.. which I'm sure people would only be too quick to do.

....and everyone had to know what it is and where it is, so they can work out something/somewhere else to attack?

Posturing is what a deterrent is about, for it to be a deterrent it has to be obvious.

These are not precautions – they are posturing.

I watched them manouvre HMS Ocean up the Thames , it was some feat getting it through the Thames barrier.. they are using it as a base for staff and amphibious vehicles that might be needed.. we live 5 mins away from RAF Northolt and have had Typhoon planes roaring over us for the last 3 days 4 are being based here for the Olympics and .. and one assumes the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations..
Not sure I think the whole thing is absolutely necessary but when I've watched those planes taking off this morning I've felt oddly proud , I guess it just brings home in a way that isn't conveyed in media reporting that there are people in this country willing to risk life and limb to keep us safe... sounds a bit dramatic but its how I feel.

If the unlikely happened and a terrorist attack occurred we would be slaking the government for not taking precautions. We already have these deterrents on hand, so why not position them where the most likely targets are. No one expected 9/11, or the massacre in 1972 at the Olympics in Munich, terrorists don't play fair and give notice of attacks. I for one will feel more comfortable at the stadium knowing that every precaution has been taken.

Events like the Olympics must take place regardless of the threats, or the terrorists have won.