European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday May 25,1990 the stars and stripes Page 9 from his backyard Post Jane a editor captains the Bible of warships Over Here by Dave Diehl . Bureau Kingsley England a the size of Richard Sharpens backyard office bears no relation to his Mammoth task. From a modest outbuilding amid a walled and somewhat overgrown Garden Sharpe puts together the annual Bible of sea Power called Jane a fighting ships. As Sharpe knows the Book is a Bible with a faithful following. It is essential Reading for Heads of navies Heads of state intelligence agencies and journalists. It can be found on nearly every Bridge of every seagoing warship in the world. It is big business run from a Small place. From his Back Yard in the Surrey Village of Kingsley Sharpe captains a team of about a dozen people who help with the Tome which is crammed with facts figures and photographs of virtually every warship afloat. While the landlocked office seems an unlikely setting for an editor saturated in ships the retired Royal Navy Captain Points out that his computer links him to Headquarters and that the Garden variety Type of workplace has certain benefits Over an office at Jane a about 30 Miles to the Northeast. A the huge advantage of commuting across your Back Garden is tremendous he said. Sharpe the books eighth editor since its inception in 1898, is not alone in his modes Operand. Every other editor of the company a 18 defense and aerospace yearbooks has edited the books from Home. As editor of Jane a fighting ships Tor the past three editions the 53-year-old Sharpe is responsible each year for compiling verifying and updating roughly 250,000 facts and figures on More than 8,000 warships from 150 navies around the world. He said he is paid Well for his efforts which include weekends and 12-hour Days As the Norm. His May deadline each year cannot be missed. Most of the information for the Book comes from a variety of sources around the Globe Sharpe said. His biggest source is information from governments. But his daily mail provides data from hundreds of other sources including Amateur photographers and retired Royal Navy capt. Richard Sharpe editor of Jane s fighting ships withal opt of the massive reference books 93rd edition which was published thursday. Maritime enthusiasts. The arduous task gets even More difficult when the staff tries to obtain information about warships owned by totalitarian regimes. Governments such As North Korea and Albania done to willingly part with even the most innocuous data Sharpe said. He often must rely on help from neighbouring countries and free lancers. Sharpe who has commanded submarines and a destroyer during his 34 year Navy career said he never knowingly publishes classified material even if he is sometimes privy to it. A there Are things i know that i Don t put in the books Quot Sharpe said. Sharpe said he takes this moral High ground because of his own beliefs. He makes no distinction Between the allegiance he has to the British Royal Navy and to any other service a if it does no to match the criteria that i would apply to my own service 1 done to use  soviets going full throttle ahead with naval forces by Dave Diehl pc talc ult Tell Natu Nna.  j ii in a. 1___. By Dave Diehl . Bureau London a the soviet unions naval strength remains Strong the editor of Jane a fighting ships says. A the soviet naval capabilities have not yet been affected by the apparent loss of political will to use them a retired Royal Navy capt. Richard Sharpe wrote in the Forward to the 93rd edition of the Book which was published thursday. A the soviets have no intention of surrendering their position As a military  while the soviet Union is retiring Many surface warships and submarines it is rapidly replacing those vessels with new ones Sharpe said. A the replacement rate is in terms of tonnage the highest it has been in Over 20 years for surface warships and the highest in the last decade for  soviet admirals can justify their demands because the West particularly the United states refuses to put any of its naval assets on the negotiating table said Sharpe a 34-year Veteran of the British Navy. A by arguing that the West has Superior naval forces and that there has been no positive response to maritime arms control initiatives the soviet naval commander in chief has obviously been Able to convince the policy makers in Moscow that modernization should continue. A was the West debates beating its tanks into pow shares and How to spend the peace dividend soviet nuclear submarines Roll remorselessly off the production lines a Sharpe said Sharpe said the soviet Union also is making important Progress in its relatively new aircraft Carrier program. While the Tbilisi undergoes trials in the Black sea a More advanced class of Carrier is being built. Sharpe said this program May be an attempt to include fighter aircraft in its ships inventory which would avoid inclusion in any future conventional forces Europe deals. E. Germans campaigning to close soviet air base Neu Ruppin East Germany apr residents of this Village Are tired of the screeching and thundering from the soviet military air base in their midst and they Are waging a Lively Campaign to get it closed. A soviet warplane that accidentally dropped three bombs on a neighbouring Village has added new fuel to the 2 la year old Campaign which has gone Public since the fall of East Germany a communist regime. Thousands of demonstrators converged at the Airfield this week and a protest letter to soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev will soon be on its Way. A we think its shocking that despite huge political changes War is still being waged Over our town a said lutheran Church pastor Heinz Joachim Karau who organized mondays protest of Between 5,000 and 8,000 residents. More than 7,200 people have signed a petition demanding closure of the base in Neu Ruppin Home to 22,000 people and about an hours drive Northwest of Berlin. While government leaders debate the Likely pull out of . And soviet troops from Central Europe residents of Neu Ruppin say noise from the soviet base has driven them crazy for years. Windows rattle houses shake Hospital patients Are frightened. One doctor said children Are subjected to possible mental disturbances from the fighter Jet and helicopter noise. A they say this is one of the noisiest areas in All of Europe a said 61-year-old Gunter Knorr a retired Butcher. Knorr his son in Law and grandchildren were among those who took part in the protest at the base which is just outside the town Center. A when the migs started up the kids came screaming into the House a said another protester who used to live next to the base. During the demonstration about 150 people raced onto the runway where they briefly confronted soviet soldiers. The March included mothers pushing baby carriages and Young children Riding on their fathers shoulders. A we live right near the Airfield and we just can to stand it. The windows rattle when the planes go by. We can to even really watch television a said Knorris 63-year-old wife Marga. On wednesday a soviet warplane swooped in for a Landing just above a moderately Busy Street. Residents Are Well aware their protests would have landed them in jail As recently As last fall. A massive secret police network kept residents in Check under the regime of former communist party Boss Erich Honecker ousted in october a peaceful revolution. Before Honecker a fall Neu Ruppin residents worked out a scheme to make their Long standing grievances known. Since petitions to the government were forbidden in december 1987, churchgoers wrote to their pastors. The clerics then passed the letters of protest to the local soviet commander who responded with a one Page letter offering no Hope of change. A we thought it was All in vain a said Karau in his cluttered study with a Large Crucifix on the Wall. Then four Days after the Berlin Wall opened in november 10,000 people gathered for a protest March. That was followed by another March in january when protesters Hung banners saying a Ivan Arentt you homesick a and a playgrounds instead of Landing  monday s demonstration came just four Days after bombs were accidentally dropped on the neighbouring Village of Raclin. No one was injured and the bombs did not explode but two of them ripped through a barn roof and a third slammed into the ground near a Lake where Young people were sitting. Soviet officials said the Accident was due to an electrical failure. A the bombs fell at just the right time a said Karau 62. A the demonstrators were really fired  he said that so far the soviets have Only trimmed Back the number of late night flights. The aircraft land and take off from 6 . Until Midnight residents said. A the Airfield would be a great place for a huge Rock a no Roll youth  Karau said with a smile