For sale HMS Invincible!

[John]

Chaps
I've walked past her many times in the dockyard and knew this day would come, but it's sad all the same. I doubt any other Navy wants her in that state, and so I suspect she'll go the same way as HMS Fearless and the Type 42s (98% of Fearless was recycled). With the departure of HMS Ark Royal, unless they strip her before she goes (where ever that may be to) I've no idea how we'll keep HMS Illustrious going. Ho hum

Kind regards

John

[austerdriver]

How much would it cost to get it towed to NZ?

Just need a couple of Harriers and it would look real great somewhere.

[FlyTexas]

So after the HMS Illustrious is retired will the RN have any aircraft carriers capable of launching fixed-wing aircraft? Just curious.

Brian

[Garry Russell]

Probably not an issue Brian as the navy soon won't have any aircraft.nor the RAF for that matter

The total UK airborne defence will be met by a single BN Turbine Defender based in Ascension

[SkippyBing]

So after the HMS Illustrious is retired will the RN have any aircraft carriers capable of launching fixed-wing aircraft? Just curious.

Illustrious isn't being retired, at least until the next Short Defence Spending Review (that's what SDSR stands for right?), Ark Royal is, presumably because Lusty is about to come out of a refit whereas the Ark is due to go into one. Lusty should keep going until the QE Class come in. Invincible, as had already been mentioned, hasn't been in commission for a few years now and to be honest was pretty much worn out when I was on her briefly in '03.
So technically we will have a carrier capable of launching fixed wing aircraft right up to the introduction of the QE Class and the JSF. The only problem is we'll have to borrow the aircraft as another part of the SDSR was scrapping the Harrier, because having an aircraft designed for Close Air Support is of no use in Afghanistan apparently...

Also pet hate pedant time, British warships should be referred to as HMS Whatever, not the HMS Whatever. HMS is a contraction for Her Majesty's Ship and it would be incorrect to say 'I've been on the Her Majesty's Ship Battleaxe' and make you sound a bit stupid to be honest. On the other hand American ships should be called the USS Henry J Chickenfarmer because USS is short for United States Ship and it would be grammatically correct to say 'I've been on the United States Ship Ronald Reagan' as opposed to 'I've been on United States Ship Nimitz' which again makes you sound a bit stupid.

[DaveB]

And rightly so

ATB

DaveB

[DarrenL]

So after the HMS Illustrious is retired will the RN have any aircraft carriers capable of launching fixed-wing aircraft? Just curious.

Brian

Illustrious will be retired in 2014, HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to enter service in 2020 so a 6 year gap. But since we are retiring the Harriers in December we won't have any aircraft to fly off anyway*. In fact the cynic in me would say we haven't had a carrier air wing since 1979.

In the meantime we have an agreement with the French who are also in "le merde" financially speaking and the services of their carrier Charles De Gaulle (the irony being it's the first time de Gaulle has ever helped us) in any unknown and un-specified conflicts. Most likely when we need it the French won't let us use it in case we scratch the paint.


*The Sea Harriers are already out of service since 2006 and we have been using RAF Harrier GR9s (updated GR7s). Apart from Grobs and Jetstream for training the Fleet Air arm has no fixed wing aircraft to fly off unless you count 2 Fairey Swordfish, Hawker Sea Hawk and a Hawker Sea Fury. Which some might prefer to see actually as it gives us anti-ship, ground attack and fighter cover which is all we need

[jonesey2k]

Charles De Gaulle is crap anyway. That's why they wanted to buy one of these new carriers off us no?

[DarrenL]

The French haven't actually confirmed the order for theirs yet and may not do, they are due to next year but that might not happen at all.

Initially of the we ordered 2 of these Thales built carriers with conventional power and ski jumps ( ) and the french were going to order one with nuclear power and CATOBAR to compliment CdG. We have already started on Queen Elizabeth (enter service in 2020) and PoW is due to enter service on 2023, both will be built but it looks like we are stealing the CATOBAR design from the French (I do hope so). Queen Elizabeth will go into active service and PoW will be immediately mothballed unless we have the money to operate it, 13 years is a long way away and by then we should be in better shape.

They won't get their paws on ours.

[SkippyBing]

it looks like we are stealing the CATOBAR design from the French

The carriers were always designed with the space for the catapults and arrestor gear equipment, well before the French joined the program, I think the Alpha design (we're up to Delta after a few design revisions, Beta was the cheapest) had space to store something like 300 Cubes of pressurised steam although no one was really sure how to make it on a gas turbine powered ship. Fortunately the plan is now to use electro-magnetic equipment and tap into the electric generating capacity, although as to which design of equipment, unproven US or unproven British, they end up getting hasn't been decided yet.