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flight decks that once thundered and boomed with jet aircraft are silent. The passageways and compartments where thousands of sailors worked, ate and slept are empty. The once meticulously swept and kept decks are worn and torn, some covered in bird droppings. The names of the Navy’s seven decommissioned non-nuclear aircraft carriers conjure up well-earned reputations as Cold War bulwarks. And while at least some are the objects of preservation efforts, chances are slim more than one will survive as a museum ship. The rest are taking up valuable pier space, and the only thing the Navy wants now is...

As senior Naval officers back First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope's criticisms of the ability of the Navy to fight in Libya, Commander John Muxworthy, who sailed to the Falklands with the Royal Navy Task Force, looks at the ignominious end of a symbol of the once-mighty British fleet. The image is a poignant symbol of Britain’s rapid decline as a maritime power. With her metallic carcass exposed, the once mighty aircraft carrier HMS Invincible languishes in a Turkish port, being broken up for scrap. The ship was once the pride of the Royal Navy, a hero of the...

Navy will not get fleet of US joint strike fighters until 2023, three years after carrier due to enter service. The Ministry of Defence has still not decided how many planes should be assigned to the navy's long-delayed and increasingly expensive aircraft carrier programme, but whatever the number they will not be available for more than a decade, it has emerged. Confusion over the carrier project was compounded on Friday when the MoD said in its "business plan" that the navy will not get its fleet of US joint strike fighters (JSFs) until 2023, three years after HMS Prince of...

NORFOLK -- The secretary of the Navy issued censure letters Friday to four senior officers after an investigation into controversial videos shown aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise, including the captain who masterminded and starred in the videos, Owen P. Honors. Known as career killers, the censure letters also went to Capt. John Dixon, who succeeded Honors as executive officer; and to the two officers who served as the carrier's skipper during Honors' tenure, Rear Adm. Larry Rice, who recently left the Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command, and Rear Adm. Ron Horton, who was fired this month from his position as commander...

South Korea's navy will deploy eight more advanced maritime patrol aircraft this year to guard against any military threats from North Korea or elsewhere, the navy said on Monday. The first of eight refurbished P-3CK aircraft from the United States will be delivered to a naval unit on Tuesday, a navy statement said. The countries' disputed Yellow Sea border has been tense since a firefight last November left a North Korean patrol boat in flames. In late January the North fired some 370 shells into the sea near the borderline. Last week it announced new naval firing zones off its...

End of an era: Aircraft depart Brunswick Naval Air Station as Maine base readies for closing. The two last planes at Maine's Brunswick Naval Air Station lifted off Saturday in blustery winds, ending nearly 60 years of maritime patrol operations at New England's last active-duty military air base. The P-3 Orions of the VP-26 squadron lumbered down an 8,000-foot runway before heading off to a six-month deployment in Central America. After that, they fly to their new home at Florida's Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The planes took off without any speeches or fanfare ... Brunswick, once home to 4,000 sailors...

Thousands more sailors will call Mayport home come 2014, when the Navy moves a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to its base there. The Navy will spend the next five years and some $400 million dredging the St. Johns River, refurbishing the wharf and building infrastructure to handle the ship, which will partially fill the void left when the John F. Kennedy was decommissioned in 2007. As well as providing a half-billion-dollar ongoing economic impact, the decision to base a carrier at Mayport Naval Station showcases the area's strategic potential, local politicians said after the announcement Monday, and cements Jacksonville's place in...

In the last months there has been a lot of interest expressed on FR about aircraft carriers. I have found that there is a lot of interest all over the net. So, I created a web site about all of the World's Aircraft Carriers. It will surprise you how many countries operate at least one...and also how many are building large-deck Amphibious Assault ships. Of course, no one holds a candle at this time to America's capabilities in this regard. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think. I hope it serves as a resource for naval enthusiasts everywhere....