Type 42 destroyer HMS Nottingham
Posted on 03/29/2011 10:23:25 AM PDT by JoeProBono
LONDON, - The British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal can be yours, courtesy of the U.K. Ministry of Defense auction Web site, authorities said.
The former flagship of the Royal Navy was decommissioned two weeks ago years as part of the government's defense budget review after serving with the fleet for 25, the BBC reported.
Interested auction bidders can view Ark Royal at her home port, Portsmouth Naval Base, on May 3 and 4, authorities said.
Bidders wishing to inspect the carrier must submit an outline of their "intentions regarding the vessel" to the Ministry of Defense, the BBC said.
There have been proposals to turn it into a commercial heliport, a base for security personnel during the London Olympics, or a school and nightclub.
Ark Royal's operations have included spearheading British naval forces during the invasion of Iraq.
For those who can't quite manage the purchase of an aircraft carrier, there are also three destroyers -- HMS Exeter, HMS Southampton and HMS Nottingham -- up for auction, the BBC reported.
Ah, I see. My mistake. Well, if the engines are still in her you might use her for watersking.
Type 42 destroyer HMS Nottingham
Recent. The one you're thinking of would be about 73 years old, it she hadn't been sunk about a year after the Bismarck went down.
No. Which is appropriate since they're scrapping all the Harriers that went on them.
THE HUNT FOR BISMARCK
HMS Ark Royal was one of the Royal Navy’s most modern warships. The first British ship to be designed from the start as an aircraft carrier, she represented such an innovation that the Navy had not yet acquired high-performance aircraft capable of flying from her deck. At the start of the war, Ark Royal carried a squadron of obsolescent Fairey Swordfish bombers.
http://www.voodoo-world.cz/hood/hunt.html
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
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http://www.voodoo-world.cz/hood/hunt.html
I read that the Royal Navy now has no fixed-wing aircraft at sea (only helos).
This is a country bankrupting itself on dole payments to citizens and immigrants alike and unable to defend itself. What if they are attacked? They have riots over a 3% budget reduction - how will their clueless scroungers react when they have to crank up a defense of their homeland?
OTOH it does have a huge flight deck.
I’ll wave if I can get a few traps now and again.
I do believe John Wayne and Jerry Lewis owned destroyers or escorts. THe Duke’s was, I believe, named ‘The Gray Goose”.I saw Jerry’s in Intracoastal just north of Las Olds bridge(Ft. Laud.) do a turn around go back south.
I also saw Herb Shriner’s PBY at Ft. Laud. airport early sixties.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Commemorative-Air-Force/Consolidated-PBY-5A-Catalina/1625452/L/&sid=d06b5bac17fbf24658d85a05ded7c4d5
I heard that he had a sub on one of the great lakes??
Umm...
The Wild Goose - Wayne loved spending time in the wheelhouse http://www.rossink.com/2008/02/articles/northwest-personal-stories/the-duke-on-the-northwest-a-john-wayne-memoir/
We ABH are the top dogs on the flight deck, while Es and Fs bath in steam and JP-5....LOL. Nah it is a team effort ABH-3 U.S.S. George Washington 1995-1998.
Wayne had a yacht that was a former minesweeper, called the Wild Goose. She’s still afloat and available for charter I believe.
How about the Argentines? ;-)
-PJ
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