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.
Thought this might interest you ...
I want to be Sherrif of Nottingham.
Too bad I can’t buy that ship.
China Aircraft Carrier Largely Restored: Report-1/19/2011
BEIJING — China has taken a major step toward commissioning its first aircraft carrier by largely completing the restoration of a derelict ship purchased from Ukraine, a news report said Wednesday.
The restoration includes all living and working compartments, engines, navigation systems and power-generating equipment, Hong Kong-based Kanwa Asian Defense magazine said. Additional work is still needed on the elevator and flight deck, it said, but it was unclear when the restoration would be completed.
LOL, conversion to pounds nets it a worth of something like what, ten pouinds sterling?
*snicker*
Team is right!
I’m a Plankowner on USS George Washington; I was on the Catapult Test Team as part of the Precommissioning crew.
Cheers!
Since you’re thinking about your next career move ... Bill may have his degree in Hospitality Management by the time you’re done in the CG.
I want to assume that it’s an extremely unfortunate grammatical error, but I’m not entirely sure.
Unless the French built her, the parts should all be in English units....
I think “school and nightclub” is an idea with potential. You’d go to one, right? I could run the school part. People could listen to my history and literature CDs and drink.
If they're attacked by an Islamic power, they will have a ready Fifth Column in all their cities.
It would be difficult to lift.
Well, there is that.
Wow. The one-time most powerful navy in the world has come to this.
It floats, Bob.
Interesting, I was nuke on GW from 1990-1994. I’m a plankowner, I got there days after christening. In fact, I got there literally a few of days after Saddam invaded Kuwait.
But y'all gotta promise not to take away my liberty no matter how many foreign nationals I insult.
I still have my “Liberty Hound PQS” signoff sheet someplace, and I’d share it with you here but the Admin Mod would zot me so fast I’d starve before I stopped slidin’....
I never made the Liberty Risk List, but I knew a few who did, and it usually came back to haunt them the next cruise as well. If you were stupid enough to get drunk on liberty, and give the Shore Patrol enough crap that they ended up clam-shelling your ass face down at Fleet Landing so if you puked you didn’t drown, you could count on not going ashore unescorted or after dark for a long, long time....
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